Embrace Failure

Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, is renown for his competitiveness. He is a legend not just for dominating his sport, and his incredible style while doing so, but for his mastery of the clutch. When the pressure was the highest, when defeat would be the most devastating, that's when Jordan thrived.

He explained why in the 1998 book "Nike Culture: The Sign of the Swoosh." It is especially telling where this icon said he got his confidence.

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career," Jordan said. "I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Jordan understood what most don't: failure should be embraced. The lessons learned in defeat are invaluable, and the fear of defeat is an impediment to success.

The same is true in other areas in life, including business and technology. Which means staring at great odds and facing adversity is a good thing in the long run.

So why are we afraid of failure? Why do we try to forget about the times we fall short instead of re-visiting the events that didn't go well or as expected? Why are we embarrassed by the very defeats that groom us?

The road to success begins with shifting our understanding of failure.

Adversity is part of the game

In business, as in sports, no one sets out to lose. But failure is inevitable. When there is competition -- whether against an opponent, tackling a task, or personal challenges -- defeat is a possibility. Compete enough and your foe, in whatever fashion it exists, will win.

That's what makes winning worthwhile, success worth celebrating.

We are all a mixture of our successes and failures.

That doesn't mean be reckless. But being too risk adverse is a self-imposed handicap limiting your potential. Whoever you look up to, whoever you consider great, is certain to have tales of their mistakes missteps and missed opportunities.

We aren't defined by our failures, but how we respond to them.

Failure and adversity are great teachers

As the saying goes, adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it. You learn about yourself -- work ethic, fortitude, and perseverance (or lack thereof) -- when truly challenged.

What's more, the ability to handle failure is just as pivotal. It is a barometer for your integrity, sharpens your problem solving skills and tests your resolve. Defeat is a motivator that drives most successful people.

In addition to the self-revelation, you also learn about those around you. True friends are revealed in anguish of failure. Haters are discovered when you are at your low point. The advice and wisdom from people who've been there illustrates who is truly worth learning from.

Valuable lessons can be used in future endeavors. Conversely, misunderstanding the importance of failure and adversity can lead to repeated mistakes and familiar obstacles -- if one can't learn from shortcomings.

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Try this exercise: take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. On one side, list your top five greatest successes, personal or professional. On the other side, your five worst failures.

What you'll probably find is the bad beats you've taken have been just as valuable as the triumphs. Even in your success list, you'll probably have critical little failures on the road to those great victories, the battles you lost on the way to win the war.

Winning is a learned ability. Being successful is an acquired skill. And, in the words of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky:

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take."