7 Reasons Why Failure is Necessary Before Achieving Ultimate Success

Failure is a word that most people perceive as negative, but it is something that inevitably directs us through life, plots out our courses of action, and contributes to everything that we are. Failure is a necessary element in our lives that benefits us and creates a positive impact. Here are seven reasons why we need to embrace failure as part of our journey towards success.

Perspective is everything

Failure helps to deliver some necessary perspective. How can you enjoy the view from the top without having crawled your way up from the bottom? Success without failure lacks meaning and substance, and you would have no appreciation for what you have achieved. Perspective from both ends will help you connect with those who are travelling down (or up) the same path that you’ve travelled, provide guidance, and illustrate your wisdom.

The struggle justifies the victory

The feeling you get when you achieve something that you’ve worked so hard to attain—this is what builds a full appreciation for it and makes your success feel like an actual success. Making that crucial effort allows everything to feel worthwhile at the end, and it lets you know that you’ve really earned the success that you’ve worked so hard to achieve. In many cases, the journey is more influential in our lives and more memorable than the destination itself.

It builds a legitimate sense of entitlement

Achievement backed by struggle, sacrifice, and success creates genuine self-respect, righteousness, and legitimate sense of entitlement. People who are handed everything on a silver platter do not necessarily deserve it or earn it. When you achieve something through dedication, sacrifice, and hard work, you are entitled to it.

You learn about yourself from failure

Mistakes are failures; they are also one of the best ways to learn. Rejections are failures; they are also motivators to try harder. A major part of life is learning how to respond to failure effectively. Rather than letting a rejection trap you in a downward spiral, let it motivate you to fuel your future efforts. Failure makes you stronger, wiser, and creates a tolerance that evolution promotes.

Failure makes you want it that much more

Failing to do something will re-animate and possibly invigorate your ambitions. If it’s something you really want, your thirst for it will grow. For example, failing along the way towards becoming a doctor, but still working towards becoming one, makes you realize that becoming a doctor is exactly what you’re meant to do—that it is your purpose.

Failure can be a window of opportunity

Failure allows you to try new things, explore different avenues, and helps you discover things that you did not initially fathom. For instance, a failed relationship helps you identify what you really want in a significant other. Failure in pursuing your occupational ambitions can help you redirect your focus towards a more appropriate path. In many cases, it can also help you realize that your time and energy are better spent elsewhere.

It prompts re-evaluation

Failing at something provokes a reassessment of your circumstances, helps you hone your analytical abilities, and potentially identifies any shortcomings in your day-to-day effectiveness. Trial and error is an inevitable basis of achieving a desired result. You will end up building on your failures, treating them as wisdom, and using that experience as an advantage.

In Conclusion

Embracing failure is far from easy—it can be a painful and humiliating experience—but it’s also one of the most crucial and necessary ingredients when it comes to achieving ultimate success. Life is a story that involves some measure of conflict, struggle, and the need to persist. Failure creates a positive imprint in us and helps to teach us life lessons that cannot be learned elsewhere. In the words of Charles Bukowski, “What matters most is how well we walk through the fire.”

It is therefore important to ask yourself if you’ve approached everything the right way, if you had been prepared enough, or if you could have done anything differently. Most importantly, monitor your responses to things that don’t go the way you want them to. Do you become too easily discouraged when faced with an undesired result? Or do you build from it, treat it as wisdom, and use that experience as an advantage?