Hey, I’m so glad that you are joining me today & I’m sure the title caught your attention and hence you are here 😊
So let’s unveil the mystery….
To begin….
What do you think `when failure happens’ to you?
Do you believe `Failure is a Steppingstone to Success’? &
Do you agree `Failures Cannot be Permanent’?
Be it professional or personal, what I understood is “Failure is a Best Learning Curve” as it gives us an opportunity to realize there are many alternative ways to acquire our goals. What’s more important is `having the astute vision and changing the mindset positively’ towards failure.
I understand failure is a failure and that’s not good & why to paint that beautifully? I agree it’s painful when you fail and my only request to you is to pause a moment to reflect & change your mindset and ask yourself these 2 simple questions whenever you fail.
1. So what? &
2. What next?
Failures are good as they will tell you that you have been following the wrong path and your strategy was flawed and that’s OK. Learning from failures is probably the best way to broaden our perspectives…. right?
Are you wondering why are we discussing about failure? Because you might have not heard the concept of “The law of wasted efforts” and this information is floating on the internet for ages now. It is valuable for each of us especially those who are professionals, educators, students, parents, and in fact it applies to everyone.
So, let us understand in general the know-how of this universal law `The law of wasted efforts’ – The principles that govern everyone & everything in the universe.
Do you know that king of Jungle (Lion) only succeed in a quarter of their hunting attempts? This means, they fail in 75% of their attempts and succeed in only 25%. Despite this small percentage of wins, they don't despair in their pursuit.
The main reason for this is not because of hunger as some might think, but it is the understanding of the “Law of Wasted Efforts” that have been instinctively built into animals, a law in which nature is governed.
BTW Are you aware, Half of the eggs of fishes are eaten… half of the baby bears die before puberty… most of the world’s rains fall in oceans… and most of the seeds of trees are eaten by birds themselves & -Half of the seeds sown into the soil do not grow at all.
Scientists have found that animals, trees, and other forces of nature are more receptive to the law of “wasted efforts”.
Only humans think that the lack of success in a few attempts is failure, but the truth is that: we only fail when we "stop trying". People who understood this and kept trying are the ones that eventually made it to the top in their profession as well as personal life.
From my end, I’m aware consciously of the law of wasted efforts & I wanted to sensitize you as I came across many people in my life who amplify failure as a huge blocker in their life.
Many students say that I have failed my exams, or I did not get good grades in my exams. So my question to each student who has this kind of thoughts and blocking themselves from growth - Is it a law that you will pass every time? and is that a rule that you have to get good grades all the time? Obviously, no. It all depends on how you have taken action to get the result you intend to.
Another classic example where I was coaching a woman and she outwardly said, I’m a divorce and taking care of her only child as a single parent and that was disturbing her progress. Think about it? Is it a rule that you will have to be successful in all relationships and in every walk of life? and I could sense in our conversation that she is doing really good with her friends, family, career and her relationship with her husband’s family is also great. So what is failure? learning to move on in the relationship is important and not stuck to that one bad part of your life….right?
And yes, somebody questioned me saying that “I see you happy all the time, You are so energetic, you are smiling always & I don’t think you ever get depressed or cry? what do u think was my answer? of course YES. I’m sure you will agree that everybody has ups & downs in life with all sorts of emotions & especially when you argue, disagree, not ok with others behaviors and I also wonder why I got into this argument. Sometimes I feel I’m so dumb & I have realized that’s OK. Please tell me, is it compulsory to have confidence all the time? Is it possible? The answer is No. You should know it depends on the situation and if I have made a mistake or I have messed up, sometimes that tears get rolling. Yes, I do cry and one of my mentors told me it is good to cry and express your emotions as it makes you feel better, lighter & it’s true.
I learn from my mistakes or failure and move on & the fact is our expectation towards life to be perfect and in a better way and my way is the biggest reason for our unhappiness. So friends we need to understand the law of impermanence of nature & I keep saying for many people that after each sunny day there has to be dark night and night is also good because you are able to get good sleep, rest well when there is a night. If you want to see a full moon to come again it has to pass through no moon right? and if you want to see the rainbow this summer…is it possible? you have to wait for the rain to come + the sun to shine to see the rainbow.
Again friends, in this imperfection of nature there is perfection. Stop taking your failures to your heart and making it so huge and get hurt deeply & mess the whole life. Believe that it is just the cycle which u need to pass through & that’s part of your life. However, get conscious not to take too much time to bounce back & learn how to decide quickly & it is not uncertain situations but an uncertain mind that often leads to failure. So believe in nature and prepare yourself because even failures cannot be permanent.
I agree 100% this feeling `fear of failure or rejection’ would still bother your subconscious mind. Just see around the journey of life, instances like a mother giving birth; the child growing; when the child starts going to school; getting admission to school; when the student working on his final year; employee of his project deliverables; getting into relationship & every instance there exists a fear.
so I want you to be aware consciously & get ready to get absorbed to deal with the fear of failure or rejection.
BTW, get ready there will always be many more rejections compared to our success and achievements. Let's grapple with this which leads to self-doubt about our own capability and knock this off to get better. I acknowledge whenever I failed or got rejected for my projects, I appreciate the process I focus on learning and continue with never give up attitude and that’s what `Law of Wasted Efforts’ is all about.
I have to share a few exemplary leaders’ examples here:-
Apple will be the top brand when it comes to phones and the then CEO Steve Jobs was once a College dropout, fired from his own company & then succeeded in becoming a CEO of Apple again & he's known as a master of innovation.
I'm sure we have grown up in this childhood story, hearing to Thomas Alva Edison story where his teachers told him he's too stupid to learn anything and he failed thousand times while inventing the lightbulb and he turned out to be a winner of 22 Academy Awards
For all our cricket fans - MS Dhoni, one of the greatest cricketers initially played badminton and football, & he took up the job of a train ticket examiner in the Indian railways as he hails from a lower-middle-class family & today Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain of Indian Cricket Team and his records are the best among all Indian captains to date and his leadership style has become learning for aspiring leaders.
Coming to politics - Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, has faced many odds in his path. He started working at an early age by distributing newspapers after school & he had average grades in his schooling. From there on, Dr. Kalam joined thee Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as a scientist and went on to head the organization as an Indian scientist and he also became the 11th President of India.
There are 100’s of examples around us and look at all successful people around you from Amitabh Bachchan to Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Walt Disney , Ratan Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, Narayan Murthy and observe all other successful people around you. They have failed multiple times before becoming successful in whatever profession they are in.
So I finally understood that whether it’s about surviving in nature or hunting as a predator or playing the game or building an IT giant company, this awareness of wasted efforts made these people sharper, better, richer to ultimately succeed in reaching their goals.
To conclude,
You can halt or take rest momentarily but you cannot say QUIT, because success does not come after a few attempts of failure; you need to keep trying, never give up till you succeed, so learn to grow in your life at each stage and go beyond by understanding the Power of your Wasted Efforts.
Also, let's agree that all of us are vulnerable to faults, we have our own weaknesses, and failures will happen. Don’t shy away from owning your mistake or failure. When it happens believe that that you are wiser today than you were yesterday as you have enhanced your knowledge in this process.
The universal success secret mantra for Law of Wasted efforts will simply be `Learn from Failure… Take Action… Don’t Quit… Continue! all over again….. until you Succeed!
With this note, wishing you all the best and take pride in your wasted efforts while you continue to aim your goals for success 😊
To listen: http://bit.ly/ep45failureisok Thank You!