Now, I’m not advocating that we strive to fail, but in order to evolve and grow we need to ACCEPT that failure on some level is inevitable. Once we do this, we break the shackles of fear that prevent us from trying something new. When we’re frozen with fear we tend to stay in our comfort zone and stick to the middle of the road. We actually embrace mediocrity.

Deep down don’t we all want to be the best at what we do? To be the best version of ourselves that we can be? Greatness was never achieved by playing it safe. It’s born from bold acts of courage. Venturing into the unknown. Blazing a new trail. Many of the greatest achievers in history failed repeatedly before achieving the results that ultimately made them famous.

Here are the 4 top reasons it's OK to fail.

1. Failure means you dared to try.

Many people never get past the starting line. Fear of failure, fear of what others might think, fear that we aren't good enough. If you think you aren't good enough, you’ll always be right. If you don’t believe in YOURSELF, how can you expect others to believe in YOU? We first have to try, and possibly fail, before we can achieve greatness.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu

2. Failure leads to growth.

Ideally, each time we fail we learn from our mistake and try something different until we find the right formula that yields the desired result. Each time we fail, we evolve and grow. Not only do we grow, but passion, determination, motivation and perseverance drive us forward and steels our resolve. Maybe I’m just stubborn, but when I fail at something it makes me more determined to try again until I get it right.

3. Failure leads to innovation.

Failure is just one iteration in the innovation process. By definition, innovation means something new that’s never been done before. You can't revolutionize and change the world unless you’re willing to try something new. Many of the things that we take for granted like electricity, running water and other modern conveniences wouldn’t exist if someone had not dared to try and ultimately overcome adversity.

4. Failure leads to mastery.

How do you master a skill until you’ve tried it many times? Until you’ve ingrained it in your brain through hours of repetition and practice. Consistency is the key. You can accomplish almost anything if you work at it long enough. Epic achievers didn’t get there overnight. They endured countless failures and overcame countless obstacles on the path to greatness.

In summary We can’t allow fear to cripple us and prevent us from getting up and trying again. Fear is something that lives in our mind and can absolutely be overcome. We have to make the conscious decision to move past the fear and continue on our path. We’re in good company when we fail. Everyone fails at one point or another. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Michael Jordan all overcame failure at one point in their lives yet they went on to be epic achievers.

Failing once in a while doesn’t mean that we have to live there. Think of failure as a brief pause on a long journey. We can still reach our ultimate destination; we just have to push through the obstacles and speed bumps along the way. We can’t allow fear of failure to prevent us from trying something new and making all our dreams come true.

“There’s no shame in failure. The real tragedy is not getting back up and trying again.” – Gerry Toledo

Do you agree? Let me know what you learned from your biggest failure.