Why you should see failure as a pathway to success

By Olaiya Olayiwola

“Every failure gives us an opportunity to change, because every failed attempt brings about a challenge that will eventually change us.” – OLAIYA OLAYIWOLA

Failure is one of life’s greatest teachers and instructors as long as we are not trampled by it – as long as we are willing to learn from it.

Have you asked yourself why you fail at something that you have great passion for? It’s often because we start too strong and go too fast. Success is a slow and steady race, it is not for the swift-footed, it is for those who endure till the end because they do not mistake purpose for power. But even if you fail when you start it is public knowledge that “if at first you do not succeed, try and try again”, endure to the end, persevere till you see the finish line and continue walking after you’ve gone past it.

Learning from failure is what is called gathering experience. Failure teaches us many things including:

. Lessons on character and attitude.

. Lessons on endurance and perseverance.

. Lessons on not making the same mistakes twice and most importantly

. Lessons on depending on God.

When we realize that “we miss 100% percent of the shots that we never take,” we start taking risks and doing it with FEAR (Facing Everything And Rising) and gusto. You can never fail at what you have passion or, do not mistake experience for enthusiasm. Don’t be afraid to fail, instead be willing to sit and learn so as to graduate quickly and with high honors to the first class upper rank of success.

The journey from failure to success is a long walk but if you pursue that journey with focus and

concentration not on your present location but your determined destination you’ll make it. Failure is inevitable at certain points in our life, there is no crime in failing, on the contrary the crime is not making the effort or worse making the effort and not seeing that effort through to completion.

Let us always remember this, the fact that we are alive on this earth means that we were successful, so remember this.

The song we never sing will never make it to the bill-board best-seller. The book we never write will never make it to the best-seller list. “Success is often nothing more than moving from one failure to the next with undiminished enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill.

History is full of stories of people who had something of real value but who gave up too soon.

Yes, there are real obstacles; lack of money, lack of interest by others, lack of expertise, lack of

knowledge, lack of co-operation. But these are obstacles that can be overcome, even if you have to rest awhile to do something to stay alive. As long as that passion is alive, there is hope. When the passion dies, so does the dream. It’s in you to give a peak performance in the arena of your dreams, that’s only if you do not let temporary failures extinguish and snuff your passion.