It’s important that we look at failure from the proper perspective when we discuss how failure leads to success. Failure is not a final state. Instead, it can be defined as simply not hitting a goal or desired outcome. It just means that you fell short. Don’t we all?

In falling short, though, you’ll find that you’ve actually accomplished a lot.

For example, you may have had a goal to pay off your debt by a certain date. Even if you reach that goal a month later, you’ve still accomplished the overall objective—to become debt-free.

You can’t define something as a failure simply because you didn’t complete the goal by an arbitrary deadline. Instead, failure is the first step to success. In fact, success and failure in life go hand and hand.

In general, some of life’s greatest lessons are best learned through experience rather than theory.  For example, you may tell a child not to touch a hot stove and they may listen.

But, if they touch a hot stove, they’ll immediately experience the unpleasant feeling of burning themselves and its consequences. These are both lessons from life experiments they would not have learned otherwise.

This is exactly how failure works. Although it may seem unpleasant and uncomfortable, it gives your an experience that theory can’t do. With that in mind, some lessons only come from failure—making failure one of the greatest teachers.

What is another reason failure is the first step to success? Failure gives you experiences that you can apply the next time you try. This means that you can avoid the same pitfalls that hindered you from initially reaching your goal. 

A simple example of this is getting lost while driving. One wrong turn can take you far away from your intended destination—causing you time and frustration. However, the next time you venture to that destination, you’ll know what paths to avoid.

The key to using failure as a lesson for the next go-round is to reflect and understand what went wrong. This is the only way that failure leads to success. Without doing so, you’re bound to make the same mistake again.