What is failure? We all experience it. But only some people know how to learn from it to be more successful in the future. This article explores the meaning of failure, the relationship between success and failure, and why one shouldn’t fear failing.

It’s natural to try to avoid things that could end in failure. Failure can be embarrassing and painful to experience. But what is failure exactly?

Failure is defined as a lack of success or the inability to meet an expectation.

The problem is that we can read too much into failure. Too often, we tie it to our sense of self-worth, self-esteem, and self-acceptance. The expectation we fail to meet is often our own, or one that we’ve created in our own head.

Most of us don’t set out looking to fail at anything. And we especially don’t want to be labelled as a failure. But maybe that is a mistake.

Failure can be useful. We can learn from it, gain new insights, and do better next time. The right kind of failures give us new information and teach us something that gets us closer to our goals.