7 Reasons Why You Should Embrace Failure

WRITTEN by CHRIS & ANNE ENSOLL & OUR CONTRIBUTORS

When we were looking for photos for this post, we realised that we don’t have any photos of our failures, or of other people’s, which says something about our attitude to failure.

No-one likes to fail. It doesn’t make us feel good, and it can cost us time, money, energy and pride. Failure can be defined as a lack of success in doing or achieving something, especially in relation to a particular activity. Fear of failure can prevent us from trying, but failure is inevitable. Everyone experiences setbacks sometimes, and if we can change our mindset about failure, it can be good for us, even though it might not feel like it at the time. If you’ve been out with Chris, you’ll probably have heard him use the FAIL acronym, which stands for First Attempt In Learning.

Rock climbing on Raven Crag, Threshthwaite Cove, Cumbria

Thomas Edison, the American inventor and businessman, developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures, but he also knew a few things about failure. Here are some of his best quotes:

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

“Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.”

“Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.”

“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this - you haven't.”

 Thomas Edison wasn’t the only famous figure comfortable with failure. Winston Churchill said, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."

Here are seven reasons why you should embrace failure.

1 Failure gives us the opportunity to try again

The second attempt is always easier mentally, because we know what to expect. It is very rare that there won’t be a second chance at something, and failure can spur you on to do better next time. If we can become good at getting back up when we’ve been knocked down, we’ll be more confident at trying new things.

2 Failure give us the opportunity for reflection and adjustment

If we have a goal, and we fail on one step along the way, we have to decide if we’re taking the right approach, or if we need to change tack and try something else. We learn about what works and what doesn’t, and we might have to think outside the box. Reflection is invaluable in keeping us from making the same mistake again. We should avoid only thinking about the mistakes, and instead focus on what can be learnt from the mistakes

Practising movement skills around Stickle Ghyll in Langdale

3 Failure gives us more opportunities for learning

We will always learn more by doing something than by reading about it in a book or on a blog, so if we have to do something five times before we succeed, that’s five opportunities for learning.

4 Failure builds resilience and strength of character

Resilience is the ability to adapt and grow after adversity. It’s easy to be positive when things are going well, but when we fail, we have a choice – to give up or to pick ourselves up and try again. Failure is a test of character, determination and mindset.

5 Failure keeps us humble

There’s no doubt about it – failure is humbling, especially if it is witnessed by other people.

6 Failure can inspire us to work harder

If we achieve our target at the first attempt, it will feel great, but it might not encourage us to work harder.

7 Failure gives us more to pass on to others

Our struggles make our stories so much more interesting to other people. “I succeeded first time” is a lot less motivating than Thomas Edison’s “Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.”

On the summit of the Papillons Arete, with the Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc behind

 We all have our own failure stories - here are some to encourage you.

Anne Ensoll

When I was seventeen, I hadn’t failed at anything. I had achieved excellent O-level results, had passed all the music exams that I had taken, and I was on several school sport teams. And then I took my driving test. Lots of my friends at school were also learning to drive, and some had already passed. I was desperate to pass – it had come to feel like something I had to do to fit in and be accepted. When I failed the test, I was devastated. I sobbed my heart out, sure that no-one would like me anymore. Next day at school when I had to admit that I had failed, no-one batted an eyelid – all I got was sympathy and smiles. I booked another test, and passed second time round. The invaluable learning for me was not getting my driving licence, but realising that failing at something wasn’t the end of the world, and that I could bounce back and try again.

John Martin

John completed his Mountain Leader training and assessment with us, and he is a member of our mentoring programme.

I was brought up to believe failure was a disastrous consequence of failed learning. Even to this day I struggle to accept failure for what it truly is , which to me is now a pathway or a small step in the learning process. What really helped me to understand failure as an instrument to learning was when I became a football coach back in 2005. The FA undertook a huge change with regards to how we coached younger footballers, with the creation of mini soccer at the turn of the century. This led on to the Future Game concept and was where I fell in love with coaching. We changed the way we coached our children by creating games that they failed at the beginning but allowed them to learn by these failures to create success. That’s not to say all my sessions led to successful outcomes but that was more about my session rather than my learners. My greatest joys were seeing how I could build little steps of failures into a successful outcome.

Can you transfer these methods into hillwalking? Most definitely, as long as the steps to success are appropriate in size. So next time you mess up or fail to do what you intended, embrace it for what it truly is, a first attempt in learning, and treasure it.

On the summit of St Raven’s Edge, Lake District

Sharon Leedell

Sharon is a member of our mentoring programme and she has been on several of our Masterclasses.

I was attending a Movement Masterclass run by Chris and was about a quarter of the way through the day. We had been practising on smaller boulders and crags, which had been going very well, so the group then progressed onto more challenging, wet rock to prove the point that provided you maintain correct body positioning and keep a positive mental attitude, these types of steps were just as easy as the rocks we had been practising on earlier.

I crossed the first challenge easily enough and approached the second obstacle, which was a step from a large boulder, over a deep pool onto a smaller foothold on wet rock beside a waterfall, the plan being to then step to the side and onto drier ground whilst waiting for the rest of the group. I was the first person in the group to cross behind Chris. He stepped over easily and explained what to do but with hindsight my failure had already begun as the fear of slipping had already crept into my head before I stepped across.

I stepped onto the first boulder and it was a stride of faith onto the wet rock ahead, my failure grew bigger as I wondered if I would reach that far with the length of my stride (would I slip?) and I was looking at the deep water below! I made it across and with a feeling of relief I stepped up onto the next step. I was fine for a second but then as I went to cross the waterfall I felt a small movement in my foot and immediately lost all concentration and instinctively leaned towards the rock, which then led to me losing my balance! I fell backwards and had a nice soft landing as I landed in the deep water (captured beautifully on Dave Eardley’s YouTube video of the day! - see below). Encouraged by Chris I climbed back onto the wet step and did then continue as originally planned to step to the side without falling.

I learned a great deal, both from my failure and from the whole day itself. The first thing I learned was that although I have been climbing mountains a lot since I broke my leg in an accident, I have in fact been leaning to one side a lot more than I thought due to my ‘bad’ leg still being slightly weaker than the other. I originally thought the reason I was wobbling around and slipping so much was because I was simply ‘getting too old’ for climbing up big rocks. The more I slipped, the more fearful I became, and I began to avoid routes I used to enjoy.

I realise now that it was just bad technique and the fear of slipping was making it worse. I learned that I need to get control of my thoughts, stand up straight, believe in myself and not allow my negative beliefs (fear of slipping/falling) get the better of me whenever I come to a more complicated part of my route. I learned that by following the techniques Chris showed us, I do actually enjoy scrambling, and it is not as difficult as I had thought. It will take practice to stop the fear rushing back, but I have been looking forward to and enjoying practising on small scrambles over the summer, building up my confidence in stages, in preparation for my Summer ML re-assessment next year.

Chris Witter

Chris is a member of our mentoring programme and an occasional guest writer for our blog (read his posts here and here).

My usual approach to trad climbing is onsighting routes and, consequently, I’ve developed my ability through a slow and gradual extension of my technique and comfort zone. Meanwhile, I’ve seen younger climbers leap past me in terms of grades, without the baggage of climbing with “moral purity”. I realised at a certain point that this rigid approach to climbing ethics was only holding me back.

Last year, when the first lockdown relaxed, I thought I would get in on the act by top-roping a harder route, before leading it. I chose a steep E2 5c called ‘Izzy the Push’ on the shiny limestone of Trowbarrow’s Red Wall.

I really struggled to start with. I had to learn to climb the route very efficiently – with straight arms, precise feet, and a lot more cunning than normal. Most of all, I had to learn to climb above my gear even though I knew I might fall off!

Eventually, I felt I was ready and went for the lead – only to pump out at the crux, lose my nerve and take a fall. It was a little over-exciting! But, the gear was bomber and I probably fell another two times before calling it a day. Falling quickly shifted from being a terrifying prospect to a casual reality. Finally, elated, I managed a clean lead.

Although climbing onsight would have been a better style, the process of working the route was very rewarding. I became intensely familiar with every nuance of body position, every cheeky rest, the exactness of climbing well. It also taught me how rewarding it can be to change your approach.

This year I did the same with an E3 6a: the brilliant ‘Castration Crack’, on Gouther Crag. I actually got heckled by someone for top-roping the route – but dismissed it as being their problem. Top-roping the route might have seemed like admitting failure before I’d even begun, but it allowed me learn: to explore the route’s intricacies and try different approaches and techniques I’d never used before.

I took a massive – but safe and actually quite funny – fall on my first lead attempt, before a clean lead at a new personal best grade on my second attempt. This was almost insignificant, in the end: the joy and the value was all in the trying, failing and learning.

Dave MacLeod

Dave is a professional climber, and he writes about training and improvement in climbing. The following video is an excellent example of pressing on through failure.

What about you?

We’d love to hear about your failures and what you learnt from them in the comments below - we’re looking forward to hearing from you!