The power of failing first

Failure is inextricably tied to everyone’s story, yet it is often the portion we bury deepest, although it is the seedbed of our becoming.

Before I proceed, let me clarify that this article is not a perfunctory exhortation that failure is inherently virtuous or inevitable, although I could marshal a compelling argument for that claim. Rather, my central theme is that failure, when rightly engaged, becomes not an endpoint but the earliest draft of success.

The adverse relationship many of us have with failure persists largely because we were taught to view success as a fixed formula, one that can only be achieved through perseverance and repeated attempts. The problem with this rigid outlook is that it ignores the lessons that can only be learned through failure.

Success is not a single