What Failure Really Means
There are two ways we can view failure:
- “I AM a failure.”
- “I HAD a failure.”
The first one is personal. We embody the failure, and let that define who we are as a person. It stops us from trying again, because well, we failed at it didn’t we? What good will trying again do?
Pretty stifling if you ask me.
The second is to simply acknowledge failure as something that just… is. It happens, it’s disheartening, but we focus more on what was learnt from this failure and what we will apply for next time. Importantly, we DO NOT let it change how we view ourselves.
So how do we translate this in schools?
Students downright believe failure is the worst of the worst. That’s not surprising when a teacher hands back your failed test with a grimace, or when schools laud ‘high achievers’ over ‘high improvers’.
It’s not easy to change. To channel the mindset ‘I HAD a failure’ means the whole school must believe it. Principals, teachers all need to talk openly about their failures, catch and acknowledge their mistakes real-time, ie. to normalise it. We need to praise resilience, to view failure as an essential tool to grow, and not an indictment on ourselves.
Failure isn’t bad.
Failure just is.
Inspired by Julia Kristina Counselling - “How to get past your fear of Failure”
