Toastmasters Project 5: Power of failure

Last week I gave my project 5: Your Body Speaks.

The aims for this speech project were to complement my message with my body during delivery. Specifically, I needed to be aware of my:

• posture,
• body movement,
• facial expressions, and
• Eye contact.

Power of Failure 

In the 19th century there was a man with some great ideas, and to test his ideas he used to carry out experiments. In fact, he was so much driven to conduct experiments that he intentionally worked during the night shift as a telegraph Operator. Alone at night, he used to conduct experiments and document his research. But one night, one of his clandestine experiments went wrong, and he ended up spilling sulphuric acid on his boss's desk. Next day, he was fired. Fired at the age of 20!!!. Now, this man could have easily sulked and given up, but he persevered. He sold newspapers and chocolates on the train. He even sold vegetables to supplement his income. But he never stopped conducting experiments. Eventually, that man held more than 1000 patents, started world's largest electric company (General Electric) and invented the world's first commercially viable electric bulb. That man was Thomas Alva Edison.

Madam Toastmaster, fellow Toastmaster and dear guests, failure is one bitter pill we all have to swallow some time in our lives. However strong we are, however rich we are, the dreaded bugbear named ‘Failure’ somehow comes out of the shadows and bites us. But you know something, one does not need to lose hope because failure itself does not matter, the way we respond to it does.

In general, there are two ways in which we can respond.

Response number 1: We can hide inside a cocoon of pain and suffering, and constantly punish ourselves.

"Oh my God, I have failed once more. I tried really hard but still it was not enough. What more do I need to do to succeed. I am tired of all this. I cannot take the pain and the humiliation. Look at everybody, all of them are laughing at me. That's it. I have had enough. I give up."

Response number 2: Calm and composed analysis of the outcome.

"Hmm, so it happened again. It does not feel good at all but still I need to analyze what went wrong. I must have done something wrong. I will talk to people who did well. Let me get their feedback. They can help me identify my weak areas. Aahh here you go, may be I should have practiced a little bit more. But, it is OK, this time I will leave no stone unturned and I will succeed. "

Just like Apples and Oranges, there is a stark difference between the two approaches.

One makes us feel miserable and sad. It even makes us doubt our own abilities.

The other calms us down, makes us feel confident and most importantly, it gives us hope.

Actually, it all depends upon how we perceive failure. If we fail, it does not mean that all the hard work we did, all the sacrifice we made and all the long hours we put in have gone down the drain. On the contrary, our each and every attempt leaves a lasting imprint on our personality.

So what, if you did not top your class, the hard work you put in has made you realize the importance of hard work and discipline.

It is OK if you did not win that public speaking competition. Remember the time when you went on stage for the first time, your hands were shaking and your legs were trembling. My dear friend, you have come a long way. Instead of cursing yourself, take heart from the improvement. 

You know, there is one more thing all us learn from failure. Perhaps, it is the most important lesson. We learn to empathize. Earlier, when someone failed, we could have easily ridiculed his effort but now when we found ourselves in the firing line and when we succumbed to the pressure, we realized success never comes easy. Once we fail, we start respecting other person’s efforts. We start showing empathy.

Therefore friends, failure is not that bad a thing after all. In fact, Failure is one of our best teachers. We just have to realize that the ultimate goal is to constantly improve ourselves. All the road blocks on our way symbolize learning opportunities: the bigger the boulder, the better the learning. So get up, flex your muscles and use your failures as the motivational platform to launch your dreams. Do not let people around you judge you. It is not their dream. Is it? It is yours. They do not know how much it means to you. They never will, No one will, except you. Thomas Edison tried 10000 times before discovering the right combination for the electric bulb and you want to say “I QUIT” in just one, two or three attempts. No, do not give up, because there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. We just have to aim a little bit higher, try a little bit harder and endure a little bit longer. 

After all, men are not defined by just the success they achieve; Men are also defined by the failures they overcome.

Madam Toastmaster.

Body language is definitely my weakest area. I was worried about each and every movement: my stance, my facial expression, my hand movement. Overall, it was a decent project. My evaluator complimented me on the facial expressions and purposeful eye contact, but he advised me to be more formal and composed at the start.

Cheers!!