“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill
Although failure is something that we will all inevitably experience, no one enjoys failing. It does not, however, need to be viewed as a bad thing. With the right attitude, every failure can instead be seen as an asset and opportunity for growth – a chance to build resilience.
Failures in the airline industry, big and small, are recognized as opportunities to learn and improve. Following each accident, black boxes are opened, data is analyzed, reports are painstakingly written in excruciating detail, and the event is used to improve aviation’s future.
The implementation of this approach has been wildly successful. Fatalities in the airline industry have fallen to levels that make aviation the safest method of commercial transportation by far.
In data collected by the National Transportation Safety Board between 2010 and 2020, the passenger vehicle death rate was 1,623 times higher than that of scheduled airlines. This is a prime example of the opportunity presented by failure and the potential to turn them into our greatest source of improvement.
Failures can be allowed to inhibit our personal growth and development, or they can be confronted with grace and appreciation. Many people react to failure by simply giving up. Psychologists describe resilience as the ability to react positively to adversity, threats, or sources of stress.
This approach is the opposite of giving up. Like any other skill, developing resilience takes practice, intentionality, and diligence, and every failure is an opportunity to grow.
“You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Roy T. Bennett
Those that have achieved greatness will tell you that they could never have accomplished their goals by dwelling within the safety of their comfort zones. True success and development come from bravely facing the fears that exist beyond your realm of what is easy and comfortable.
Facing our fears comes with some risk of failure, but we could never achieve major successes in life without taking those risks.
In his book Spaceman, Mike Massimino describes the many failures he overcame in his journey to becoming an astronaut and his multiple missions to space. Mike knew he wanted to be an astronaut when he was six years old, and he watched the Apollo 11 moon landing on TV. Despite his early start, his journey was marked by repeated failures and challenges.
Mike struggled to pass his classes at MIT. He was nearly disqualified from the NASA application process due to medical issues with his eyesight. After seven months of vision training, Mike passed the necessary eye test and was accepted to NASA on his fourth application attempt.
There were countless opportunities for Mike to be defeated by failure. Instead, he viewed every failure as an opportunity to strengthen his resilience – his ability to get up and try again.
NASA understands that something as complex as space travel will inevitably include any number of failures. But like the airline industry, they value every failed attempt as an opportunity to improve.
Although NASA has endured failures with dire consequences, the scientists and astronauts understand that it is simply unavoidable to achieve something as miraculous as a moon landing or the unfurling of the James Webb Space Telescope.
As Winston Churchill famously said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Allow your failures to be opportunities for growth and development. Cultivate your resilience by analyzing your failures and learning from them, then continuing on your path toward greatness.
