Do you ever just, look at the window on the car ride home from a sport’s game where you just took a fat L or played horribly, listening as your parents are giving you the same “What just happened? That was not a great performance whatsoever” lecture, thinking if I would have just hit that shot 2 seconds quicker I wouldn’t be in this miserable position? Just me? (insert me mentally screaming inside)
We all fail in our lives. Whether it be a horrible Bio test at school to not getting into the college of your dreams to making a mistake with a friend. Failure just straight up sucks. Especially after hard work, sacrifice, and the obstacles that may have been overcome along the way.
My mentors taught me to think about the term “failure” in my life differently. For example the queen herself, Maya Angelou, once said…
You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. please remember that your difficulties do not define you. they simply strengthen your ability to overcome.
Here are 5 ways to overcome failure–> remember, a bump in the road doesn’t mean you can’t keep driving. Always have hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel 🙂 ]
1. ACCEPT THAT FAILURE IS NOT THE OPPOSITE OF SUCCESS BUT RATHER PART OF IT.
I would bet good money that if given a worksheet where you had to identify opposites the majority would say success and failure would be a match. How I have learned to think about failure is that with it, I am one step closer to where I am headed. Think about it- failed Latin test? With mistakes you now have an understanding of where you are going wrong. This things can be avoided in the future! Oh but what about my GPA? Mistakes are like sparring partners. We don’t like them, but believe it or not they help more than harm. Whatever failure you are dwelling on, pause and remember that this is not the end of the road!
2. let it all out (your emotions)
As I mentioned before, it’s pretty inevitable that failure will make us angry, sad, moody, shut off, etc. From personal experience I believe that letting all of what you are feeling out is important before starting fresh. If you are sad, cry into your pillow, hug a friend, eat ice cream and lots of it, have a night spent with those you love, nap, be extra kind to yourself, and listen to vibey music. If you are angry punch a pillow-NOT A WALL. It ends badly, trust me. You can also rant to a friend or go on a high intensity run. If you are feeling out of it, get some rest. Meditate and try to direct your thought process to a vivid and happy memory. Maybe it was your birthday, a fun Saturday night out with friends, or even an A plus in school for that essay you worked so hard on. Regardless, getting anything negative out of your system is another step getting you closer to a new start. You got this!
3. Visualization, music, and a walk
This method to overcoming failure is very personal to me because I love doing this whenever I am feeling down. Usually a failure can set us off our path and we lose sight of everything. This is why visualizing the ideal end destination again is important. When you do this, along with some good jams and movement, you don’t lose hope. My Cloud 9 playlist is linked on the homepage and is filled with all of my favorites! Also walking under that beautiful sunset is so calming.
4. stay in the present
Our thoughts are usually all over the place after we fail. We think about how we messed up and it’s now the end. Or how we could have done something different and it would have change everything. Trust me I know. A switch to this thinking is to direct your thought process to the present time. Screw the past. Screw the future. What are you doing right now? How are you working, growing, and thinking right now? While the future is evidently important, after overcoming failure it is important not to think about it and here is why. Say you get rejected from a dream school. You are probably panicked because you had prepared to attend there throughout your entire life? Now what? Where will you attend? What will your parents think when you tell them? Nope! With all of this thinking, we stress ourselves out so much that we are blind to the good that our mistakes bring us. We are blind to the growth that is available to us from our actions.
One last note: our failures DO NOT define us or our character. It is human to make mistakes. Usually in life, it is ourselves and our thought process that is hardest on our mental health. How we react to a situation or what our perspectives are towards a certain scenario can help us immensely.
Much love!
Peace & Good Vibes,
Maya ❤
takemetocloud9.blog 