In life, you are surely going to face different shades of failure.
It will probably be a failure at something you had attempted, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying again with a stronger and smarter comeback.
Quick example: You’re a student, the overall best in mathematics. It has been your legacy from the very beginning of your class.
You have every equation in the palm of your hands, and the senior year mathematics award you’ve always wanted is nearly within reach. Then, a new student is enrolled. Apparently, he was the mathematics ‘guru’ from his school. Or let’s just say you’re an earnest entrepreneur. Your brand started one year ago, and you’re doing relatively okay. Then Jide opens a department store right next to yours. He does not just sell the exact things you do; he is also a sales ‘guru’.
However, this isn’t an issue. You wouldn’t be here if you’ve never countered this type of difficulty before, so, you revamp your marketing team, focus on your product presentation, or as a student, you drill deeper into your studies, because you’re a master at your craft and this new knock-off isn’t going to take your legacy away from you.
Then, it happens. You just received your first continuous assessment result, and he is five marks ahead of you. Your classmates now see him as a competitor to your throne and are beginning to root for him. Or your customers begin to patronise Jide and compare his goods to yours. How are they so brazen? How?
It’s not like you haven’t handled this type of situation before. I mean, your school won a Macmillan award through you. This is just a glitch. So, you take a step back. No, you do not take this step because you’re giving up. It is to re-strategise for your next examinations. You’re certainly going to put him in his place this time.
Except you do not. Your usual plan doesn’t work out this time, and you’ve been defeated again. This is the point where you realise that this is not one of your regular problems. This one requires your entire attention. You start to work against this problem again.
But this time, your emotions are setting in, and you start to think—maybe you overrate yourself. Your classmates no longer see him as your competitor; they now assume he is the best. Or, half of your workers have moved to Jide’s Mart, plus your supplier has gone missing, and you are out of the goods in high demand. Now things are really getting out of hand.
A regular person might have been brought to a halt if they had had to face this same problem, but guess what? You are not a regular person. You then decide, no more games. The world is probably against you, but then, even the world can’t stop you, so you belt up and begin to devise your next step.
Just then, you walk into another set of problems. You’ve been focusing too much on Jide; you didn’t even see this one coming. Whatever, though. Not like you’ve run out of techniques, you struggle against them, pull all your strings, and streamline every step of your strategy. Despite all this, you fail again. He begins to look like a mountain you cannot move. It looks like this is your end, but no! It isn’t.
You may feel overwhelmed by all these challenges, but it’s okay to feel overwhelmed, because you will always come back up, undeterred and ready to conquer. Somehow, you will regain the strength to overcome.
You might fail again, but it’s fine. Those failures will only make you stronger, strong enough to finally succeed.
