Failure is brutal, painful, and discouraging.
Failure is inevitable and painful. It breaks us into pieces and leaves us feeling beneath our capabilities. I believe this is something you have experienced as well.
I am not an exception; I have faced failure several times in my life. I wouldn’t say I like to dwell on it, but I draw inspiration from my past.
One notable example is when I failed to clear the IIT JEE exam back in 2013. It is considered one of the toughest exams in the world, even the Google CEO passed it to peruse engineering at IIT.
It felt like losing the chance to secure admission to Harvard or Oxford. Despite being a school topper with a 90% average, I fell short.
I can understand the frustration and disappointment you felt after putting in countless hours of hard work and studying, only to face such tough competition.
It doesn’t mean you didn’t give it your all. It’s important to acknowledge the effort you put into your preparations.
With only 10,000 to 20,000 available seats for admission through the IIT JEE exam, and nearly 1 million students appearing each year, the competition is intense.
Roughly only 1% of students are selected, making it a highly selective process.
For admission to NIT (National Institute of Technology), you were aiming for a score of 115 as a general-category student. However, you ended up scoring only 77 out of 300 marks.
It appears that there was a negative marking in the exam, which might have affected your overall score. It’s unfortunate that only 20% of students manage to score in positive numbers, indicating the difficulty of the exam.
Here we go, is this the end of my life?
No, life keeps on going. I took admitted to a private engineering college, worked hard, and achieved results that were not as good as I could have hoped for.
However, I was happy with the little I could accomplish.
This is just one failure story among many others that I have to share in the coming days. If you subscribe to my mailing list, I assure you that I will share them with you promptly.
That’s why I’m excited to share the art of failing to make life better.
Failing That Makes Life Better
In my childhood, I read and was told several times about this valuable lesson:
“The more you flame the gold, the more its glitter comes, and the purer it becomes.”
If I am able to make more than some of the IITians and have the hope of earning better than the majority of them, it is because life has taught me valuable lessons, and I have learned to accept failure.
Remember, work hard tirelessly until you succeed. And when you fail, view it as an opportunity to learn and identify flaws and mistakes.
“A wise person always values self-assessment and does not hesitate to criticize and identify areas where they didn’t give their 100% and failed.”
I failed in the IIT JEE for the following reasons:
- Insufficient practice with numerical problems.
- Inadequate time management both before and during the exam.
- Lack of organization and planning in my study routine.
This failure taught me the importance of perseverance, time management, and self-honesty.
It made me realize the significance of starting early, managing my time effectively, and being honest with myself and the community around me.
Embrace failure, refrain from panicking, and instead, learn from it.
Adopting a Growth Mindset
Failure itself is not the problem; it is our mentality and how we perceive and respond to failure that can either hinder or empower us.
When I look back today, over the past five years, I have lost nearly $40,000 and faced failures in numerous business ventures.
However, these experiences have provided me with valuable insights and lessons. They have motivated me to strive towards becoming a better version of myself and finding more effective ways to generate income.
Here are a few lessons I have learned:
- Always start a business venture with like-minded and equally hardworking professionals. Others may not fully understand or appreciate your vision.
- Building a big-dollar business can be accomplished with just a few thousand dollars on hand. It is not necessary to invest in an expensive office or employee expenses until you become profitable. In-shot cut the least valuable expenses.
- Consistency, continuous learning, and staying up-to-date with market trends are always key paths to follow for a successful business.
It’s natural to feel bad, cry, and be disappointed when you fail in your business, studies, or career. However, when you pick yourself up and hold yourself together, it has the potential to make you even better.
Failure is a mental state that can affect individuals from various walks of life, and it persists until you start thinking differently.
Yes, I mean your mental state needs to shift in the right direction and go beyond that initial setback.
The life of a person who has experienced failures in many things is no different from that of a billionaire or a homeless individual when it comes to the number of hours in a day, a similar lifespan, the same sky, air, and more things they have in common.
Our mental block makes us feel chained, weak, and broken, but life goes on, and our potential is unlimited.
The Bottom line
We never want to fail in anything: business, love, family relations, life, or the side hustle that I recommend.
However, it happens. Just look at any billionaire, millionaire, my own story, or even yourself. At least once, you have experienced failure.
Life tends to present more failures than successes, and it holds meaning. We need to understand, embrace, learn, and succeed with the right attitude in the face of failure.
When I plan for 10 things, most of the time I fail at 8 of them, and some never even get started. But I understand that this is common, and life often operates in this manner.
All we can do is strive to increase our chances of winning, much like playing a game of luck. It can be accomplished with the right knowledge, mindset, and practice.
This was all for today, if you want to be a part of my honest community, you can join to my subscriber list here.
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Thanks for your valuable time. Follow: Mani Pathak
