"The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same."
Whether we like it or not, success and failure are often inextricably linked to the same individual. Some people who have failed in their endeavors will become successful. Other people will have a more difficult time succeeding after failing once already. But what separates these two groups is what they do next afterward: those who give up and die or those who persist and turn their failure into success?
Although they may be trying to pursue different goals, both roads usually present many of the same struggles. Whether you have failed or succeeded, both involve making similar sacrifices and facing the same battles. And it's these battles that help you grow as a person and prepare you for future challenges. Unlike failures, however, successful people tend to view their failures as learning opportunities. They also tend to be more resilient in the face of future failings.
The Road Most Traveled
Let's say someone is trying to lose weight by exercising at the gym and counting calories. This person sets realistic goals for his exercise routine and calorie intake but fails. Maybe he goes back twice before getting discouraged by his lack of progress and giving up on his diet plan altogether.
Let's say someone is trying to learn how to play the guitar. Still, they always get frustrated with their progress and give up before achieving fundamental skills.
Although these people have already failed, they are very different in handling it. One spent his time yelling at himself and cursing his shortcomings. The other engaged in activities to learn more about playing guitar.
The reason one person was able to turn failure into success while the other person did not is because of how each person perceived their setbacks. The first person saw it as a learning experience and used that knowledge as motivation for future endeavors. The second person saw their failure as a flaw and quit altogether.
Successful people tend to view their failures as learning opportunities. They also tend to be more resilient in the face of future failings.
The Road Less Traveled
Let's say someone is trying to lose weight by exercising at the gym and counting calories. This person sets realistic goals for his exercise routine and calorie intake but fails. Maybe he goes back twice before getting discouraged by his lack of progress and giving up on his diet plan altogether.
Let's say someone is trying to learn how to play the guitar. Still, they always get frustrated with their progress and give up before ever achieving any fundamental skills.
Although these people have already failed, they are very different in handling it. One spent his time yelling at himself and cursing his shortcomings. The other engaged in activities to learn more about playing guitar.
The reason one person was able to turn failure into success while the other person did not is because of how each person perceived their setbacks. The first person saw it as a learning experience and used that knowledge as motivation for future endeavors. The second person saw their failure as a flaw and quit altogether.
The Road to Success: Turning Failures into Future Successes
Successful people tend to view their failures as learning opportunities. They also tend to be more resilient in the face of future failings. Although they may be trying to pursue different goals, both roads usually present many of the same struggles. Whether you have failed or succeeded, both involve making similar sacrifices and facing the same battles. And it's these battles that help you grow as a person and prepare you for future challenges. Unlike failures, however, successful people tend to view their failures as learning opportunities. They also tend to be more resilient in facing future failings (1).
Failure and Success: A Psychological Perspective
A psychological perspective offers a new view of failure that focuses on "what" you do and not "how" you do it. It provides a new understanding of how people's previous experiences help shape their future successes.
This new perspective is called the P-E fit approach: your personality, or P, fits the environment, or E (2). It is because settings are more likely to be compatible with those who share characteristics than those who don't. Consider this example: A man is trying to decide between multiple job offers from different companies. His personality, or P, has much to do with his decision. Perhaps he is very motivated and hard-working, or maybe he isn't? Maybe he's very outgoing and friendly, or quite shy? These characteristics, or P, make him a good fit for some things and not others. The job offers stem from environments in which specific demands the company needs to fill. Each company has different markets that require certain character traits from its worker (or workers).
Let's look at another example. A mother is trying to decide whether or not to allow her children to watch television for an hour before bedtime. Her P-E fit may be that she's not a big TV watcher and is more of an audiobook reader than one who likes watching programs. Her environment, or E, would be that her kids are getting older, and she doesn't want them to skip school or watch TV all day (3). Her P-E fit (or lack thereof) would make it so that she either encourages or discourages her kids from having the television in their room when they're supposed to be sleeping.
How Personality, Environment Fit Determine Success
The P-E fit approach helps people understand how their previous experiences and subsequent personality traits determine future successes and failures. Successful people tend to be more resilient in facing future failings (1). They don't sweat it so much at the moment that they develop a negative self-image. In other words, they consider their failures a learning opportunity rather than a setback.