What Has Failure Taught You?

Much of the wisdom I have in life (not much, but the little I have) was learned by a mistake or hard circumstance in my life. I have learned a lot from failure and that experience has been used so many times to help others who are staring at failure. (2 Cor 1:3-7)

What are some lessons you have learned from failure? Are you allowing God to use the low points in your life to help others with their struggles?

I recently read these tips for dealing with failure in a FORTUNE Magazine article (June 9, 2008). These are worth repeating. (The article point in bold is from the article. Comments after are mine.)

1. Keep taking risks. Don’t give up just because you have failed. We all fail.

2. Don’t let the doubters get you down. Someone is always going to try and steal your joy. Many people love to kick you when you’re down.

3. Seek a purpose. We should never, ever, ever, stop dreaming. Have something to aim for and pour your best energy into it. (Obviously family and relationships should be tops on your purpose list.)

4. Visualize your next big win. Winners think like winners. Don’t let losing keep you from anticipating a big win. The mental attitude you bring to the game is 1/2 the battle.

5. Learn from your mistakes. Many people credit failure as the thing that drove them to seek more success. Failure, if you allow it to, can be your best friend by causing you to work harder, take a new risk, or go in a direction you might never have pursued.

6. Remember: Failure can be temporary. The best of the best have had tremendous times of failure. Research people like Abraham Lincoln and you’ll find many failures before they stumbled on great success.

Your road to great victory may be through failing greatly!