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Ever since the origin of earth it’s inhabitants both living and non-living have constantly tried to evolve in order to reach a higher state of consciousness. But this process has not been easy and definitely not flawless. T. If you are successful in doing so you might reach your planned destination or else there is a great possibility that you might get stuck and eventually end up some were else.
We now fail nature with great impunity but examining closely, intrinsically nature itself has it’s own share of failures. So how did nature cope with failures when the human race has made a mess out of it?. The answer to this lies in the Darwinian evolutionary theory — ‘Survival of the fittest’. This unfortunately is also the most misused phrase in recent times. A jelly fish for instance has been around for 550 million years and that is quite a long time. This is a huge success to the entire species but does this mean that they never failed?. No, they did fail, but successfully!!. They learnt from their failures and made suitable adaptations while other species that did not learn from their failures and shortcomings simply perished. This for me is the real essence of ‘Survival of the fittest’ and also the philosophy to address success and failure.
METHODOLOGY - LEARNING THE ART
The first step in mastering “The Art of Failing Successfully” is to see failure and success in a whole new light. We tend to glorify and celebrate success while failure is seen as an undesirable event. Failure should not be regarded as a bad thing which should be avoided, mourned and punished, but should be intended as a simple evidence for the need to change and innovate.
The relationship between success and failure is critical and operates between a very thin line. Success is not ultimate but failure is proximate to success. In fact failure presents an opportunity for continued learning and growth.
CHALLENGES - POTENTIAL ROAD BLOCKS
The hardest prison to get out is once own mind. So the greatest challenge within the challenges that comes in our way is to manage our thoughts in the right way and consequently increase our effectiveness. The right way is by winning through failure, coping with failure and collaborating with failure.
CASE STUDIES- PEOPLE WHO FAILED SUCCESSFULLY
Michael Jordan one of the greatest basketball player in the history of the sport did fail and failed big too. He missed more than 9000 shots in his career, lost almost 300 games, 26 occasions he had been entrusted to take the winning shot but missed it!!. He failed over and over again in his life and that is how he succeeded.
Florence May Chadwick wanted to swim the 26 miles between the Catalina Island and California coastline. She began her swim well but a thick fog had set in making visibility a great challenge, however she went ahead with the swim but finally she gave up her mission as she was unable to see the coastline due to fog. A few moments later she realized that she was only one mile away from the coastline when she had aborted the mission. She was devastated, yet after two months she again took up the same mission.The same thick fog set in but this time around nothing could stop her and she completed the mission successfully.
THE CONCLUSION
The world around us wants us to know what it has to say, and that is not necessarily what we ought to know!. The perception built around failure and success is a divisive one and not a collaborative one. It is just like black and white, no one really talks about the grey area. People also on the same lines want to know, read and feed on success stories.
I have in this pursuit tried to dwell on the grey area and highlighted the inseparable relationship between success and failure. Moreover success and failure are purely personal concepts and it is you who define it. I on my part have tried to clear the thick fog that has engulfed our lives, but you will have to swim for yourself!!
Next time you are on a pursuit to label someone as a ‘Failure’ Just Think twice😉GOODBYE!!!