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- DictionaryFail·ure/ˈfālyər/
noun
- 1. lack of success: "an economic policy that is doomed to failure"
- 2. the omission of expected or required action: "their failure to comply with the basic rules"
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Learn the various meanings and uses of the word failure, from omission or inability to perform a duty or function, to lack of success or bankruptcy. See synonyms, examples, word history, and related phrases of failure.
noun. an act or instance of failing fail or proving unsuccessful; lack of success: His effort ended in failure. The campaign was a failure. nonperformance of something due, required, or expected: a failure to do what one has promised; a failure to appear. a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency: the failure of crops.
Learn the meaning of failure as a noun in different contexts, such as lack of success, not doing something, or not working well. See synonyms, antonyms, and usage examples from the Cambridge Dictionary.
IPA guide. Other forms: failures. If you experience failure, things have not gone the way you'd hoped. I'm sorry to hear that your attempt to turn hay into gold has been a failure. Failure can also mean when something suddenly stops working or when you don't do something that you're expected to.
- Overview
- Embrace Your Emotions
- Recognize Unhealthy Attempts to Reduce Pain
- Practice Healthy Coping Skills
- Acknowledge Irrational Beliefs About Failure
- Develop Realistic Thoughts About Failure
- Accept an Appropriate Level of Responsibility
- Research Famous Failures
- Ask Yourself What You Can Learn
- Create a Plan for Moving Forward
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If you find yourself thinking, "I am a failure," it's important to know that there are things you can do to feel better. Knowing how to deal with failure in a healthy way takes some of the fear out of it—and it might reduce the pain so you can bounce back better than before.
First of all, it's important to acknowledge that everybody fails at one time or another, but that doesn't make us failures—it just means we are human, and that things didn't work out this time.
Failure is accompanied by a variety of emotions: embarrassment, anxiety, anger, sadness, and shame, to name a few. Those feelings are uncomfortable, and many people will do anything they can to escape feeling emotional discomfort.
A 2017 study published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making says you shouldn’t try to slough off feeling bad after failure. Researchers discovered that thinking about your emotions—rather than the failure itself—is most helpful.
Allowing yourself to feel bad is motivating. It can help you work harder to find better solutions so that you’ll improve next time.
So, go ahead and embrace your emotions. Acknowledge how you’re feeling and let yourself feel bad for a bit. Label your emotions as you allow yourself to experience them. For example, you might think, "I'm disappointed," or "I'm sad that didn't work out."
Calling a friend, practicing deep breathing, taking a bubble bath, going for a walk, or playing with your pet are just a few examples of healthy ways to deal with your pain. Not every coping skill works for everyone, however, so it’s important to find what does for you.
If you struggle with bad habits when you’re stressed out—like smoking or eating junk food—create a list of healthy coping skills and hang it in a prominent place. Then, use your list to remind yourself of the healthier strategies you can turn to when you’re feeling bad.
You may have developed some irrational beliefs about failure at some point in your life. Perhaps you think failure means you’re bad or that you’ll never succeed. Or maybe you think no one will like you if you fail.
Those types of beliefs are inaccurate, and they can prevent you from doing things where you might not succeed. Make a point to identify the irrational beliefs that might be impacting your feelings and behavior.
A 2016 review published in Clinical Psychology Review of 46 studies examining reactions to failure found that "more positive attributional style" was a strong factor in how resilient people were to the emotional distress caused by failure. In other words, seeing the failure as a result of something specific and external rather than something internal.
When you find yourself thinking that you’re a hopeless cause or that there’s no use in trying again, reframe your thoughts. Remind yourself of more realistic thoughts about failure such as:
•Failure is a sign that I’m challenging myself to do something difficult.
•I can handle failure.
•I can learn from my failures.
You may need to repeat a phrase or affirmation to ward off negative thoughts or to reinforce to yourself that you can bounce back.
It’s important to accept an accurate level of responsibility for your failure. Taking on too much may cause you to unnecessarily blame yourself. On the other hand, blaming other people or unfortunate circumstances on your failure will prevent you from learning from it.
When you think about your failure, look for explanations, not excuses. Identify the reasons you failed and acknowledge what you can do differently next time.
From Thomas Edison to Walt Disney, there’s no shortage of famous failures. Spend some time researching famous people who have failed. You’ll likely find that they did so many times along the way.
Many successful people continue to fail regularly. Actors get rejected for roles, athletes get cut from the team, and business owners get turned down for deals.
Study what they did to bounce back. You might learn skills that can help you in your own life. It can be helpful to see that failure is something that everyone deals with.
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation
Once you've identified your mistakes and where you can learn from them, you'll be ready to make a plan for moving forward. Remember that dwelling on your problems or rehashing your mistakes will keep you stuck. Stop thinking, "I am a failure," and focus on thinking, "I am capable of trying again."
With your new learnings, think about what you’ll do differently next time. Create a plan that will help you put the information you gained into practice.
Failure is a normal part of life, but it can be painful and stressful. Learn how to deal with failure in a healthy way, such as embracing your emotions, practicing coping skills, and facing your fears.
Learn the meaning, pronunciation and usage of the word failure in English. Find out the different types and contexts of failure, such as lack of success, not doing something, machine or body part failure, and business or crop failure.
Learn the meaning of failure as a noun in English, with examples of different types of failure and translations in other languages. Find out how to use failure in sentences and expressions.
