What Has Failure Taught You?

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” ― Christopher McDougall

Through the years, failure has become my favorite teacher. I have learned the most about myself in times when I experienced failure. Nothing will force you to grow more than failing at something you’ve long strived for. Culturally, we are conditioned to talk about our successes and hide our failures from public consumption. I think we should challenge that way of thinking and lead with our failures. I believe you can learn more about a person that way. Of course this requires an uncomfortable level of vulnerability.

Winning is contagious and no one likes to lose, but imagine if we celebrated our failures in the same way we celebrate our victories. Imagine how many people we could help by letting them know the ways in which we’ve failed. I used to be ashamed of my failures, but now I openly discuss them (academics, business, career, relationships, etc.) and encourage others to do the same. Not only is it therapeutic for me, but I’ve found that my struggles with failure have been helpful to others.