(’18) How far is failure an essential part of success?

On the surface, failure and success seem to be contradictory. However, with a little thought into it, they are actually two sides of the same coin. To reach success without failure, means to get it in one try. Which is often not the case. Most “successes”, as we know it, only come after a series of failures. As such, failure is undoubtedly a part of success. But how essential? Does it actually push one closer to success or further away from it? There are many possible ways to look at this. Some may say that the way to success is only through failure. However, it is prudent to keep in mind that failure comes at its own cost.

/r/ Failures tell us what went wrong, which lays the groundwork for success. It makes us aware of where we need to correct, and/or improve upon. Only through experiencing the mistake, does one come to realization of the mistake. Consequently, it conditions one to never repeat the same mistake again. Failure serves as the simplest greatest lesson that teaches us what to not do again. This in itself, the correction of failure, might be a form of success. Secondly, without knowing what is wrong, how would we know what is right? Failure reveals that which do not work, and allow us to adjust accordingly. This can be done in various ways, to work on what is lacking, or eliminate it entirely and move on. Either way, failures are anchors. Learning from them hints toward what could be done differently and may possibly shed light onto further directions to move into. In this way, through trial and error, slowly but surely, one moves towards success. Akin to a maze, beyond all the dead ends, an exit would always exist. When met with a dead end, even if it does not contribute any information as to location of the exit, at the very least, it is the indication that “the exit is not here”. When no other information are available, failures are the invaluable start points that generate information and pave the way for eventual success. Hence, it is an essential part of success.

/r/ Failures force us to do something about them, and incites the mentality for success. Failures force one to work hard and put in effort, for the success. The more energy and effort invested into something, inevitably creates a positive feedback loop where the desire for pay-off intensifies. This desire translates into fixation on the goal, and the tenacity to not stop until it is achieved. Without failure, this hunger for success may not be incited. Also, the more efforts exerted as a result of failure, the sweeter the rewards reaped. In fact, to succeed effortlessly without adversary, can that kind of easy victory even be counted as “success”? Due to their contrasting natures, failure makes the idea of succeeding all that more worthwhile. Its unpleasantness drives one toward success, and enables success to feel truly like success. These factors combined complement each other to greatly enhance one’s desire of success, and subsequently the will to succeed. Even if success does not come immediately, effort and persistence naturally pushes one that much closer to eventual success. As seen, it is failure that can ironically, best draw out these innate psyches and feed back into success. Hence, it can be considered to be the most essential part of success.

/s/ Indeed, the ideal is that failures exert a positive effect that will eventually pay off into success. But, it might not always be true. Unlike what was described above, failure does not so simply and easily guarantee success. Response to failure is a much more complex, unpredictable process, that depends on various factors, the individual and corresponding conditions. Particularly because failure is never pleasant, the reverse might also happen. Anyone, without question, would be affected by it in different ways. But how many would be able to take how much setbacks before eventually breaking? In any case, with every failure comes an increased risk to just give up instead, causing it to backfire on itself. In this case, it pushes a person further away from success. Failures that still occur after one has expended substantial amounts of effort and hard work for instance. Such may greatly change one’s mentality. Someone in that position might start to think that there is no point to working even harder for success, since it would only end up in failure anyway. As seen, feedback to failure can be drastically different, and cause someone to spiral down the rabbit-hole. Feelings of defeat and worthlessness may quickly take over. Hence, failures are not always essential to success.

/s/ Lastly, failures also come with external cost. For any of its benefits, there is a consequence as well. There is a price to pay, something is lost to them. Everyone is limited in time and money. Realistically, even if you are prepared to, most do not have the leisure to fail over and over again in vain attempts to success. Failure is certainly the long and winded wayward path to success that does not come for free. Such a path is simply just not accessible to a majority of us. As such, failure may actually be something undesirable, a hindrance that thwarts us from succeeding. Any form of failure comes at a price, big or small. Certain failures may be so drastic/prohibitive that one cannot even afford to even fail again, figuratively or literally, much less reach success. For instance, if failures result in losing something/someone irreplaceable. Particularly in this age where one’s failures are captured and recorded down, past failures never truly go away, and they will haunt us even in the future, preventing us to succeed. Naturally, we cannot hope for a route to success without failure, but one where failure and losses are minimized, is realistically, almost always more guaranteed to success.

It is undeniable that failures bring invaluable lessons. They are important, but only when necessary. “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” Foresight is better than hindsight. Prevention is better than cure. Any failure that can be prevented, should be prevented. By itself, it is not the most essential part of success. To plan carefully, avoid the predictable and choose our failures wisely, such that their benefits are worth the costs, is ultimately the essence to success.