Learning the value of failure
I’ve been having some fascinating conversations recently about the importance of schools teaching young people about the positives of failure.
My dad has always been a great believer that we learn more from failure than we do from success. It’s only by challenging ourselves (no matter our age) and accepting that failing is a part of life and a great way to learn, that we can achieve great things.
There’s a funny story that sums up his attitude perfectly...
When I was 17-years-old, I took my driving test and thankfully I passed first time. As you can imagine, I was beaming with pride and couldn’t wait to tell my parents – especially when Dad had given me my first ever lesson.
But when I called Dad to tell him the news, his reaction wasn’t quite what I’d expected! “Uhmmm Holly, really? That’s disappointing news. I was so hoping you would fail. I know you study hard and love school but it’s about time you failed at something or you’re never going to learn anything valuable about life.”
I didn’t realise it at the time, but he was completely right. In the last two decades, I have learned and grown far more from the things that didn’t quite go the way I hoped or expected, than from those that were great successes. The earlier we learn to embrace failure as a positive rather than a negative, the healthier and happier we’ll be.
What's the most valuable thing you've learned through failure?