Failure Is A Part Of Life - But What Do You Do About It?

Failure is often viewed by the public as the opposite of success and is often described as the state or occurrence of not achieving a desired or planned outcome. The criteria for failure vary significantly and can be based on self-imposed criteria, by an observer, or based on a certain societal perspective. For instance, in some circles, success and failure are equated with privilege, while in other circles, both are seen as near-certainty.


Failure is not a single, uneventful event. In fact, there are many different types of failures, each of which is defined by the circumstances surrounding its occurrence. While all types of failure may befall a person, there are certain basic types that are more common than others.

The most common type of failure is perceived and sometimes actual. That is, it can be said that the failure has been 'seen' or 'known' by the person failing. It is in this sense that the word fizzle refers to something that has 'not happened'. Fizzle also has a second form as a verb, which means 'to become flustered'. The etymology of the word is unknown, but both forms are derived from Latin words meaning 'not fade'.

The second most common form of failure is often associated with an external source. This is most commonly expressed in the literature as a literary work. In academic writing, the term non-fiction is used to describe work that is not primarily historically real or true, but based on opinions, guesswork, or even fiction. While generally accepted as a description of an event, the etymology of the word shows that it originated from the verb to falsify, which means to make false claims.

A third common, yet very different form of failure is a personal failure. This is the kind of failure where the person failing is a direct product of their own actions. The most common examples of this would be the failure of education, professional success, and personal character. The use of the word pathology to describe such failure illustrates this point: the very definition of pathology is a departure from the normal or expected. So, where the behavior of the individual in question exhibits abnormal or undesirable behavior, it is not uncommon for a psychologist to describe that behavior as pathological.

The fourth form of failure is oftentimes called progressive failure. This is where the effect of one action carries over into another subsequent action. For example, during the course of an occupation one worker may get up to speed in a new technological program; another worker who has been employed in the same occupation for many years may take years to adapt. A psychologist may call both of these cases progressive non-accomplishment, or just simply non-accomplishment. The psychologist who uses this term, however, must be careful as in this definition there is no distinction between an acceptable and unacceptable degree of deviation from the norm.

In the final analysis, the term failure is used to describe a set of behaviors that are inconsistent with normal behavior. Those who experience such behaviors can use the term failure to describe their state of mind-the state of being at least partially "in the blues." For them, the loss of a loved one, a disaster, personal conflict, economic collapse, or other major life event can lead to the blues, if not a total failure. For those who cannot manage the blues, failure is not the end but a new beginning. Psychologists will often remind their patients that failure is not the end, but a starting point toward something better, a new beginning.

To succeed one has to have self-esteem and the ability to see oneself as capable of succeeding. It is helpful to remember that the word failure was coined to deride the arrogance of those who felt that they were exempt from learning, and who failed to see the possibility of their own success. By contrast, successful people have the belief that they are not helplessly doomed to live a life of failures, but that they can rise above the blue to reach the stars. This belief gives them the will to succeed. No power, no skill, no training, no background, no personality, nothing about them could stand in the way of their success unless the potential to succeed was understood.

For any given person, there is always the chance to succeed, even when failures occur. If you want to succeed, then you need to start by accepting the fact that you won't succeed without failure. Don't push it off away. If you do, you'll lose what's important to you. Failure does not define you.


The important thing to keep in mind is that we all have the capacity for success, and the only thing preventing us is failure. Success is an individual thing. Some will succeed quickly, some won't, and there will be those who never achieve anything. What you want is for something to be able to overcome your failure, and for that thing to be able to persist in spite of whatever obstacles you might throw in its path. Only then will you be able to say that you succeeded in overcoming failure.