There’s a statement that seems to trending in the entrepreneurial world these days. It’s a word that, in the past, caused so much fear. People did everything they could to avoid this word. Now it seems like it’s a celebrated thing.
What’s the word? Failure.
The sayings run from “fail forward” to “fail fast” to “fail often.” It seems like everyone is excited to fail. I’ll admit, I have a love/hate relationship with failure. We all know failure isn’t fun. We also know that failure usually isn’t deadly. I think that we as entrepreneurs finally realized that if we don’t die from failure, it might not be that bad. Then, we noticed that if we learn from our failures, it’s really kind of ok.
So, bring on the failure. But wait… what about success? I get that we can learn a lot from failure, but isn’t it better to be successful? Hell yes it is! It’s always better to be successful. Sure, you might fail at this or that, so learn and move on to something you can and will succeed at. I’m a huge fan of Gary Vaynerchuck and he constantly says, “Bet on your strengths.” I believe that to my core. Betting on your strengths helps you avoid unnecessary failure. And if you can replace failure with success, do it. Do it everyday. But, when failure comes, don’t be afraid. Take it head on.
So, is failure good or bad? You tell me.