Fail Brilliantly

Fear of failure is, to an extent, a part of our human DNA. 

In the moment, no one enjoys feeling disappointed. But just as fear of failure is a part of the human DNA, failure is a part of the human experience. 

There will be times when we fall flat on our faces due to a mix of factors, some in our control and some not.

In test prep, fear of failure might lead you to avoid practicing certain sections (or avoid practicing at all). It might lead you to put off checking your work or to procrastinate reviewing the questions you answered incorrectly. 

​It might cause that flurry of butterflies (or is that a tsunami?) in your stomach when you think about the official test day, or receiving your score report, or submitting your scores to colleges. 

"What if I fail?" you think. 

What happens if you never improve, or if your best efforts aren't good enough? What if it feels like you just can't do anything right?

When those thoughts come up, name five proactive steps you've taken to help prepare you for the test. 

Simply articulating what you've done in the service of your goal will help you to feel better when fear of failure rears its ugly head. Plus, the more prepared you are, the less likely you are to be thrown on test day. 

Second of all, keep in mind what I said at the end of last week's post: "It's not brave if you're not scared."

Fear—of failure or anything else—does not need to shut you down. In fact, courage by definition necessitates overcoming fear. Courage is continuing to act in spite of fear. 

Sometimes courage takes the form of a dramatic act; more often, it is continuing to take small, consistent, positive actions even though we are afraid. 

Third—and here is where we get into the juice of today's post--FAIL. But, please, don't just fail a little. Fail a lot. Fail really, really badly. 

Fail BRILLIANTLY. Brilliant in the way that the sun shines—so bright you can't even look at it without hurting your eyes. 

Guess what happens when you fail so badly that it feels like you could never possibly move on. You do. 


Think of the mythological phoenix. It doesn't die a slow death. It goes up in flames. And then? It is reborn. 

No matter how badly you fail, there will always be a next breath, a new chance to try again. 
And the only way that you can recognize this fact of life is by failing brilliantly.

It's only in the moment when you pick yourself up and say, "I'm stronger than this experience. I'll learn what I can from it and move on, continuing to take actions in the service of my goals," that you recognize how resilient you are and how forgiving the world actually is.

The more you invest in a pursuit, the higher the stakes feel. When the stakes are highest we fear failure the most. 
Through passion, there is fire.
When you fail brilliantly, you go up in flames. 
Unless you've given it your all, it's impossible to fail brilliantly. 


And it's only through pursuing our goals with the kind of fervor it would take to fail brilliantly that we can achieve our greatest successes. {Tweet It}

When was a time that you failed brilliantly? Or, a time that you succeeded by taking the risk of possibly failing brilliantly? 


As always, I love to hear your comments below.
And, if you feel inspired, please share this post with your social networks.

Subscribe for E-mail Updates