8 Quotes That Flip the Fear of Failure On Its Head

Winston Churchill once said: "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."

So, once the fear of failure disappears and in its place is an opportunity to learn, suddenly the whole narrative changes. 

And when the narrative changes, mistakes are welcomed in, failures are a part of the process, and both are seen as a critical part of growth. 

An important question to ask here is - what is failure, anyway? 

After all, how can ever be considered a failure if it helps us to learn and grow?

So, whether we hold unfair expectations for ourselves or if they've been inherited from our parents, society, or institutions, it doesn't really matter. 

Learning how to break free of such limitations, restraints, and doubt is what counts. 

Below are eight quotes that help us to do just that by flipping the whole narrative around failure on its head. 

Enjoy! 

1. "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new" - Albert Einstein 

Life is a process of becoming. 

It's a process of experimentation, exploration, and inquiry too. 

Along that path, we are bound to take a few "wrong" steps. Or as Brené Brown said so beautifully: "If we are brave enough, often enough, we will fall."

So, as cliché as it sounds, it's how we get back is what counts. 

"Never be ashamed of a scar. It means that you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you" - Unknown 

2. "Failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be" - John Wooden

Nothing's permanent and John Wooden knew it. 

We are in a constant flux of becoming. We will never arrive at a final destination, instead, we will always be arriving. So, without the ability to change and adapt, every new opportunity will go ahead without us. 

"Change is inevitable. 

Growth is optional" 

- John C. Maxwell 

3. "The phoenix must burn to emerge." - Janet Fitch

Did the burning phoenix think of itself as a failure before it rose once again? 

And do the charred fields scorched by a wildfire think of themselves as a failure even though beautiful flowers now emerge against their backdrop? 

Never forget: Just because something is ending, it doesn't mean that it's the end. It simply means that space is opening up for something new to enter. 

4. "Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing." - Denis Waitley

So, do the opposite: Say lots, do lots, and be lots. 

Life is a finite game after all and it's gone way sooner than any of us care to imagine. And when it does every thought, idea, dream, vision, fear, desire, regret, belief, view, relationship, and experience goes with it. 

If that's not a reason to live, I don't know what is.  

Hunter S. Thompson put it another way: 

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"

5. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison

If there's anyone who knows a thing or two about grit, determination, and perseverance, it's Thomas Edison. 

This quote refers to how long it took him to invent the lightbulb. And one thing is for sure, if he thought that every one of those 10,000 attempts was a failure, he would have quit a looooooong time before he ever figured it out. Instead, he took what worked, dismissed what didn't, and tried again. 

That led him to say: "Never get discouraged if you fail. Learn from it. Keep trying."

And… 

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

6. "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure" - Paulo Coelho

Or as Napoleon Hill once said, "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." 

So, dream big. It's more fun. 

7. "When we give ourselves permission to fail, we, at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel" - Eloise Ristad

It rarely ever works the other way around. 

8. "To have a great idea, have a lot of them" - Thomas Edison 

Does that mean that every shitty idea is a failure? Absolutely not. How could it be if within it contains the seed of greatness? 

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time" - Thomas Edison

Closing thoughts 

I'd like to leave you with another pertinent quote from Jack Canfield as it sums everything up in 10 fabulous words: 

"Everything you want is on the other side of fear" 

So, go get 'em! 

I'm rooting for ya!