Fail First. Win Always

Confidence is Built Through Failure

Confidence is a major factor in achievement. We all want more of it, but it’s built in ways that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Most people think that confidence comes from success, achievement, or capability. That’s true—but at its source, it must first come through failure.

Failure is not enjoyable! Most people turn back at the slightest possibility of failure. The special few who have experienced it and used it to propel themselves forward understand that learning to fail fast and fail forward builds an unstoppable confidence.

Rejection is God’s Redirection

Most people view failure as a roadblock set up as a “sign” that this path isn’t for you. But if you are on the path to something that you want, God will not erect roadblocks to stop you.

They may be there to make you better. Maybe they are there to test you. But if you want something, you should never accept failure as anything more than an opportunity to learn and course correct.

Your mind is a servo-mechanism designed like an airplane autopilot to take you to your desired destination regardless of turbulence or sidewinds. These devices have built-in failure mechanisms designed to recognize when they are off course and redirect. They rely on failure in order to navigate to their destination.

It’s easy to accept this is true for airplanes and tractor GPS systems because we have firsthand experience. It’s more challenging to understand that our brains use the same cybernetic mechanisms—because we often haven’t experienced it in a long time.

The Comfort Zone Trap

Most people are comfortable. If they set out to pursue something and hit turbulence, they will turn back to their comfort zone. But for you and for me, it hasn’t always been this way.

When you were a baby, you sat around and eventually became aware of everyone moving around you. You wanted to be with them, and a desire was built in you to learn how to keep up. You explored how to get up and walk. You failed, time and time again. But you wanted it—you had a desire that was so strong nothing would stop you. You persisted until you finally triumphed. Now you walk around with complete confidence! All built on failure.

You have experienced this cycle over and over in your life, but like most people, you likely began to get comfortable. And that is a trap that takes a lot of courage to escape!

Building Character Through Failure

Attainment is easy—anyone can handle getting what they want. Those wins can stack up and slowly build confidence. But to really build character, to be able to grow towards more, you have to build confidence in your ability to fail and persist towards what you want.

It starts with gratitude. Look back at your failures and challenges. Be grateful for them! They all happened for you, not to you. If you carry that perspective and recognize that you have survived every failure you have experienced—and they have all been used to make you the amazing version of you that you have become—you will become unstoppable!

Look for opportunities to challenge yourself. Learn to fail fast and fail forward. Build your confidence in your ability to consistently triumph over setbacks and view them through a sense of gratitude, and you will experience success beyond what you can imagine.