Reducing The Fear of Failure By Redefining It

In review of Proverbs 24:16 it says, “No matter how often honest people fall, they always get up again; but disaster destroys the wicked.”

Bottom Line:

A godly and honest person may fail, but they will always get back up again. A wicked person will fail at the first sign of disaster.

What this means to me:

No matter how often a godly and honest person falls, they will always get back up again. On the other hand a wicked person will stumble when calamity or disaster strikes.

What I’m learning is that failure will probably never kill me. Unfortunately the tendency is to always greatly exaggerate the effects of failure, blowing the prospects of failing all out of proportion. However failing is not the end of the world, rather the fear of failure is far more damaging than failure itself.

Today’s verse from Proverbs 24:16a says, “No matter how often honest people fall, they always get up again” (TEV). Even good guys will stumble, make mistakes, blow it, and or stub their toes.

A successful person is not one who never failed. They are just the people who get up again and keep going. A successful person just doesn’t know how to quit.

I’m reminded this morning of the following famous failures?

George Washington lost two-thirds of all the battles he fought. But he won the Revolutionary War and later became the first U.S. president.

Napoleon graduated 42nd in a class of 43. Then he went out and conquered Europe!

In 21 years Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs, but he struck out 1,330 times. He struck out nearly twice as often as he hit a homerun.

The famous novelist John Creasey received 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.

Rowland Hussey Macy failed seven times at retailing before starting Macy’s department store.

Great people are simply ordinary people who have an extraordinary amount of determination. They just keep on going. They realize they’re never a failure until they quit.  And this is how I can reduce the fear of failure. I simply redefine it.

You don’t fail by not reaching a specific goal. Instead, failure is not having a goal. Failure is refusing to get back up again once you fall. It’s refusing to try.

So, I am to keep going. If at first I don’t succeed, it’s no big deal. I’ll never be a failure until I give up.