Learning from Failure

What do you do when you fail at something? What do you do when you make a mistake or that things don't turn out the way they should?

Let's look back at the circus metaphor. You are an artist in the circus, you have a bad night and your performance doesn't go well. You could blame the ringmaster because he didn't create the build up to your performance that he should have. You could blame the crowd because they are not the refined (or maybe unrefined) individuals that they should be to truly enjoy your craft. You could also have the attitude of, "You win some, you lose some." Or, you could do something different.

The best performers are constantly saying to themselves, "How can I learn from the past and what can I do to create a better performance as a result." If something goes wrong and you don't get the standing ovation that you want, you should take ownership and fix it. There is the old adage that you can learn from history or be doomed to repeat it. What are you going to do to learn from your failures so that you don't repeat them and improve instead? Develop strength, persistence, knowledge, self confidence and courage. These characteristics will lead you to success even though you will meet setbacks along the way.