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Make Failure Work For You!

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“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”
– Abraham Lincoln

Failure is one of my favorite topics, because it is a necessary part of success. You must try many things on the way to success, and some of those attempts are bound to fail. The trick is to redefine what how you think of failure. It’s not a negative, or a label, or a permanent condition. Failure is a key to learning and growing.

My sister, Connie Foote, shared this piece by Connie K. Cooley, of Crookston, MN. The subject is make failure work for you.

Failure will either work for you or against you. You can make failure work for you by following these simple steps:

  1. Appreciate the value of failure. Teach yourself to think of it as a mileage marker and see how far you have come!
  2. Don’t take it personally!
  3. Let failure redirect you. If you keep ending up on the same detour that should be telling you a change is necessary.
  4. Keep a sense of humor! This is probably the most important step.
  5. Ask why, not who. Take responsibility and determine a plan of action.
  6. Make failure a learning experience.
  7. Don’t let failure keep you down. Use this powerful affirmation: “I’m never down! I’m either up or getting up.”
  8. Use failure as a gauge for growth. Expect failure; look for it. It is necessary for success.
  9. See the big picture. Failure is not final.
  10. Don’t give up! Don’t give up! Tenacity will mark the winner. Obstacles mark success!

Thanks to both Connies for sharing this gem. If you are interested, we have lots more on the subjects of and

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

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