The Real Failure in Life Is When a Person Fails to Learn from the Failure - Personal Statement Example

Edison failed many times before successfully inventing the electric bulb. Instead of being discouraged, he said, “If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged: every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward. ” Undoubtedly these lines possess the spirit that motivates people to persevere without getting demoralized by failure.

Success can be well defined as “the ability to visualize what you want in life- what you want to contribute and what you want to be, do and have- and to enjoy the process of taking action toward that vision, learning from the process, making the vision reality, and then creating a new vision- again and aging” (Carr-Ruffino, 2004, p.136). I firmly believe that failures are the pillars of success, because each time one fails to achieve the target, he or she learns something new that assists in achieving the target.

The experience of failure takes him one step closer to his destination by narrowing down the list of probable alternatives available. According to Kolb (1984), “experimental learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience”  (Kolb & Boyatzis, 1999, p.2). This theory clearly states that learning is a cognitive process, which can be attained through personal experiences and experiences of peers, and that there is no end to one's learning.

Many teachers are of the opinion that failure acts as a good motivator for those students who fail to achieve good marks in the examination. The experiences of the past help them to perform better in the future. However, students nurture a different opinion altogether. Past experiences of many students reveal that chronic failure leads to a vicious circle of misgivings and students get tangled in a web of guilt and remorse, which prevents them from making further attempts. Continual failure makes one pessimistic about his own abilities resulting in a situation which is termed as ‘learned helplessness.