In the 13th season premier of Saturday Night Live, Hanz and Franz coined a phrase which became part of pop culture. “Hear me now und believe me later.”
This catchphrase also applies to this fact: failure is a better teacher than success.
Life can be a bit cruel and uncaring at times, I will grant you that. But if you’re not in contact with and engaged in living life, what are you doing? The key to success and happiness begins with active involvement in life. As I’ve written before, life is a contact sport. Take your wins and your losses in stride and continue on with a lighthearted attitude toward accomplishment in spite of the challenges thrown your way.
Never be afraid to make mistakes. The only people who never make mistakes are those who are not involved in the game. It’s been said that failure is a better teacher than success.
George Bernard Shaw agrees when he writes:
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”
When able individuals fail, they catch their breath, dust themselves off, examine why it happened and correct it to operate better in the future. On the other hand, when some people succeed, often they believe have finally the secret to success and don’t even bother to examine what they did to achieve success. Then when they do fail at some future point (which is inevitable) they are without hope of change, as they don’t know why they failed.
I would much rather have someone in my corner who had been through the pain of failure and who got back on their feet armed with the wisdom of what when wrong; and how to fix it. The guy who never takes risks is not engaged in life. I’m not suggesting that you become reckless. There is a distinct difference between calculated, considered risks and reckless irresponsibility.
But when I find someone who is willing to risk it all on a chance that could result in huge advances forward, willing to be in contact with life, engaged in the battle, this person is far more valuable to me when the chips are down. Simply, I don’t trust someone who has “never failed” or “never lost money.” I’d rather have someone on my side who has the battle scars of life and who has learned from their mistakes.
To such people, failure is a better teacher than success. Because they learn from their mistakes. They grow from adversity as much as they do from success. They thrive on challenge, risk and the adventure of active involvement in life. They always expect to win and take close inventory of what occurred if they don’t. In this way, they learn from their failures and success alike.
To such people, failure is a better teacher than success. Because they learn from their mistakes. They grow from adversity as much as they do from success. They thrive on challenge, risk and the adventure of active involvement in life. They always expect to win and take close inventory of what occurred if they don’t. In this way, they learn from their failures and success alike.
I have always loved that quote by Jack Nicholson, as R.P. McMurphy, in the 1975 movie, “One Flew Over The Cookoo’s Nest.” While incarcerated in a mental institution and failing to escape by throwing a sink through a window, he said to the others watching him, “But I tried, didn’t I? Goddamnit, at least I did that.”
I’d always prefer to be around someone who tried and if they failed, got up and tried again. Failure is a better teacher if you let it help you instead of avoiding it.
Come on in, the water’s fine.
daniel w. jacobs
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