I've always been the "Star Student" or the one who gets good grades in school

Throughout middle school and high school I was the person that would always know the answers and barely study for tests while still getting an A. that is until I arrived to college. College course became a foreign language to me when I began submitting assignments, taking exams and on top of that, being home in the middle of a pandemic. I quickly became overwhelmed with all of the things I had to do for the day or even the week. I never seemed to get a break within the semester. With this being said, I still got the grades that I wanted it was just much harder than I thought it was going to be. Those grades included many failures but those obstacles gave me the opportunity to do better.

Failure can be defined as a 'lack of success'

With this definition in mind, people fail more often than they realize. Not completing or even attempting a task is failing. Creating excuses like "it's not the right time", is failure. Attempting the task and not getting the end result you wanted is failing. So, how can we use failure to create a pathway to success.

1. Expect Failure.

Whether you want to start a new business, start studying for an exam or win a gold medal in the Olympics, you should expect to fail at some point in the process. When we fail, the initial reaction is usually disappointment and even discouragement. The accepted viewpoint of failure has always been it being frowned upon and it steering you away from your goals when in reality it is actually helping you get there. When you fail, you have learned a way in which you cannot reach your end result. In other words, you have gained knowledge in finding another way to get closer to your goals. Failure should not be viewed as a horrible thing. It should be viewed as a learning opportunity while also valuing these opportunities to grow.

2. Just Start

It's easy to say, "I'll do this when I have more time". Creating excuses or invalid reasons to start working towards your goal only hurts you in reaching those goals. Yes, there are exceptions to certain situations but more times than not excuses are what prevents you from reaching your goal more than any failure that you endure. You should not be the reason as to why you are not reaching your goals. Having a plan and starting to work with what you have is more than enough in starting your journey with the goals you've created for yourself. You don't have to know everything before starting otherwise you would have reached your goal already.

3. Reflect on your failures.

Once you have begun the process in working toward your goal, you eventually run into an obstacle. Reflecting on this time will allow you to work smarter towards success. Reflect on what went in your favor, what didn't, and how you can approach this next time in order to improve your results. Reflection will not only benefit your actions bu your mentality because you give yourself credit for the small success and learn from the failure.

4. Fail, fail and fail some more.

Not only will failure create learning opportunities for you, but it will test you in how much you want something. Failure tests your drive in how much you want your goal by temporarily saying "you can't have it". For example, someone who falls off a skateboard the first time they try to ride it when their end goal is to do a kick flip in a year, will either take that failure and learn from it or will never ride a skateboard again. Although this is a generic example, many people have applied this concept to their goals. It is crucial to expect failure but not to accept it when it comes to success. Success is never a straight line. It is about the journey to success with hard work, perseverance and failure.

5. Your Success!

After all this talk of failure, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! There's two quotes that I keep in mind when I reach a wall in which are the following: "Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but no one is willing to die" and "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone". The first quote is obviously a metaphor in which it is referring to success as Heaven and death is all of the hardship that come with success. As for comfort zones, you can surprise yourself in how much you can achieve if you just take a leap of faith. Don't be afraid to try new things and experiment with new methods while working towards what you want. You may achieve more than the goal you have set for yourself!

As for my star student status, I'm far from perfect. I'm continuing to learn new things about myself everyday through my wins and losses. Every challenge and failure that I endure, I try and welcome with open arms because I know experiencing failure is easier said than done. With that being said, I'll leave you with another quote to kick start your journey to success.

"Success is not built on success. It's built on failure. It's built on frustration. Sometimes built on catastrophe." - Summer Redstone