Failure is the First Step Towards Success

“I knew it in my heart that I could make it here, and I told myself that failure is just the first step towards success. I kept my head held high and applied once again, only to be rejected again, and again, and again, and before I knew it, I was applying to the same company for the thirteenth time!”

- Brian Bonar

Many people believe that failure is a step backward when it is only one’s step towards success. Failure is a stepping stone towards success. Keep in mind that people wouldn’t ever learn to move outside of their comfort zone unless they overcome their fear of failure. Many progressive companies intentionally look to appoint those employees whose track records reflect success and failure. Failure is indeed a healthy component of learning and risk-taking. Intellectual failures, for instance, can offer new knowledge and valuable feedback that can help businesses acquire success later on. Brian Bonar, in his book The United States of Success, appears to be presenting a similar idea regarding failure.

The quote mentioned above portrays Brian Bonar’s perspective on failure. The now successful entrepreneur considers it as the first step towards success. The relationship between success and failure is a complex one. First, failure begins where success ends, and so this defines the limits of success. Secondly, on the contrary, success usually follows failure. This is because success takes place once various options have been tried and failed.

The other time when Brian Bonar mentions failure in his book is when he mentions it concerning his uncle, in the following words, “If I were to define my uncle in one word, I would say he was perceptive. Sharp when he needed to be, empathetic when the situation arose, and astute, getting things done without an excuse or fear of failure. He was a smart guy that did not speak as much as he observed.”

The last time that Brian Bonar mentions failure in his book, he does so in the following words, “‘Consistency is key,’ but take it from someone who has tried and lost and then succeeded; it works! And if you fall down, it is totally okay. Take your time to feel your defeat but don’t let it hold you down because you will want to swallow sometimes, but the problem becomes worse when you dig yourself so deep into your failure that you begin to lose your way back. If there is anything guaranteed in life, it is changing, and there is no other way around it. It is up to you to figure out how far you are willing to go, equipping yourself with the armor of learning and experience to make things right.”

Viewing failure as the first step towards success is a healthy and positive approach. It can help you achieve heights of success because when you think of failure as a way toward success, you never fear failure or get demotivated when facing failure. This is the attitude that you need to maintain when dealing with failure because otherwise, failure can be self-defeating, and you will never achieve success in life whatsoever.