TED Talk

Introduction

Failure is something that everyone in the world has to endure. It's a part of life, it tells you the truth, it won't lie to you, and it’s the most honest thing that oftentimes you may view negatively. You’ve probably heard the saying “failure is the key to success.” Well, that is true, but what does it really mean?

Scene 1 - Family

My personal perspective on failure has been different than what most experience early in their life. My parents are from a foreign country, where they lived in a refugee camp. They had to work extremely hard to survive and keep our family afloat. When they did get the opportunity to come to the United States, they thankfully took the risk to give my brother and me a better future—leaving behind everything they had ever known to start something new. They didn’t speak the language, didn’t know the culture, and finding a job seemed impossible. I saw them challenge adversity every day, from one interview to the next; they couldn’t seem to get employed because they didn’t know English, and they lacked the education. 

Scene 2 - Initiative

However, they reflected on their setbacks and took initiative. Their shortcomings had taught them the truth: that they needed to learn and to gain knowledge in order to succeed in this new country, which they knew nothing about. Their experiences instilled in me a different perspective that you probably haven't had the chance to grow up with. In many instances, when missteps in life occur, it’s usually looked past, neglected, or looked back on, but it’s difficult to know how to grow from them.

Scene 3 - Personal

I struggled with this very much and sometimes still do because I’m a very competitive person, and when I failed, I used to feel very enclosed with negativity, which I tended to ignore. I learned from my parents' experiences that: you must embrace these setbacks, not neglect a pure form of honesty as it stands right before you. As I see it, looking past failure is the same as hiding from it—hiding from the truth. Yes, you might be happier at the time because you’re not feeling the negative emotions behind it, but instead using that honesty or even that factual information that comes from those setbacks to aid in your goals is more beneficial. Failure is not just something you experience once—everyone experiences it, over and over. You may have a different definition for failure and success (which most people do); But one thing that’s the same for everyone is that those countless defeats can provide genuine information that you can harness to make the difference between failing and succeeding.

Scene 4 - Millions of people are succesful

Millions of people are successful; they all have one thing in common: they all tumbled before they could triumph, just as my parents did. You’ve probably heard the names: Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, and Abraham Lincoln; these are all very notable and successful people throughout history. Some of them were unsuccessful hundreds or even thousands of times before they succeeded. They might have at one point “given up,” but they never gave in to failure, they found their own way to utilize their defeats to the best of their abilities. 

Scene 5 - My Mother

My mother, the biggest inspiration in my life, someone who didn’t even get to finish high school, enrolled herself in classes to learn English, taking me with her most of the time so I could also learn. She failed a lot, because English is an incredibly difficult language to learn for foreigners, but she developed her own ways of learning from her failures (I fondly remember her trying to have conversations with her friends, or even people we’d meet at stores to improve her communication in English)—and watching her do that everyday is actually what taught me the most important step in overcoming obstacles; It’s not enough to ask yourself why you failed. You have to act with purpose. 

Scene 6 - its not enough just to ask yourself why you failed

It’s not enough to ask yourself why you failed. You have to act with purpose. This part is different for everyone; some may have their own unique personal way of applying their failures. My father is a prime example; he couldn’t find a job because of his lack of education, and yes, he did steadily learn English through classes, but to overcome his challenges he found his own way: he communicated and networked with other immigrants, and eventually, he found someone who helped him to get employed. I’ve learned so much about failure from my parents,  and now when I do encounter challenges (which is every day), I recall my parents' hardships and how they overcame them. 

Scene 7 - So i have developed my own ways of tackling the hurdles I face.

So I have developed my own ways of tackling the hurdles I face; I like to ask myself why it happened and really dissect it piece by piece (because I'm a really analytical person). In track, we have block starts, and I couldn’t get it right. Every time I failed to execute the right mechanics. To solve this, I recorded every block start I did for weeks, stopping it frame by frame, and made micro-adjustments each time. I have greatly improved, but I still have so much room to improve. That's the beauty in failing, there’s always something next to look forward to. Why live a life where you never fail, there are no challenges, no adventures, no way to feel that amazing feeling when you finally do achieve that goal you’ve been striving for? At the end of the day, failure is inevitable, however, it’s your choice to either hide from it or embrace it.