Falling Forward

Today I am going to reveal the hidden benefits of the F-word. Okay, we are all adults in here so let me just come clean and say it…Failure.


Many of us are afraid of this word. Afraid of the way it looks, the way it sounds, and the way it makes us feel.

Envision yourselves as that little baby we all were when we took our first hesitant steps. Our shaky legs learn the rhythm and the motion of walking, but before we have the formula down pact, we make an attempt to walk. There was a pitter patter of uncoordinated steps and then (CLAP) SPLAT! Down on our faces. More often than not we got up and tried again. All of us seemed to have learned how to walk—but I bet we fell more than once!

When we became adults, if we fall what is the first thing we do? Usually pop up and look around and think, “I hope no one saw that”. We become ashamed of our falls and failures. We hide from failure we avoid taking risks that may result in failure.

Me? I am well acquainted with failure. I have failed BIG—I got kicked out of the Peace Corps, a job I loved. I was escorted out of the country by an armed member of the Embassy. There was nowhere to hide from that failure. So I had to confront it. I’m glad I did. Failure is a great teacher. It teaches us more than success can. I learned about my limits, I discovered who my true friends were, and I uncovered strength I didn’t even know I had. But most importantly, I got up and tried again. Failing fast and failing forward is a hidden secret to success. I condensed this philosophy into 3 main points:

Accept Failure. Don’t be ashamed of the failures in your life. Accept and embrace them. I hope you realize from that little baby taking its first step—failure is a part of life. The sooner you accept failure the quicker you can move on.
Ask for Help. One thing we can learn from failure is that we are not alone in our struggles. When we were babies we fell down, got up, we may have looked around to see if anyone was willing to lend a helping hand or even get a kiss for the boo-boo on our knee. When we fail…it is good to reach out for help. Don’t be afraid to say you need it because everyone needs help sometime. Ask your true friends for help giving feedback—what did you do that caused the failure? What can be done differently next time?
Fail forward. The baby learning to walk will fall and get right back up and try again. The falls do not define us. They do not paralyze us or scare us out of giving it another shot. Failing forward means using failures as stepping stones to success.


Hopefully these tips will help you to remember how to make the most of failure. In this holiday season it can ironically force us to focus on our deficits—what we can’t do for our families, what we haven’t done in our personal lives or careers. Treat failure as a moment of abundant learning. As I mentioned earlier, failure is a great teacher. Make sure you are ready to be a great student. Learn what your limits are, uncover your strengths and weaknesses, what works and doesn’t work. Next time you fall, fall forward.