On a scale of 1-10, how much of a failure are you?
1 = Beyond awesome and perfectly flawless
5 = I experience both failure and success
10 = I suck at life. All. The. Time.
Most of us would probably put ourselves in the middle. We don’t like to (or want to) fail, but it happens. We also experience success.
You see, there’s this thing about failure. We fear it more than anything. It cripples us to consider it. It knocks the wind out of us to even imagine it happening.
You’ve got to rid yourself of that fear.
A couple days ago I had the privilege of guest posting for Church Mag on “How To Fail As A Worship Leader In 10 Easy Steps”. I would encourage you to head over there and contribute to the dialogue.
In that tongue-in-cheek post I outlined how failure as a worship leader is more about bad habits than it is about big mistakes on stage. But the question begs to be asked, “What happens if you do fail?”
You fall short?
Get reprimanded?
Lose your job?
Your worship set becomes train wreck central?
Your leadership is questioned?
The Truth About Successful People
I’ve failed many times – more than I’d like to admit. Like the one time I said “crap” instead of “clap”. Big difference between lifting up a “crap” and lifting up a “clap”.
Epic fail.
The most successful people aren’t successful because they never fail. They’re successful because they’ve harnessed failure to their advantage.
Try it. Evaluate the people you look up to the most. I guarantee you, they learned how to recover from failure.
You see, there’s a right way and a wrong way to respond to it.
Failure happens. But what you do after moments of failure makes all the difference.
Why failure can be the best thing for you
- It reveals a weak area you can improve
- It teaches you humility
- It creates space for others to step in where you’re weak
- It illuminates how much you need God
- It provides opportunity for feedback
Failure doesn’t benefit you when:
- You don’t change
- You give up
- You remain proud
- You don’t include others
- You turn your back on God
As John Maxwell says, the next time you fail, fail forward. Keep going. Submit to the underlying lesson and become better.
This is far from easy, but your full potential relies on it.
Question: how has failure made you a better person? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Failure has always made me a better person.
I embrace failure because it helps me become a better person, and motivates me forward. I have noticed when I failed in a big way, those were the times I really changed for the better. It really does illuminate how much we need God. Great post, David!
Very true, Don. It took me a long time to learn this. I used to fail at something and retreat or give up. Or I would never take a risk for fear of failing. It’s so much better to learn from it.
It’s hard to pick a favorite part of this post. It’s all so good. One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn was killing my pride and allowing my failures to help me improve at what I do. Great post, dude.
Not easy, right?
Great points, David! We all fail at one time or another. I think we oftentimes follow this line of thinking: “If I fail at this, they’ll fire me. If they fire me, I won’t be able to provide for my wife and family. Then, my wife will leave me. Then, I’ll end up on the street with no where to go.” Or maybe I’m the only one whose thought like this before! Failure is RARELY what we expect it to be.
I wrote about facing our fears last week and it seemed to resonate with a lot of people (http://bit.ly/jQhVfw). The point is, we can never totally insulate our lives against failure – and why would we anyway? Failure is a great teaching tool.
Great post, Jason! Seems like we’re on the same page 🙂
I saw a saying the other day that went something like, “you don’t gain experience by doing everything right. Experience is achieved through error.” Pretty accurate, in my opinion.
This might seem like a weird response but failing has helped me not take myself too seriously. Sometimes its easy to get so caught up trying to be the big, huge, ‘thus saith the Lord’ vision guy. But looking back at a trail of failures and terrible ideas is a way to lighten up and remember that following Jesus is a journey of faith. In other words, failure and unknowns are guaranteed.
Failure stinks but there’s always a little part of me that rejoices when I see my resume of failed endeavors because I feel like I’m in good company [every one that did anything significant failed many times]. Going long seasons without failure [or criticism] is a good sign that I’m coasting or not pushing the limits.
Thanks for giving me space to share process some thoughts bro.
Failure sucks. Been there, done that, multiple times in major life areas. But God will use it for good if you “hang on to the Lord no matter what”. John Maxwell’s book “Failing Forward” is really helpful for hope and perspective.
I actually haven’t read the book, but I did read a blog post on it.