What to do when you fail: 10 steps to transform failure into success

Failure. A word we all dread. Failure can make us feel less competent, confident or intelligent, yet it’s inevitable. We have all experienced failure in our lives, and while in the short term it can be debilitating, it can also be a springboard to a new learning experience and can sometimes be life changing for the better.

Success and failure are considered opposites, but in fact they work hand in hand. Starting from infancy, we have all encountered failure and success. In order to learn to walk, we have to fall over a couple of times and through persistence, trial and error, we take our first steps and the rest is history. Throughout life we make plenty of mistakes at school, in relationships and throughout our careers, regardless of our experience or intelligence.

Failure is part of being human and is impossible to avoid, but how we deal with failure will determine our success and how we grow and prosper. The Beatles, JK Rowling and Thomas Edison are all known to have faced repeated rejection or failure before their extraordinary success.