Why failure is the only way forward in business, sports and life.
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”— Michael Jordan
We all know that one person who is perfect at everything.
They always get straight As, get promoted often at work, never make mistakes, and always seem in control. But if that person is so perfect, then why do they never seem to achieve anything remarkable?
The answer is simple: because perfection doesn’t exist.
And there’s another answer too. A more important reason.
Many people, when they encounter failure, give up. When people feel resistance to achieving their goals, they abandon them entirely.
We’ve all made mistakes and failed at something in our lives. It isn’t, however, the end of the world. In reality, it’s through our mistakes that we learn and develop as individuals.
The key is to learn from your failures, so that you can apply that knowledge when it matters the most. And that’s only possible if you’re not afraid to fail.
What helped Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player in history, achieve his historic heights was his willingness to fail — and to fail often.
Did you read Michael Jordan’s quote at the start of the article?
If you scrolled past it, go back and read it now.
Because in that quote, the former athlete recounts how failure was the driving force behind his wildly successful career.
If You Don’t Try, You Can’t Win
If you’ve ever watched Michael Jordan play — back in the day or in highlight reels online — you’ll see how tenacious of a player he was. He was an all-around champion and competitive athlete and it showed on the court.
But according to Jordan, he failed in so many ways.
Take, for example, how he missed over 9,000 shots in his NBA career. He shot over 18,000 baskets, but only made 49.7% in his 13 seasons on the court.
Almost half of the time, he nailed it.
But what most people don’t realize when speaking about Michael Jordan is that he missed half of his shots.
Which means he failed 50.3% of the time.
But here’s the thing:
If Michael Jordan didn’t attempt those shots, his basketball team wouldn’t have won game after game. Especially when his team needed him the most. During the heated games of the NBA Finals.
In fact, if you look back at the highlights of Jordan’s career, his biggest successes always came after epic failures.
In the 1995 NBA Semifinals, Michael Jordan had a terrible game in which he scored 19 points and made just 8 out of 22 shots from the field. Orlando beat Chicago to advance to the championship game.
And because of Jordan’s lackluster performance, some sports analysts claimed Jordan’s magic was gone.
But Jordan returned the next season more determined than ever.
His determination and winning spirit helped catapult the Chicago Bulls into the NBA Finals. Not only did Jordan and his team win the championship game in 1996, but they also won the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998.
For some people, failure is the end of the journey.
But for others—like Michael Jordan—failure is a chance to try again.
Failure, when mentally framed correctly, makes us work harder the next time around, and strive for excellence. Which is why we should all embrace failure as a part of our lives.
Because it’s only through experiencing failure that we can become better people and achieve the successes we want.
And that’s a lesson we can all learn from one of the greatest athletes of all-time.
So don’t be afraid to fail. Because failure is the only way forward in sports, business, and in the game of life.
