Be a champion, embrace failure and bounce back

 

Malaysians of all colour and creed rejoiced this week. Lee Zii Jia brought home the famous All England Badminton Singles title. Everyone lavished praise on this young man. He truly deserves all the accolades, having accomplished this feat at the age of 23.

In a year dominated by the fallout from the pandemic, and the never-ending soap opera-like political machinations in our country, this was welcome news for everyone. Everyone needed this feel-good respite.

Whether you are a badminton aficionado, sports enthusiast, or even if you don’t follow any sporting events, as soon as a Malaysian, or our national team wins something, there is a ground swell of pride and nationalism.

A month ago, when our squash legend Nicol David was crowned the World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time, we were all screaming on roof tops.

I neither play badminton nor squash, but when both Ms David and Mr Lee won, it was an honour to be a Malaysian. There are still things that bring us together, in spite of the growing chasms in our nationhood.

As I was browsing through the various commentaries about Lee, I read that he almost hung up his racket at the age of 12, because he wasn’t strong enough. His sister, Zii Jii, also a former national badminton player, described him as a skinny kid who always got out-muscled by bigger lads.

It was sheer encouragement from his folks and coaches that fuelled his resolve to carry on.

Earlier this year, even after some dismal performances that could have easily derailed the aspirations of a young athlete, he persevered and redeemed himself, culminating in this prestigious title.

In the world of sport, as in business and science, history is peppered with anecdotes of people who have failed numerous times before achieving success and noteworthiness.

There is something formulaic that keeps such people motivated. They seem to use every failure, small or large, to actually create a successful career and life.

Warren Buffett, the American business tycoon and philanthropist is considered one of the most successful investors in the world. He is reported to have said that he won’t invest in any business where the owner hasn’t failed…at least twice!

As a management consultant and leadership coach, I come across numerous industry leaders and executives who take active and strategic measures to turn the sting of failure into the reward of growth.

They successfully take setbacks, and find ways to quickly move past self-judgment and blame. They actually embrace failure, and fly past their competitors. And it doesn’t matter whether they are building a business, advancing in their career, or improving their personal life.

It’s quite an achievement to really do this. So, how?

Separate failure and happiness

I have said numerous times that success is just getting what you want. But happiness on the other hand is when you become grateful for everything you have. Most people tend to forget this very basic tenet of life.

Every time you fail, naturally it leads to sadness and frustration. This is fine. For a day or two. But if you continuously wallow in self-pity or fear of failure, it debilitates you.

If you continue to equate your happiness to success, you begin to measure your worth or value as a person with this yardstick. You are not a loser if you failed in one or two businesses, and you are not a failure if you got fired from your job.

The people I meet who eventually succeed believe that they are resilient and can bounce back from failure. They see their self-worth through the ability to keep trying, rather than giving up. And they know that while they may not be good at one thing, this doesn’t mean that they are useless at everything.

Fear as procrastination

You have all met that person who is waiting for “the stars to be aligned” for the perfect opportunity to do something. There is always that better time, or less risky period to do something. Like both my father and my wife (I will be in trouble for this)!

This is when procrastination is disguising itself as fear of failure.

Whether you are seeking to build a business or advance in your career, you can’t succeed without starting, and you need to embrace failure as the key to learn and adapt.

This is in the psyche of every successful person I have met.

Don’t let fear debilitate

Fear incapacitates many people. When this happens, you become unable or just avoid making a decision because you are anxious about failing. This results in lost opportunities.

By avoiding decision-making, you don’t get to hone your leadership or managerial skills and ultimately, every decision you make simply increases self-doubt.

When you commit to learn from every decision, good or bad, you grow.

In situations where the stakes are high, information is scarce, and the environment uncertain, break decisions down to smaller and manageable steps. Then become wiser with each step’s success or failure.

This is how you surmount the fear of failure.

Learning from your failures is the most strategic way to gather and apply tactical knowledge and skills. This only serves to improve your life, career and business.

Be a champion, embrace failure and bounce back! - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.