Pain And Difficulties Of Reviewing Failures

It’s the beginning of 2021 and it’s a great chance for us to get a new start. 2020 is a year we all would agree a very challenging and bad year. Regardless of where you are in the world, 2020 was a year that affected you. Some countries suffered more than others, but ultimately, we all suffered. Over the past couple of months, I’ve heard about how terrible 2020 was and how much we all look forward to move on from it. Many even went as far as not wanting to mention it, hoping to wipe it from our memory. The pain and difficulties of reviewing failures such as 2020 are real. We all have pain and failures we prefer to just forget. But to do so is to ignore important lessons we could have learned.

I fully understand the pain and difficulties of reliving failures. It’s much easier and more pleasurable to review our successes. When we have to relive our failures and old pains, it is extremely uncomfortable. In most cases, it took quite a bit of time and effort to overcome our past failures. It almost makes no sense to try and relive it. However, I would like to suggest that there are benefits to reviewing past failures.

There is no pleasure to be taken in reliving pains that we’ve suffered through. But the lessons that we can take away from it may mean the difference of reliving that pain or not. Most of us have the unique ability to endure pain, forget about it, and experience it again the exact same way. Take for example broken heart. How many of us have suffered broken heart so deep that it feels unbearable at that moment? Yet, through time, we heal and recover from the heartbreak. We’re able to dive into a new relationship and allow ourselves to love again.

The same process is taken with so many who achieved success in business. How many stories have you heard of successful people failing at business their first few attempts? They go broke. They lose everything. But yet, also though time, they’re able to pick themselves up and jump right back onto other business venture, until they find success.

When looking back at our failures, it’s best to do so with a clear purpose and focus in mind. The idea is to take away lessons learned, not to relive pain. Therefore, when you review your past failures, focus on the following.

1. Sequence of events – In the process of review, it’s best to focus first on sequence of events. This will allow you to maintain focus on the task at hand, which is learning. Figure out the timeline of what happened and put it on paper. I find visual representation allows us to process much better than just trying to picture it in our mind.
   
   
2. Signs of failures – Most often when failure occurs, there are warning of it before it actual happens. See if you can recall signals indicating of possible failures. It may be more than one. The more you can identify, the better. This will allow you to recognize failure signals in the future and respond accordingly.
   
   
3. Where it went wrong – Pin pointing the exact moment or event where things went wrong is obvious. Be honest about this and be blunt. This is just for you, so the more you are truthful, the more you will learn. Sometimes, when you’re completely honest and sincere about the failure, it can also help you heal.
   
   
4. Doing it different – Once you’re able to clearly layout the key issues and sequence of events, identify where you would do things differently. This is your opportunity to truly learn and become better and stronger. There’s nothing worse than making the same mistakes over and over. So figure out what and how you do things differently next time you encounter a similar situation. Be prepared and you will allow yourself to avoid the same pain and failures in the future.

I’m in no way implying that everyone is able to surpass and mend pains of failures. Nor am I saying that facing your pain will guarantee success. But when you are capable of reviewing your past failures and pains, you can learn from it and avoid making the same mistakes. That’s how we grow as individuals. It’s ok to fail as long as we learn from it. What’s better then to use our failures and turn it into success?

2020 exposed a lot of weaknesses. It exposed how unprepared we were to deal with global epidemic. Not only as individual nations, but as a global community. The global economy got exposed for being too reliant on specific region for production. As a society, some of the worst humankind has to offer reared its head. If we decide to simply forget what transpired, we are doomed to have a repeat of 2020.

Photo by: Andrea Piacquadio
https://www.pexels.com/@olly