Search Results for: label/failure

Failure forms your character more than success

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Winter - The Human Condition
One of the Napkin Dad’s artworks
(c) Marty Coleman, shared from Flickr

“I have had a LOT of failures and catastrophes in my life; schools I got kicked out of, a failed marriage, rejection in the art and academic world and physical disasters just to name a few.  If I had not had those ‘failures’ and not gained the resulting character I now have, I would not be able to take the successes I have had in a good, positive and mature way (which I attempt to do).
Our successes reveal the character we’ve built during our failures.”
Marty Coleman, the Napkin Dad

Part of our ongoing series on failure.

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September 21, 2011 Filed Under: failure, success

Failure can lead you somewhere better

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Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford caught at the premier of
Cowboys and Aliens
by jyw104 on Flickr

“What made you choose acting as a profession?”
“Failure in all other fields.”

Harrison Ford.
(found on IMDB)

Part of our series on the importance of failure and how you respond to it.

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August 27, 2011 Filed Under: failure

Failure is a mischievous friend

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Failure is a friend and a teacher, but it can be mischievous. Don’t let it scare, intimidate, discourage, or sadden you. You are great, remember.
–Pastor WD Favour, Enugu, Nigeria, via Twitter  

That may be the most interesting view I’ve read in quite a while. Failure is a friend. It can be mischievous. Fascinating!

We’ve done a whole series on failure, and I explained why in the Redefining Failure Masterplan. Every entrepreneur has to face the possibility of failure. In fact, you likely will fail, repeatedly. Get ready for it, get through it, and get moving.

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December 6, 2008 Filed Under: failure

What do you do after you fail?

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I heard these thoughts about failure on Twitter today, and wanted to share them with you, too.

It may help to know that Twitter is a messaging system, with a 140 character limit on message size and rather informal. You’ll find me there, too. These are unedited, just as they appeared. I bolded a few favorites.


ChrisBrogan: What do you do after you fail?

ChrisCree: I get back up! (Oh, sure I might wallow for a bit. But I don’t stay down for long.)

Graydancer: You just keep going. Everything else does, after all. Inching along.

MMcAllen: I usually retreat and regroup then attack from a different formation or position.

douge: Experiencing failure is what drives you to win.


Pistachio: fail again as soon & enthusiastically as possible, until it works. ok that’s what i WANT to do, not always goes that way

guy_david: After I fail, I stop to access. If there’s another way, I try it. If there is no other way, I move on to something else.

KevinKS: I don’t fail. I “conclude a learning experience.”

dotboom: After I fail, I try to succeed at something larger, and even more improbably.

Randelaw: you mean once the nightmare is finally over? Determine the errors in judgement and vow not to commit them again

ChelPixie: if I fail I look to make sure I can’t fix it, absorb, take a deep breath and move on.

Vaspers: we have nothing to fear but success (i.e. scaling) itself. Then again, I’m a Zero Defects perfectionist. Fail = an experiment

Chuckumentary: I failed repeatedly all week. I just knew Friday the 13th would turn my luck around. I get PO’d when I fail, but channel it…?

misc: *after* i fail? you’re assuming i’ve stopped!

geosteph: about 14 years ago I ‘failed’ my Ph.D program in geology…and found my perfect career! so far living very happily ever after!

Mobasoft: Failure is only an opinion – typically one which is given by those who are weak in spirit and drive.

andreamercado: post-mortem the problem, learn from mistakes, try again. :)

mochant: when I was a ski instructor I told students that if you didn’t have one great wipeout each day you weren’t trying hard enuf.

guy_david: After moving to something else, I sometimes come back and see it in a different perspective.

ConnieReece: sometimes learning how NOT to do something is an invaluable prelude to figuring out the right way.
ConnieReece: Thomas Edison did not get discouraged when experiments failed because each failure brought him one step closer to an invention that worked.

timcoyne: as an actor/writer in LA, “failure” is a constant. the biggest danger is getting used to failure. tricky balance.


ChrisBrogan: Follow-up question: do you know when to quit? Do you know when to call the whole thing off?


ChelPixie: No I don’t know when to quit. Let’s just say I like to fix things. It takes me a while to give up on something as lost.

GrayDancer: of course I know when I should quit. Usually it’s a small-but-significant time before I actually do…

BassGhost: when I run out of alternate approaches.

KevinKS: “fail” quickly and with thanks, then get onto the next attempt.

goodthingscomin I learn a lesson from failing. I adjust future endeavors. Quitting is something I have a hrd time with. But again, I’m learning

misc: as for quitting, as i was telling chelpixie earlier, i plan to throw in my towels as soon as i can procure a big enough hamper.

If you like those, read more of our series on failure.

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July 13, 2007 Filed Under: failure, success
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