Failure is When you Quit
People love to talk about the idea of failing all the time. It's one of the scariest concepts that looms over our heads as we try to achieve anything in life. The idea of failure in most people's eyes is not succeeding in doing something they were hoping to do. The thing is, when do you decide that you haven't succeeded? Sure there might be a deadline you missed or a goal you didn't hit, but you're still living and breathing to keep trying another day. If you made any progress towards your goal or learned anything at all during the process, then you've already done something worth being proud of. The only point that you've ever really failed at something is when you are no longer trying to make it happen. That's the point where all progress actually stops, where your effort goes somewhere else, and where you stop learning anything about the subject.
What all that means is that if you want to succeed then you just have to persevere. No matter what kind of issue life throws your way you just need to continue to fight for what you want. This was a philosophy that became very deeply ingrained in my heart as I tried to get my car running last year. I was constantly held back by the need to transport my broken car to different driveways, a lack of tools, and the knowledge that I was in completely over my head. The worst moment was when I had somewhat miraculously managed to get my new engine in the car the night before I was supposed to get it out of my friend's way, then realized I had completely sealed the oil pan wrong and had to take everything back apart. In moments like that I was so crushed I truly felt like I would never have my car running ever again. In the back of my head though I always reminded myself that as long as I put one new piece on or tightened one bolt every day, there would eventually be no bolts left.
Lots of great inventors and entrepreneurs embodied this idea but few did so as well as Thomas Edison. The story of the lightbulb itself was one of perseverance involving thousands of different filament materials and years of trials. Much of Edison's life was a story of perseverance, and many of his famous quotes embody that. Two of my favorites are:
"I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
These two quotes are the embodiment of the idea that I want to express, if you want to succeed at something then you just have to keep trying.
Hi Henrie. I really liked your blog, it was pretty motivational. Failure is a scary word, especially when you grow up with a family that want's you to succeed like themselves. Sometimes I feel like failure is okay because it becomes a learning process which will grow to success. Facing life issues that you need to be strong about so that you can keep moving is hard, I totally understand, but if you let it get to you it will only get worse. I am a huge over thinker so it's hard for me to get over things easily, but I started to learn that only I can help myself and in order to do that I have to keep pushing to succeed.
ReplyDeleteHello Henri,
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think your blog was very motivational and I really admire how you explained that failure only happens when you decide to quit on something. Many people think that failure happens when we cannot get something right in the process. I agree that motivation and perseverance play a huge role in working towards our goals. We are going to experience ups and downs when we are striving towards our goals. The important thing is to not fail ourselves by quitting. I like how you incorporated the quotes from Edison because he talks about the importance of motivating ourselves while we work on something.
Hi! I love your blog and the message you are portraying. It is a great reminder to remain diligent and continue to persevere even when the going gets tough. One thing I noticed about your blog was the personal essay structure it is already following! One of the things we have learned is how personal essays raise questions and lead to the writer unveiling answers through this. I believe this is something you replicate here and it was helpful being able to make this connection. Whether it was intentional or not, it was a great example of what I would think a personal essay conveys.
ReplyDeleteFailure is When You Quit
ReplyDeleteHey Henri,
Henry Ford states, “failure is the opportunity to start again more intelligently.” Therefore, failing is just the learning and growing lessons that depicts everything one does. So, when you give up, the failure aspect manifests itself, which will be psychologically and physically devastating. It is fascinating having read this post once again concerning your car breakdown. If you had given up, seeing someone else rolling with it could have been more embarrassing and humiliating. Therefore, it is clear that when you don’t quit and continue pushing through, something magical happens. This is good stuff; the lighting bulb indicates that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you.
Hi Henri,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very motivating post. I totally agree that failure only occurs when we allow it. I kept thinking about if you'd mention the story of the lightbulb when I saw the image you chose. I have always thought as failure as what not to do next time. I'm not sure but I think Einstein was the one who said that "insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result" which just means that you have to learn from your mistakes every time. At the moment I am about to fail my car and maybe sell it since it never wants to work and is making me poor. But looking forward to your next post.
Henri,
ReplyDeleteI loved you post dude! Oh my gosh! Your post reminded me of this saying " you miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Everyone is scared of failure, even me. I think it is all just mental. W have to start trying or we will never know what our answer will be. You post has inspired me to just live life to the fullest and stop letting irrational fears or the fear of failure stop me.
Nice job!