• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Failure forms your character more than success

By Becky McCray

Winter - The Human Condition
One of the Napkin Dad’s artworks
(c) Marty Coleman, shared from Flickr

“I have had a LOT of failures and catastrophes in my life; schools I got kicked out of, a failed marriage, rejection in the art and academic world and physical disasters just to name a few.  If I had not had those ‘failures’ and not gained the resulting character I now have, I would not be able to take the successes I have had in a good, positive and mature way (which I attempt to do).
Our successes reveal the character we’ve built during our failures.”
Marty Coleman, the Napkin Dad

Part of our ongoing series on failure.

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

  • About the Author
  • Latest by this Author
Becky McCray wearing long braids and a professional outfit smiles as she stands on a rural downtown street with twinkling lights in the background.
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.

www.beckymccray.com
  • Want to Open a Cafe? Start With Wing Night Wednesdays
  • Small town marketing secret: Have something to invite people to
  • More experience-based retail: the Charm Bar, Valentine's Rose Bouquet Bar

September 21, 2011 Filed Under: failure, success

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Comments

  1. Ray says

    September 22, 2011 at 4:35 am

    Only the smart ones learn from their failures

  2. Lily says

    September 22, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    I am almost at the point where I enjoy looking back on old “failures” – I would never be where I am today if it weren’t for them.

  3. Tom Grenier says

    September 25, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    In the past I would usually cut my losses and not look back at failed projects, but recently I have been going back and looking at them for inspiration.

  4. Becky McCray says

    September 25, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    After enough years, there are some failures I can look back on at least with pride for trying. Others are still too awful to look at. But hiding our failures, acting like they never happened, doesn’t gain us anything. Thanks for your insights, friends.

  5. MissDazey says

    September 25, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    From my cabin on top of the hill, I can look down on many successes and failures, with a fair amount of “who cares” events. A trick I learned was to not dwell on bad times to the point of not going on.

    As I journey down the hill, I am counting on doing somethings wrong. It’s a good sign I’m alive.

  6. Becky McCray says

    September 25, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    That is a terrific perspective, Miss Dazey. And not an easy one to come to.

  7. daddybrain says

    September 28, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    Failure is actually a future success in disguise.

    Joey
    http://www.daddybrain.wordpress.com

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses. Logo with "Shop Indie Local"Move Your Money, bank local, invest localMulticolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week"Save Your Town logotype

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2026 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in