How do you draw in your human spirit to persevere through failure?

Self-Actualization is at the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. To reach this fulfillment behind something meaningful like a life purpose will no doubt have some trial and error. In fact, the Devil himself during Napolean Hill’s interview with him in the book “Outwitting the Devil” he says “Every failure brings with it a seed of equivalent advantage”. To realize and capitalize on it, we must take a step back and see it for what it is. A blessing in disguise if you will and a chance to begin anew. Just like tomorrow is always a chance to start new. Only a non-drifter with internal fortitude and an indomitable human spirit will push through again and again after each failure through trial and error until they get to their end goal or destination.

They say or as the old sang goes “it’s the journey and not the destination that counts” and that applies here. It means the growth of character along the journey getting to where you need to go. No matter the failure or setback, we’re all bound to fail at some point no matter what our undertaking is. This should be toward something we have a natural inclination towards our genuine passion or interest as suggested at the beginning of Robert Green’s book “Mastery”. This is because that natural inclination will have more ‘heart’ put into our efforts s long as we have clarity on what we’re working toward & minimize the distractions and noise.

Otherwise, if we’re not genuinely passionate or having a burning desire toward it we’ll have less willpower to push on through past that failure. Failure itself can let us re-strategize and come up with new formulas, ideas, retrain or take a different route or option. In fact, it can break the thinking cycles we were stuck in and reattribute a new one leveraging ‘hypnotic rhythm’ to allow nature to create a better flow of thought patterns & energy to affix itself set in better harmony than before. Ultimately this is all a state of mind and perspective. The higher meaning is your mentality and attitude in how you approach this. To allow defeat to settle and give up on something you truly desire and have passion for, will regress your spirituality diminishing your human spirit.

“Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated
until defeat has been accepted as reality” ~ Bruce Lee

And in simple terms, your thoughts determine your reality… how you perceive the world. All thoughts precede deeds and you are where you are, what you are by your thoughts deeds second and thoughts first. Where thoughts go energy flows. It’s the vibrational wavelength you attune to and emit that energy outward when fused with strong emotions. People either consciously or subconsciously pick up & feel from the depth of the emotions tied to their thoughts. That’s using your intuition and non-physical senses. That’s one small part of Spirituality on an individual level in connection to a higher level of collective consciousness or a higher power.

And as we feel this energy, whether self-aware of it or not, we are naturally inclined to be drawn & attracted to successful, charismatic people. Those people too have failed even as you or I have. Take Michael Jordon for instance, the best Basketball player the Chicago Bulls has ever had.

“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’s winning shot and missed.
I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that’s why I succeed”
~ Michael Jordan, NBA Hall of Famer.

To not let this setback emotionally crush our spirits, we need to take an objective view with a step back. Recognize we’ve had a loss in battle but the war is not over. Emotional intelligence plays a key factor here and we must control them. This takes practice and a high level of self-awareness and as a first step, you can take some deep controlled breaths. Remain calm and reassert & position ourselves and go back to the drawing board. Maybe to maintain this emotional control in the face of failure is to practice a healthier & mindful lifestyle. A better diet with nutritious food, regular exercise to regulate our moods, keeping/creating a fit body in addition to regular meditation to center ourselves mentally & spiritually.

So goes our rest with a regular sleep cycle for quality nourishment and revitalization. We may fail & lose a battle today but tomorrow I another day to fight and go at it again. Tomorrow is anew. So master each day!

That job you want may take 100 applications, 50 first interviews with constant rejections until you get that one acceptance offer. Expect rejection. And when you do fail… good. Time to go again and take on the next one just like Jocko Willink has said in his ‘Good’ quotes. That 100% applies here. Same with that athletic competition or, train again so you win at the next meet/game. Getting a date asking that girl or guy out, you got rejected so keep going.

Your soul’s fulfillment in this life as the human experience depends on it! Especially as you reflect back in old age on your life. Would you want to look back in a life review and have regret on something you didn’t do like try again if you failed to know you did have another chance wanting deep down in your heart? Perhaps here our minds are rationalizing something our hearts know is a lie to avoid criticism (which is one of the biggest fears) and we fall into the victim mindset of we can’t do it and the excuse mentality sinks in. Don’t let that happen. The clock is ticking. Don’t let resentment creep up on you in the later part of your adult years as a mid-life crisis. Conquer and move forth. This is one of the deepest truths we realize late in life once we know that a large chunk of our life is behind us and we missed those opportunities we put aside for fear of failure from trying again and not succeeding the next time around. Look back at the MJ quote.

“What do you think? Do you agree, disagree or feel somewhere in between?”

“What are your closing thoughts on all this?