The Power of Positive Failure

Failure Isn’t the Enemy—What You Do With It Matters

Nobody likes to fail. We don’t put failure on our résumé or celebrate it at dinner. We don’t post pictures of our biggest mistakes on social media. Failure hurts.

But what if failure isn’t always the opposite of success? What if failure can actually become part of the process that moves you toward success?

The fifth decision in the Enthusiasm framework is: Utilize the Power of Positive Failure.

Failure Is Information

Imagine that while you’re learning to ride a bicycle, you fall. You don’t necessarily conclude: “I am a failure as a human being.” You get up, figure out what happened, make adjustments and try again.

That’s the mindset we need in other areas of life. Failure can give us information. It can show us what didn’t work. It can reveal a weakness and expose a blind spot. It can force us to ask better questions and teaches us something success sometimes cannot.

Peter’s Failure

Peter gives us one of the most powerful biblical examples. Peter passionately declared that he would never abandon Jesus. Then, when pressure came, Peter denied knowing Him. Three times.

Imagine the shame Peter must have experienced. He had failed publicly and personally. But, thankfully, failure wasn’t the end of Peter’s story. Jesus restored him. Peter’s failure became part of his story—but it didn’t become the definition of his life. That’s an important distinction.

You can fail without being a failure.

The Triple-G Formula One of the ways to reframe failure is through what I call the Triple-G formula:

God’s Grace and your own Guts

God’s Grace

• Realize what Jesus thinks of you.
• Realize that sometimes God works more in our weaknesses than in our strengths.
• God’s grace flows through relationships with other brothers and sisters in Christ

 Your Own Guts

• Change your attitude
• Stop listening to failure messages
• After every failure, ask yourself this question: “What can I learn from this?”

Don’t Let One Chapter Become the Whole Story

One bad decision doesn’t have to define your life. One failed business doesn’t mean you’ll never succeed. One difficult relationship doesn’t mean you’ll never have a healthy one. One missed opportunity doesn’t mean there won’t be another. One failure doesn’t get to write your entire story.

It is a chapter. And chapters are not books.

What Did Your Last Failure Teach You?

Think about your most recent significant failure. Instead of asking only, “Why did I fail?”

Ask: “What did my failure teach me?” It might have taught you that you need help. Maybe it taught you that you weren’t prepared or you might be chasing the wrong goal. Maybe it taught you something about yourself or that you were chasing something you didn’t want. Maybe it even revealed a strength you didn’t know you had.

Your failure may contain information you need for your next season. Don’t throw it away. Use it.

Your story isn’t over just because something didn’t work.