We have a book club at Lawyers With Purpose and the team is currently reading Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell. So far my favorite part of the book:
"…[people] allow failure to get the better of them emotionally, and it stops them from achieving their dreams. …Failure can be very painful–sometimes physically and more often emotionally. Seeing part of your vision fall flat really hurts. And if people heap ridicule on top of your hurt feelings, you feel even worse. The first important step in weathering failure is learning not to personalize it — making sure you know that your failure does not make you a failure. …For many people the pain of failure leads to fear of failure. …That's when many people get stuck in the fear cycle. And if fear overcomes you, it's almost impossible to fail forward." from Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell
When I read that it doesn't make failure seem so bad. For me, it's difficult not to take failure personally. But just reading this paragraph seems to take all that away. In fact I've printed this paragraph out and tacked it onto my cork board for inspiration.
I'm not completely done reading the book but so far, the bottom line for me is … don't let failure deny you of your dreams and the practice you want to have. Yes, we all have have to learn from our mistakes but do not let them prevent you from taking risks. Another great quote is “If you fail to try, you have already failed.” So, I'd have to say that while my definition of failure has definitely changed, so has my definition of success. Because typically people look at success like a path you take that requires training and mentoring along the way. Education or experience. But really, in the big picture, success is being able to handle failure!
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