I owe everything to my biggest critics. They are the ones who enabled me to reflect upon myself and take the steps I needed to improve. By making myself vulnerable through risking failure, I learned faster than I ever thought I would.
If you want to understand what it takes to fail faster so you can dramatically increase the rate at which you learn and the probability you will come up with the next great idea, these are the seven characteristics you need:
1. Enthusiasm
You have to stay optimistic in order to rebound quickly from failure. Moreover, when you’re selling yourself, a product or service, you must be confident about it.
You know that failure is part of the chase when trying to complete lofty goals, and there’s no point in letting positive energy fall to the wayside. You’re on Earth to make a difference, so act like it.
2. Purpose
There’s great purpose in everything you do, as long as it’s with good intentions. Even if it doesn’t work out, you know there’s a reason, and more importantly, it gives you the chance to find out why, so next time, you won’t repeat the same mistake.
3. Determination
The phrase “giving up” is not something to which you appeal. You have a strong desire to push forward, no matter what obstacles are in your way, and you work like an animal to produce results.
You continue to hit your limits to see how far they can expand because, if you’re a dedicated learner, your results should always be improving with each new project.
4. Happiness
Finding out what makes you happy is more important to you than making money. You understand that chasing a life of happiness parallels a life of success.
If you don’t live your life being happy, then the only thing you’re giving back to the world is negativity. Staying positive about outcomes is one of the best ways to not let repeatedly failing affect you too much emotionally.
5. Listen
The only way you can improve is to listen to criticism and to take an in-depth, personal look into every failure you have. When you listen, you have to let your ego go, and put your ears on drive.
Understanding what mistakes you made and why you made them is the only way to improve, and the best way to do that sometimes is just to shut up, observe and listen.
6. Independence
It’s hard to fail over and over again if you’re not independent. If there are people counting on you to succeed because you support them financially, whether it be friends or family, you become pressured to find something stable, instead of fast-tracking your progress through failures.
Being low maintenance and not requiring too much to adapt to new situations is a big asset when overcoming hurdles, defeat and even mental or physical breakdowns.
7. Trust
The final and, by far, most important characteristic you need in order to achieve success is trust. Whether it’s trusting in yourself that you can one day be incredibly successful, no matter how many times you fail, or trusting in the talent of the team around you to execute an idea.
Remember, without believing in yourself, you have nothing. If you continue to trust that one day you will come out on top, you won’t be surprised when you do.
