Have you ever heard any of the following quotes?

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy

“It’s failure that gives you the proper perspective on success.” – Ellen DeGeneres

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison

They all have to do with failure. And, while it’s a topic that people don’t often want to talk about, it’s something that almost everyone will experience in their life. 

But failure doesn’t have to define you. You can use it as an opportunity to learn. 

Wondering what you can learn from failure? There are many things – and here are just a few.

• Acceptance: When you experience failure, it can be really hard to accept – especially if it’s something you’ve put your heart and soul into. But acceptance is a great lesson to be learned. Learning to accept things as they are will allow you to move on to new things quicker.
• Perseverance: An important thing to remember about failure is that it doesn’t mean never – it means not now. Failure can cause you to change your plans – but you might still be able to obtain your goal. You just have to persevere. 
• That Change is Good: When failure happens, it may be time to embrace change. No matter if you experience failure in a job, with a relationship, or in some other area of your life, this could be a way of telling you that it’s time to change things up. 
• To Believe in Yourself: You probably have people in your life who support you and believe in your abilities, but the most important person that needs to do that is…you. And failure can help you believe in yourself because there is a need to pick yourself up and move forward – whether it be down a new path to achieve your goal or with a new goal altogether.
• To Have Courage: Failure can definitely knock you for a loop, but it can also give you the courage to continue on. 
• That Success Doesn’t Come Easy: You probably see people all around you that seem to be finding success – and, perhaps, it appears to come to them easily. But that’s not often the case. And, when you experience a setback – it can show you that success is for those who work for it. 
• New Perspectives: If you experience some type of failure, but you want to keep trying to reach your goal – it may be time to gain some new perspectives. You can work to change your own perspective and also reach out to others who might offer you their views on what you’re facing. New perspectives can give way to new ideas.
• To Be Humble: If things have come easily to you, failure can be a humbling experience. It shows you that you still have things to learn in life – and that’s a good thing.
• Flexibility: Perhaps you went after your goal with a certain mindset or a firm idea on how you were going to accomplish it – and then it didn’t work. Use the experience to learn flexibility. There are many ways to reach your end goal – and you’ve only tried one. Look for other ways!
• Compassion and Empathy: You’ve probably always shown compassion and empathy towards others – especially in their time of need. It’s now time to show those same things to yourself. Failure necessitates the need for compassion and empathy as a means to recover.

In your lifetime, you will most likely experience failure – maybe even several times. But know that there are many lessons you can learn from failure – and that life does go on, and goals do get reached. Failure is just a temporary setback.