As I sat down in front of my computer and logged in to take a test for a certification I have been working on, nervousness came over me, bringing me back to my days in college.
The feeling of possible failure, thoughts of “am I smart enough?” all swirled around in my head. As I finished the last question, I clicked the submit button. In a few short seconds, I would know where I stood.
Up popped the score, 66%. I failed.
I didn’t pass; I didn’t know all that I needed to know. I was mad that I didn’t pass; I felt a little ashamed. A part of me wanted to never take that stupid test again.
Test and feedback can be hard to take, especially when they don’t tell you what you want to believe. If I tell myself, “No, the test is wrong, and I did not like the format,” that leaves me in the same place I am now. That is a failure.
But, if I take that feedback, look at my areas of weakness and focus on them, and try again and again till I pass, all those failures become learning opportunities. My failure becomes negated once I accomplish my goal.
It is not easy to turn failure into a learning opportunity or to use it as a highlighter, showing where you can become better. We want to belive we are good enough, or that the sub-par effort we put in was enough.
What to do when you fail
Write down what you did well. In every situation, there are things you did well. Make note of them and keep doing them.
Write down where you went wrong, areas of opportunity. This will highlight what you need to work on.
Write out a few action steps to bring up those areas of opportunity.
I will go back to study the areas I was weak at and retake the test, and if I fail again, I will study and try again and again. Failure only happens when we don’t take the time to learn from our mistakes.
Your Fitness Sherap,
