Afternoon gents, it’s Max from the Young Gentleman’s Guide here! If you read this article that I put up a while ago, you would know that one of the rules I put on that list is that there’s no shame in loss or failure. So for today’s article, I thought I would expand on that. Without any further delay, let’s get started!
To start off, it’s important to know this sobering fact: loss and failure are simply a part of life. Sometimes, it’s just not possible for things to always go the way you want them to. Whether it’s a sporting event, an audition, a job prospect, or anything of the sort, it’s simply not possible to win a hundred percent of the time. But of course, in today’s day and age, where you’ll be rewarded just for showing up, that sting of failure is being seriously downplayed. What people today seem to be forgetting is that “The road to victory… is paved with losses.” This is what makes losing so important.
There are two things you can do if you lose or fail. You can wallow in pity and shame, which is reasonably understandable, or you can pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and use that loss as a way to improve. If you lose a sporting event, that makes for a perfect opportunity for you and your team to review your game plan and see where it went wrong. If you don’t get that part you were looking for after your audition, it’s a good chance to improve your practice techniques and pinpoint what exactly went wrong. If you get passed up for that certain job you were looking for, you can use it as a chance to change things on your resume, switch up your interview strategy, or simply look for another job that properly utilizes your skill set. Yes, failure can hurt, and losing can sting like nothing else, but being praised for “doing your best” and simply being awarded for participating is no way to get ahead. It doesn’t teach competitiveness, ambition, or perseverance. All it does is glorify complacency, and teach legions of people that as long as you show up, that’s enough. That isn’t how the world should work. People need to be taught that even though it may hurt to fail, it’s necessary to do so, since it makes those successes much sweeter and much more rewarding.
Apologies if that sounded a bit too harsh and direct, there are just certain topics that really speak to me, and this is one of those topics. If nothing else, I hope this gave those of you reading at least a little bit of a perspective shift to show that there is no shame in loss or failure.In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s article. Please be sure to share the article, follow the blog, follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and support us on Patreon. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!
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