5 WAYS TO DEAL WITH FAILURE

"You only learn from your failures," I've said this a thousand times, and I'll say it again: "You only learn from your failures." The greatest minds in history have said it, and it has proven to be true time and again: winning teaches you nothing; however, the lessons you learn from failure are often the lessons that lead you to success.

I'm writing on this topic because I recently experienced failure, it was in a competition, and although I performed well, I didn't get the result I desired and that's often how life is, we feel like we've done our best at the time but in reality, there are many things to work on to get that win and reach our full potential. When I found out I had lost, I felt like a failure and was obviously devastated. After that competition, I reflected on what I did wrong and at that moment I didn't realise but the next day after sleeping over it I did, and from that moment on I said to myself that I'd keep and keep on trying until I succeed to reach my goal and never resent failure and be afraid of it because cause that is the only way I'll win by learning from my setbacks and coming back stronger the next time.

The problem with society is that it only celebrates success rather than highlighting the journey that led to that success, which was filled with disappointments, setbacks, rejections, and failures. It's true what they say: it's not as glamorous as it appears from the outside.

When we consider the greatest in any field, such as Michael Jordan (legendary basketball player), here is what he has to say about failing:

Many people are afraid of failure and claim that they never want to fail in their lives. If you believe this, consider what J.K Rowling has to say about it:

If you read J.K Rowling's life story you would see how many times she's had to fail to get where she is today, in fact in a speech she gave at the Harvard commencement this what she says, "The knowledge you have emerged from setbacks make you wiser and stronger it means that you are ever after secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself or the strength of your relationships until adversity has trusted both of you. After all, such knowledge is a true gift, and it is worth more than any qualification I have ever earned."

To everyone out there, especially athletes, I know that the feeling of failure is one of the worst, most difficult, and saddest moments of your life, but you only have two options. You can either learn from it or run away from it; the choice is entirely yours. Always remember that all the winners around you were losers at some point and have only worked their way up to finally succeed. A loser, on the other hand, is someone who is so afraid of losing that they don't even try.

If you're going through a difficult period and feel like a failure, remember that your personal happiness comes from understanding that life isn't a checklist of acquisition or achievement. Your Qualifications, medals, and so on are not your life, and they should not define you.

Here are a few ways to deal with failure:

1) Understand that it's okay to fail - Always remember that there is a reason why you failed in something. You may believe that you have given your all in your sport, work, studies, or whatever you do, but there is always that 1-2% of extra work that you may have missed out on. Each failure teaches you a lesson that can only be learned by failing, but it is up to you to learn that lesson and avoid making the same mistake again. If you fail, you must analyze how it went wrong and remember not to make the same mistake again.

2) Ignore negative people - There are many people in our lives who don't believe in us and when you fail at something it just gives them another opportunity to say, " I told you so" or say stuff like " I knew you were not good enough to succeed". Remember that such people are always envious of you because you are working towards your dream while they are only fantasizing about theirs.

3) Don't give up on yourself - Majority of the people give up on their dreams after failing 1-2 times, such people are cowards. They never believed in their dream, to begin with; they just liked the idea of it... At the end of the day, you know it's your dream, your goal, and you don't need others to believe in it; your faith in it is sufficient. Sometimes we're so close to success and that path is the toughest to cross before you actually succeed, and that's when most people give up.

4) Revisit your goals - Did you plan your goals correctly? Have you clearly defined your short-term and long-term goals? If not, I believe it is about time you should. Most of the time, we simply write down our goals and never review them, which may be one of the reasons for your failure because you lack clarity on your goals. The correct course of action would be to revisit and analyze your goals on a monthly or weekly basis, if not daily.

5) Create a plan of action - Creating a plan of action is the best way to recover from failure, and I've done it myself. You should clearly write down your goals in such a plan so that you can achieve them in a more holistic and systematic manner. I'm sure everyone understands that it will be difficult to achieve your goals, but if you give them a time frame over a period of time and spread your goals throughout that time frame, it will become easier to achieve your goals in this manner. You can also seek support from your parents, coaches, or friends to help you recover from personal failures and get back on track.

CONCLUSION

I hope this week's blog was useful to you, especially athletes who have failed in competition, or training, or who believe their performance is not up to par. Remember, "Don't rush the process, trust it because great things take time."

I'll also include a few links to help you get some motivation if you're going through a rough patch or just to help y'all build what they call a "CHAMPIONS MINDSET".

Let me know what you think on this week's blog, also what are some methods you use to recover from failure?  do let me know in the comment section below.

Video links :

https://youtu.be/wHGqp8lz36c

https://youtu.be/Pscbwh9iKv0

https://youtu.be/dww3Oo8ropA