Why We Need To Embrace Failure, According To A Happiness Expert


Whether in our personal or professional lives, failing is an inevitable (and potentially dreaded) part of everyone's journey. But one happiness expert, Neil Pasricha, wants us to change the way we think about our failures.
He recently sat down with co-CEO Jason Wachob to talk about resilience, and they touched on the power of failure. And to him, it's simply a part of the road to success.
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The importance of staying the course.
Neil Pasricha's bestselling book, The Happiness Equation, has sold over a million copies, and he's also one of the most-watched TED speakers of all time. So when he says, "Every single goal, achievement, or desire that anybody has, has a series of pain and punishments along the way," we believe him.
But the key, Pasricha says, is staying the course.
"The little failures we go through are often in service of a larger, more satisfying end goal. If you can just see that end goal, even if it's invisible, you'll see it as a step. And that builds your resilience and your confidence to keep moving. See it as a step."
And this isn't just talk; a study recently found early failures in your career actually correlate with long-term success, highlighting the importance of diligence, resilience, and confidence.
"Life is tiny, and fragile, and beautiful, and precious, and you really are awesome," Pasricha goes on to say. "All we need are a few directional arrows to get us back on the path when we fall off course."
It's never too late to become more resilient.
With a little effort, we can all learn to be more resilient in our lives, whether it be through putting yourself out there or trying something new. "Always be doing something new," Pasricha says, "because your resilience will grow while you're learning something for the first time [...] You have to get out of your comfort zone to increase your mental exposure."
Plus, failures often have lessons within them, which we can learn from to help us in the future. Maybe your usual way of doing things is no longer serving you, or a "failed" relationship made you realize what needed to change. We can't learn those lessons if we allow the failure to shut us down, so don't let it!
If you're feeling discouraged, check out these 20 iconic quotes on failure. And remember, according to Pasricha, "Every single failure you go through is a step toward a future you just can't see yet."
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Sarah Regan is a Spirituality & Relationships Editor, a registered yoga instructor, and an avid astrologer and tarot reader. She received her bachelor's in broadcasting and mass communication from State University of New York at Oswego, and lives in Buffalo, New York.