Success Is Not A Straight Line

The ‘always win’ mindset can be harmful, leading to a lot of stress and health problems. Instead, learn to accept defeat as part of life, suggests Jeanette Saldanha.

- Jeanette Saldanha

Success is not a straight line. Suc-cess is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. It is a good idea to invest time in making a failure list – a list that documents failures gives strength and positivity. It’s a powerful tool for growth. It goes a long way in determining how successful your journey would end up being. Making a resume of sorts of failures helps you to identify your weaknesses. It will give you more examples to understand how things panned out. It gives you a different perspective. Relooking at your history helps you remember things you have forgotten. It makes you relook at failures as an opportunity to learn.

The notion that any success can come without setbacks is fooling oneself. What we need is a failure management course that can equip us to handle setbacks. For instance, cricketing enthusiasts across the world tuned in to what New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson had to say about their team’s crushing defeat at the hands of the England team in the World Cup. There has to be a good reason why he touched so many hearts. Reading Williamson’s quotes was an exceptionally inspiring moment for everybody. He sounded wise and philosophical, sober and thoughtful as he discussed his team’s unfortunate and unexpected loss.