Failing until successful

Most people have heard the story of Thomas Edison and his brilliant invention of the light bulb. According to the tale, Edison went through 1,000 failures before he found a successful prototype. When asked how it felt to fail that many times, Edison replied, “The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

Success magazine takes a look at this story and how failure is a constant companion to many successful people. The reason that successful people experience many failures, is that the passion inside them drives them to take chances and do things that aren’t sure to work. While it might seem noble to operate under the idea that failure is not an option, this attitude could be a critical error.

Failure teaches lessons
Each step that a person takes out of his/her comfort zone is a step into uncertainty. There might not be a plan. The person might have to react, think on their feet, and develop that plan as they go.

If they experience failure, that person has learned one way how not to accomplish the goal they set out to reach. In the long run, this knowledge can help provide more direction on the next attempt. As the person fails over and over again, they will often get closer to their goal over time until they finally reach it.

Willingness to embrace failure for its positive benefits is a trait that many people are not interested in developing to because they are often afraid to show themselves or others that they are capable of failing.

Becoming Fearless
For a person who values success, it is crucial to become fearless in the pursuit of success. Progressive companies like Intuit, General Electric, Corning, and Virgin Atlantic have all maintained that great success depends on great risk. Failure is simply a common by-product of the pursuit of success.

In fact, today’s post-recession economy has seen employers actively seeking job candidates that have a track record of great failures as well as great successes. At least they know they will try.