• Home
• /
• Letters

Learn to take failure in your stride

One should not fear failure as it is a stepping stone to success. Whether it is a heartbreaking defeat in sports, inability to scale the rungs professionally, case of unfilled dreams and ambitions or disappointment in life, we ought to take them in our stride and move ahead.
Jack Welch, the legendary CEO of General Electric, discovered early in life that we need to learn how to fail in order to learn how to succeed. If we do not know how to fail, falter, and fumble, success will often elude us, he says. Roger Federer, the Swiss Tennis Great, would throw tantrums and lose his cool whenever he lost matches in the initial stage of his career as he could not take failure but today, he is an epitome of restraint and resilience. Today, there isn't a more unflappable player than him.
In life, we have to learn from our failures. To triple our success rate we have to accept failing several times. Failure does not mean giving up. A unique idea met with resistance initially can be turned into success with perseverance and persistence.
Defeats and failing teach us a valuable lesson and encourage us to strive to do better in life.
- Jayashree Kulkarni, Abu Dhabi