If you ask most people to give the opposite of 'success',they would probably say 'failure'.As a result,failure is hence perceived as the polar opposite to success.This could be represented diagrammatically as; FAILURE<----------INDIVIDUAL----------->SUCCESS
This article,however,tends to re-define failure.It also aims at revealing that it is actually possible to fail forward.
Experience has taught us that most people encounter failure on their way to success.Most of these people have changed their perception of failure and formed a mental picture of this order instead of the former one;
INDIVIDUAL--------->FAILURE---------->SUCCESS
This model is quite helpful to people who are prone to failure.The individual is at one end and success at the other end.Failure is the gap separating the individual from success.In this new model,failure can sometimes be a barrier to success while at other times,it may be a stepping stone to success.The determining factor is the attitude of the individual involved.
Anytime the individual gets stuck in the web of failure and cannot go beyond it,then failure has become a barrier.At other times,the individual may likewise get stuck in the web of failure,and the individual makes conscious effort to move beyond the realm of failure.Then it has become a stepping stone.
Some really great men such as Thomas Edison,Henry Ford,Bill Gates and Abraham Lincoln used their life experiences to illustrate this concept of using failure as a stepping stone to great heights and personal fulfillment.It is also important to note that these men never perceived failure as the extreme opposite of success.They only saw failure as a level beyond which success had to be found.
Abraham Lincoln was especially noticeable because he encountered multiple failure but he refused to quit.He kept contesting until he became one of America's greatest presidents.
