essay whether failure can strengthen a person

Essay on Failure Is The Stepping Stone To Success

Students are often asked to write an essay on Failure Is The Stepping Stone To Success in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Failure Is The Stepping Stone To Success

Introduction.

Failure is often seen as a bad thing. But, if we change our view, we can see it as a stepping stone to success. It’s a chance to learn and grow.

Learning from Mistakes

When we fail, we learn what doesn’t work. This helps us find what does work. We gain knowledge and experience from our mistakes.

Building Character

Failure also builds our character. It makes us strong and resilient. It shows us that we can face challenges and not give up.

Path to Success

So, failure is not the end. It’s the start of a journey to success. By learning and growing from our failures, we can reach our goals.

250 Words Essay on Failure Is The Stepping Stone To Success

In life, everyone aims to be successful. But the road to success is not always smooth. We often face hurdles and sometimes, we fail. Yet, it is crucial to understand that failure is not the end. Instead, it is a stepping stone to success.

When we make mistakes, we learn what not to do. This is important because it helps us avoid the same mistakes in the future. For example, if a student fails in a test, he will study harder next time to pass. This is how failure acts as a stepping stone to success.

The Role of Persistence

Being persistent is key to overcoming failure. When we fail, we should not give up. Instead, we should try again with more determination. The story of Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, is a great example. He failed thousands of times before he succeeded.

Turning Failure into Success

To turn failure into success, we need to have a positive mindset. We should view failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. By doing so, we can turn our failures into stepping stones towards success.

In conclusion, failure is not something to be feared. It is, in fact, a stepping stone to success. It teaches us valuable lessons, makes us persistent, and helps us grow. So, the next time you fail, remember that it’s not the end, but the beginning of a journey towards success.

500 Words Essay on Failure Is The Stepping Stone To Success

Understanding failure.

Failure is when we are unable to achieve our goals or meet our expectations. It is a part of life that everyone experiences at one point or another. It can be in school, at home, or in our daily activities. Failure can make us feel sad and disappointed. But we should not let these feelings stop us from trying again.

Learning from Failure

Each failure teaches us something. It shows us what doesn’t work and encourages us to find a different way to reach our goals. For example, imagine you are trying to ride a bicycle for the first time. You may fall down many times. But each fall teaches you something new. You learn how to balance, how to pedal, and how to steer. Eventually, you learn to ride the bicycle. In this case, each fall or failure was a stepping stone to your success.

Failure and Success

Building resilience.

Facing failures can make us stronger. It builds our resilience, which is our ability to bounce back from difficult situations. When we fail, we have two choices. We can give up, or we can try again. By choosing to try again, we are building our resilience. We are showing that we are not afraid of failure. We are ready to learn from it and move forward.

In conclusion, failure is not something to be afraid of. It is a stepping stone to success. Each failure is a lesson that brings us closer to our goals. So, the next time you fail, do not be disheartened. Remember, it is just a stepping stone on your path to success. Embrace it, learn from it, and move forward with more determination. Success is waiting for you at the end of your journey.

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Failure and Success in Human Life Essay

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Success if one of the major concerns of modern society, Nowadays, it serves as the main determiner of the significance of an individual and his/her position in society. For this reason, everyone tries to attain success and promote the further development of personality. However, there are numerous challenges a person might face while trying to improve his/her position in society. It is a complicated process that is comprised of numerous ups and downs. Besides, it is crucial to realize the fact that failure is an integral part of the life of a human being, and it helps to acquire the new experience and reconsider some approaches.

Revolving around the issue, one could remember his/her own failure. Sometimes it is rather painful and could result in disappointment and despair. Moreover, failure can make a person abandon some projects and accept his/her helplessness. As for me, I had a number of painful downs in my life, which impacted my personality and triggered a certain change process. However, at first, I was rather vulnerable, and any failure was a great tragedy. I was sure that it resulted from my inability to perform a certain kind of activity and evidenced the necessity of giving up. Yet, very soon, I realized that this approach could ruin my life and deprive me of any perspectives.

This recognition of this idea resulted in the reconsideration of my approach towards success and its main components. The fact is that failure is one of the major concerns related to the issue. However, it does not prove our weakness. It just serves as evidence that the chosen method or approach is not efficient enough to achieve the needed goal. In this regard, it is vital to analyze the main reasons that conditioned fiasco to acquire clear knowledge about the weaknesses of the plan and skill gaps. This investigation will promote a better understanding of the main vectors of the development of personality needed to become successful.

Revolving around my own experience, failures in various projects served as the positive reinforcement for me. I was not able to accept the idea that there were things not available to me. The absence of the result just evidenced the lack of preparation and the necessity of some additional effort. In this regard, the reconsideration of my personal attitude towards the issue promoted the significant improvement of my personality.

For instance, critical writing has always been one of my weak points, and I experienced a number of failures in the given sphere. Besides, realizing the necessity of writing skills and the impact they have on my further personal and professional development, I made efforts to improve this aspect. Analyzing my previous failures, I highlighted the weak points and created the plan to get rid of nagging mistakes. This fact evidences my own attitude towards failures and the necessity of their acceptance.

In conclusion, one should realize the fact that failure is not the sign of helplessness or the absence of any positive aspects. It just shows a person that he/she should work harder to attain success and contribute to his/her personal and professional development. In this regard, we should try to analyze them and determine the major concerns related to a certain issue or project as the lessons we take from failures are fundamental to later success.

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Why Failure Is Good for Success

The sweetest victory is the one that’s most difficult. The one that requires you to reach down deep inside, to fight with everything you’ve got, to be willing to leave everything out there on the battlefield—without knowing, until that do-or-die moment, if your heroic effort will be enough. Society doesn’t reward defeat, and you won’t find many failures documented in history books.

The exceptions are those failures that become stepping stones to later success . Such is the case with Thomas Edison, whose most memorable invention was the light bulb, which purportedly took him 1,000 tries before he developed a successful prototype. “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” a reporter asked. “I didn’t fail 1,000 times,” Edison responded. “The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

Unlike Edison, many of us avoid the prospect of failure . In fact, we’re so focused on not failing that we don’t aim for success, settling instead for a life of mediocrity. When we do make missteps, we gloss over them, selectively editing out the miscalculations or mistakes in our life’s résumé. “Failure is not an option,” NASA flight controller Jerry C. Bostick reportedly stated during the mission to bring the damaged Apollo 13 back to Earth, and that phrase has been etched into the collective memory ever since. To many in our success-driven society, failure isn’t just considered a non-option—it’s deemed a deficiency, says Kathryn Schulz, author of Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error . “Of all the things we are wrong about, this idea of error might well top the list,” Schulz says. “It is our meta-mistake: We are wrong about what it means to be wrong. Far from being a sign of intellectual inferiority, the capacity to err is crucial to human cognition.”

Related: 10 Things Successful People Never Do Again

Failure Is Life’s Greatest Teacher

When we take a closer look at the great thinkers throughout history, a willingness to take on failure isn’t a new or extraordinary thought at all. From the likes of Augustine, Darwin and Freud to the business mavericks and sports legends of today, failure is as powerful a tool as any in reaching great success. “Failure and defeat are life’s greatest teachers [but] sadly, most people, and particularly conservative corporate cultures, don’t want to go there,” says Ralph Heath, managing partner of Synergy Leadership Group and author of Celebrating Failure: The Power of Taking Risks, Making Mistakes and Thinking Big . “Instead they choose to play it safe, to fly below the radar, repeating the same safe choices over and over again. They operate under the belief that if they make no waves, they attract no attention; no one will yell at them for failing because they generally never attempt anything great at which they could possibly fail (or succeed).”

However, in today’s post-recession economy, some employers are no longer shying away from failure—they’re embracing it. According to a recent article in BusinessWeek, many companies are deliberately seeking out those with track records reflecting both failure and success, believing that those who have been in the trenches, survived battle and come out on the other side have irreplaceable experience and perseverance.

“The quickest road to success is to possess an attitude toward failure of ‘no fear.’ ”

They’re veterans of failure. The prevailing school of thought in progressive companies—such as Intuit, General Electric, Corning and Virgin Atlantic—is that great success depends on great risk , and failure is simply a common byproduct. Executives of such organizations don’t mourn their mistakes but instead parlay them into future gains. “The quickest road to success is to possess an attitude toward failure of ‘no fear,’ ” says Heath. “To do their work well, to be successful and to keep their companies competitive, leaders and workers on the front lines need to stick their necks out a mile every day.

They have to deliver risky, edgy, breakthrough ideas, plans, presentations, advice, technology, products, leadership, bills and more. And they have to deliver all this fearlessly—without any fear whatsoever of failure, rejection or punishment.”

Reaching Your Potential

The same holds true for personal quests, whether in overcoming some specific challenge or reaching your full potential in all aspects of life. To achieve your personal best, to reach unparalleled heights, to make the impossible possible, you can’t fear failure, you must think big, and you have to push yourself . When we think of people with this mindset, we imagine the daredevils, the pioneers, the inventors, the explorers: They embrace failure as a necessary step to unprecedented success . But you don’t have to walk a tightrope, climb Mount Everest or cure polio to employ this mindset in your own life.

When the rewards of success are great, embracing possible failure is key to taking on a variety of challenges, whether you’re reinventing yourself by starting a new business or allowing yourself to trust another person to build a deeper relationship. “To achieve any worthy goal, you must take risks,” says writer and speaker John C. Maxwell. In his book Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success , he points to the example of legendary aviator Amelia Earhart, who set several records and achieved many firsts in her lifetime, including being the first female pilot to fly solo over the Atlantic Ocean.

Although her final flight proved fateful, Maxwell believes she knew the risk—and that the potential reward was worth it. “[Earhart’s] advice when it came to risk was simple and direct: ‘Decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying.’ ” Of course, the risks you take should be calculated; you shouldn’t fly blindly into the night and simply hope for the best. Achieving the goal or at least waging a heroic effort requires preparation, practice and some awareness of your skills and talents.

Easing Into a Fearless Mindset

“ One of the biggest secrets to success is operating inside your strength zone but outside of your comfort zone,” Heath says. Although you might fail incredibly, you might succeed incredibly—and that’s why incredible risk and courage are requisite. Either way, you’ll learn more than ever about your strengths, talents and resolve, and you’ll strengthen your will for the next challenge. If this sounds like dangerous territory, it can be. But there are ways to ease into this fearless mindset.

Related: 21 Quotes About Failing Fearlessly

Maintain a Positive Attitude

The first is to consciously maintain a positive attitude so that, no matter what you encounter, you’ll be able to see the lessons of the experience and continue to push forward. “It’s true that not everyone is positive by nature,” says Maxwell, who cites his father as someone who would describe himself as a negative person by nature. “Here’s how my dad changed his attitude. First, he made a choice: He continually chooses to have a positive attitude.

Reading and Listening to Motivational Material

Second, he’s continually reading and listening to materials that bolster that attitude. For example, he’s read The Power of Positive Thinking many times. I didn’t get it at first, so once I asked him why. His response: ‘Son, I need to keep filling the tank so I can stay positive.’ ” Heath recommends studying the failures and subsequent reactions of successful people and, within a business context, repeating such histories for others. “Reward them and applaud their efforts in front of the entire organization so everyone understands it is OK to fail.

So employees say to themselves, ‘I see that Bill, the vice president of widgets, who the president adores, failed, and he is not only back at work, but he is driving a hot new sports car. I can fail and come to work the next day. Bill is proof of it.’ ” Finally, Heath stays motivated by the thought that, “if I become complacent and don’t take risks, someone will notice what I am doing and improve upon my efforts over time, and put me out of work. You’ve got to keep finding better ways to run your life , or someone will take what you’ve accomplished, improve upon it, and be very pleased with the results. Keep moving forward or die.”  

This article was originally published in September 2010 and has been updated. Photo by

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5 Reasons Why Failure isn't Always a Bad Thing

With exams practically over and Results Day looming, we know a lot of students are worrying about their exam performance. But success isn't always measured in how we excel alone, sometimes how you pick yourself up after a set-back is just as likely to help you get ahead in life...

Take a look at social media or whatever search engine you use, and you’ll realise there are loads of students, like you, out there worrying about what to do if they 'fail' their exams. What a load of stress your mind could do without! 

We’re going to show you, (using hopefully as few clichés as possible!), why ‘failure’ isn’t always negative and why sometimes a set-back can actually propel you forward in life: 

1. It’s inevitable

If there’s a person out there who’s got through life without experiencing a let-down or failure of some sort… Well, actually, there is no ‘if’. Failure, or what you consider to be a failure, is going to happen to you at some point. 

But it’s not the end, and it doesn’t mean YOU are a failure. It means you’re human and thank goodness for that, because the alternative is you’re some sort of robot/alien, and the government will be after you soon.

The only thing you can do is take disappointment on the chin and think of it as a sign that life is telling you that wasn’t the right path for you.  

If your A-Level results haven’t gone to plan, and this has affected your university choice, remember: it may never have been the right choice for you. You haven’t lost anything, but you have gained an opportunity to have a re-think, consider your options and hopefully find something even better. 

Someone who could help put this in perspective for you is student vlogger, 'Unjaded Jade', who was rejected from Oxford University at 18. Here's how she dealt with it and learnt from her experience: 

2. You’ll learn more from it

Nothing sharpens up your brain and makes you think more than a set-back. 

You’ll learn about where your areas for improvement lie, where you could benefit from more research/revision etc. but you’ll also learn a tonne about yourself. You’ll learn how resilient you are, how you react to things not going your way, how you pick yourself up and come back stronger – and that’s more likely to set you up for a successful future. 

Plus, a sharp brain is exactly what you’ll need when you DO start your degree, apprenticeship, travelling, or whatever you decide to do once you’ve had time to adjust your thinking. 

3. You’ll be more likely to take a risk

When the worst thing you can imagine happening, happens, you might find that you’re not so afraid/worried about other things any more. This can lead to some incredible life opportunities. 

Think about it: suddenly that trip abroad you were too scared to make seems less daunting. Who knows, in a year’s time, you could be back from travelling, making up your grades and still going on to the university of your choice. 

You can’t help things going wrong sometimes, but you can do everything in your power to make the best of the situation when things do venture off course. Take a risk, re-align your goal posts and see where life takes you. 

4. It will make you stronger

Facing things you’re afraid of, which make you unhappy, or force you to change your plans WILL make you stronger. 

University, travel, work, (life!) can be challenging - you’ll face things you never saw coming and the stronger you are, the more likely you are to face them successfully. 

How you cope with ‘failure’ will show you how strong you are. If you know you were slacking on revision time and trying to wing your exam results, well, now you know that doesn’t work.

Pick yourself up and come back stronger, with a life plan that will leave people wondering where on earth you got that strength from. 

5. It’ll make success taste sweeter when it comes (which it WILL)

When life knocks you back and you struggle on anyway and get back on your feet, the success which comes after will feel even more incredible. Yep, right now it probably isn’t much of a relief to know that one day you might feel OK again, but future you is going to be proud of your success!

Resilience will get you ahead in life, and the success you earn off the back of your hard work will taste all the sweeter for your trouble. 

And finally, just in case all of the above isn't enough to make you think a bit differently, here's Will Smith's view on failure: 

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Does Failure Make You Stronger and More Persistent?

A look at the mythology of grit, challenge, and achievement.

Posted April 16, 2014

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The cultural view that persistence accounts for success also understands a failure or setback as an opportunity to demonstrate grit; hence the adage, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” This message about challenges is expressed in many ways,, including the inspirational videos called “Famous Failures” which have been seen and viewed by millions of people on the Internet in various incarnations. The gist of the message —Michael Jordan cut from his high school basketball team, Walt Disney fired from a job because he lacked imagination —is threefold: 1) Don’t believe in the assessments of others; 2) Failure is just a pit stop; 3) Persevere and you’ll get there.

The subtext is that failure inspires your efforts and that the more hard-won the prize, the sweeter the victory. As a result, we like our heroes and heroines tested along the way. If Thomas Edison had produced what became the modern light bulb the first time out —instead of the 3000 th —the story wouldn’t be as satisfying or inspirational.

But does failure always inspire?

The question came to mind reading what turned out to be the final interview with Peter Matthiesssen in The New York Times . Now this was a man who was no stranger to failure although his creative life was marked by great admiration, success and many awards. Famously, his first novel was rejected by his agent with the following note: “Dear Peter, James Fennimore Cooper wrote this 150 years ago, only he wrote it better.” Ouch. In the interview, the conversation turned again and again to Far Tortuga , the 1975 book he held closest to his heart. It had been a failure, rejected by critics and readers alike. All these years later —nearly forty—it was clear that this failure had lost none of its sting.

Was Matthiessen’s response remarkable? Or is the cultural trope about failure simply hogwash? The answer is more complicated than not.

Let’s go back to Edison and the light bulb and the 3000 “failures” that preceded his achievement. These “failures” were, in fact, rigorous experiments in the effort to find the right material for the filament, a process which Edison took in stride but which he noted discouraged his co-workers mightily. These efforts weren’t “failures” in the conventional sense, as is clear to any of us who have perfected a skill through trial and error —whether it’s baking, cooking, building, gardening, or anything else—which is a very different kind of failure than falling flat on your face. Not surprisingly, this observation is backed up by research: In the pursuit of learning or mastery goals, which focus on the acquisition of new skills or learning, setbacks actually increase motivation . Edison appears to have approached the perfecting of the light bulb as a learning goal and, in that mindset, failures actually presented an opportunity for refinement of his ideas.

If Edison had approached the task as a performance goal — had he been motivated by showing himself to be the smartest and fastest improver of the light bulb in New Jersey —he might have been deterred by all those failed efforts as his colleagues clearly were. When you set a performance goal, your efforts are directed toward demonstrating your ability, and failures and setbacks prove the very opposite of your intention. Research shows that most people, contrary to the myths about setbacks, are deterred by them in the context of a performance goal, and begin to feel helpless and hopeless in their wake.. But some people aren't. Why is that?

Is it all about mindset and how you frame your goal? Or is it about your personality and how well you cope with the feelings induced by failure? Or does it have to do with your expectations about whether this setback is temporary and will ultimately yield to success? Does failure really inspire grit? Here’s where the terrain gets a bit tricky.

A series of experiments by Joachim Brunstein and Peter M. Gollwitzer took a look at what happened when people with a very specific goal that was tied into their self- identity —in this case, students with the goal of becoming a doctor or a computer scientist—experienced a setback or failure that reflected on that goal. What they found was that a failure actually motivated the participants to do well on another test which was relevant to becoming a doctor or computer scientist. But a failure in an area unrelated to their goal did nothing to motivate them and, similarly, their motivation didn’t extend to another test that had no relevance to their goal. It appeared that failure per wasn’t the motivating factor. Instead, the students were motivated by the need to “reassure themselves that they are capable of achieving the self-definition.”

Heidi Grant and Carol S. Dweck in a later series of experiments took a closer look at performance goals, trying to distinguish among them. They too agreed that learning goals “predicted active coping, sustained motivation, and higher achievement in the face of challenge.” They posited that there were three types of performance goals.

1. Goals that are linked to validating the self

These are the goals you set to prove yourself and your abilities and talents. You can fill in whatever you wish for “ability”; it could be smart, innovative, entrepreneurial, creative or anything else. The goal could be becoming a manager or a vice-president of a company in a record amount of time; making twice as money in three years as you do today; writing a bestseller, getting a television show, or anything that reflects the person you consider “you.”

2. Goals that are explicitly normative in nature

These are goals that compare you to other people, proving that you are smarter or more able “than” the person next to you, or any other kind of competition .

3. Goals that are focused on obtaining a positive outcome

While these goals may have to do with ability, they don’t reflect ability in the same way as validation goals since it’s the outcome that matters.

What Grant and Dweck found was that setbacks affected people differently depending on the kind of performance goal it was. It turned out to be true that when things were going swimmingly, people who’d set goals that validated ability thrived but that they withdrew and turned in poor performances when things went south. So much for failure as a stimulant for grit. Interestingly, those pursuing normative goals —the “smarter than” scenario— weren’t affected by failure; the researchers suggested that these people tended to deny how poorly they’d performed in relationship to others so were able to soldier forth anyway. Outcome goals —which straddle the two categories of learning and performance goals because they share aspects of both—could be affected positively and negatively by failure, resulting in either a loss of motivation or proactive behavior. This led the researchers to conclude that setting a goal of doing well “is not in itself a good predictor of responses to failure.”

So it seems that whether or not a failure inspires has to do with both the nature of the goal and the underlying motivations.

Then, too, personality and expectation factor in. People who are oriented toward approach tend not to be affected by failure in the same ways as those who are inherently focused on avoiding bad outcomes. As Charles S. Carver and Michael F. Scheier write, when individuals encounter a setback or challenge to their efforts, “people presumably depend heavily on their memories of prior outcomes in similar situations.” These expectations are highly personal in the sense that they depend on experience (a prior outcome could make you very confident about your future success or could convince you that your efforts were doomed), personality, disposition (are you inclined to be pessimistic or optimistic about your endeavors?), and your ability to manage the negative emotions inevitably aroused by failure.

So is failure inspirational? Not always.

Copyright© Peg Streep 2014

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Himmelman, Jeff, “Peter Matthiessen’s Homecoming,” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/magazine/peter-matthiessens-homegoing.html?_r=0

Brunstein, Joachim and Peter M. Gollwitzer, “Effects of Failure on Subsequent Performance: The Important of Self-Defining Goals,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1996), vol. 70, no.2: 395-407.

Grant, Heidi and Carol S. Dweck, “Clarifying Achievement Goals and their Impact,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2003), vol.85, no.3: 541-555.

Carver, Charles S. and Michael F. Scheier, On the Self-Regulation of Behavior . New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Peg Streep's newest book is Verbal Abuse: Recognizing, Dealing, Reacting, and Recovering. She is the author or coauthor of 15 books, including Daughter Detox: Recovering from an Unloving Mother and Reclaiming Your Life.

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Failure can make you stronger

Failure doesn’t have to be an “f” word. It can be a blessing in disguise when we don’t allow fear of failure to hold us back from taking steps toward a better life.

It’s understandable to have a negative attitude towards failure. However, it does possess a silver lining. Failing at something forces us to acknowledge where we have room to improve. This can make us stronger and more resilient as we advance one step closer to success.

Failure is a only a pit stop. With perseverance, you will make it across the finish line. Author Stephen McCranie said “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” We are hard-wired to learn by trial and error, so failure is like our teacher.

Failing frequently helps us to clarify what we need to do in order to get to where we want to be. By embracing this learning process, we grow more likely to take risks and strive for our goals without worrying about the sting of obstacles. In this way, persistence leads to success and setbacks can be viewed as an opportunity to toughen-up. It’s a win-win!

While failure can be a blessing in disguise, the fear of failure can easily overwhelm our desires for a better life. Inaction is commonly symptomatic of fear and can leave  you stuck, exactly where you are. Staying within your comfort zone and doing nothing may hurt less than being shot down but, in the long run, it’s always better to have tried and failed than to have made no attempt at all.

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. “For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” according to Psychiatrist and best selling author, M.Scott Peck.

Perfecting a skill through trial and error – whether it’s cooking, building something with our hands, turning a car or anything else – is different to falling flat on your face. It took Thomas Edison 3,000 attempts to create what has become the modern light bulb and his legendary grit only made his success more satisfying – and inspirational. Edison approached this project with the mindset that each setback was simply an opportunity to refine his ideas. If his plan had been to complete the project by lunchtime, then he may have given up, like many of his contemporaries.

“Success is 99% failure,” says Soichiro Honda, founder of Honda Motor Company.

Take a look at the goals you want to achieve. It might be making more money, getting a license, writing a bestselling novel (ahem), or anything else. Ask yourself, “Why haven’t I achieved this yet?” Is fear holding you back? If so, what can you do to manage the negative emotions that come with experiencing a setback? To motivate yourself, can you spell out exactly why you’re aiming for this goal?

Keep in mind that all winners fail before succeeding - Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team and Walt Disney was fired from a job because he lacked imagination.

Remember, the more hard-won the prize, the sweeter the victory.

By Grant J Everett, Panorama Magazine

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Personal Experience — My Experience of Failure

My Experience of Failure

• Categories: Failure Human Behavior Personal Experience

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Published: Mar 16, 2024

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The experience, the lessons learned.

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I Changed the Way I Look at Failure: A Personal Essay

I’ve dealt with failure my entire life.

I’m sure we all have.

I’ve failed tests, I’ve failed at friendships, I’ve failed at promises, I’ve failed at goals…

I’ve just…failed.

What a setback it felt like. And how painful. When I experienced failure, I often looked at it as a huge, flashing neon sign that read, “Pack your bags — you’re not good enough.”

How detrimental it was to my self-esteem.

I remember feeling the pain and shame of failure  after completely bombing a math exam. Mind you — math is not my strongest subject. I was taking a College Algebra course that was just way above my own pathetic mathematical capability. I had just switched my major from journalism to computer science (why did I do that) and I was going to take on all the madness that math and science was throwing at me.

I did not last very long, but that’s another story.

In order to pass this exam, I went to the math lab everyday so the tutors could fix the part of my brain that wouldn’t let me understand functions and all these weird fractions. One of the tutors looked at me like I was retarded (I don’t blame him, but I also kind of do). I studied at home and I tried my HARDEST — I swear — to just try and pass the class.

When the final exam came, I felt kind of confident because I put in so much work to understand this stuff. I busted my butt at the math lab, I made flash cards, I looked at videos… I had followed the recipe for success.  But once I looked at the problems on that exam, tried to solve them, and realized the answer I’d come up with wasn’t either A, B, C, or freaking D…I knew I’d failed.

I turned in my test with my head low, dragged myself to the parking lot, got into my car, and bawled my eyes out on the way home.

Pack your bags — you’re not good enough.

I remember feeling that way after preparing a workshop for an event my university hosted and having it end way earlier than it was supposed to because I miscalculated how much time it’d take.

I remember feeling that way after starting projects, and not completing them. After setting goals and not reaching them. After deciding on something, then changing my mind. After setting out to be better, only to fall off. After starting and stopping, starting then ending, after this after that….

All the while, the only thought that came to mind was…. You guessed it : Pack your bags — you’re not good enough.

Except, I am good enough.

I changed how  I looked at failure

Failure is something we will all experience. It’s a sign that we’re trying, that we don’t want to stay the same. A sign that we’d like to change. It means that we believe there’s something better for us on the horizon, and we’d like to reach it. However, when failure comes, it often thwarts our desire to be more than what we are. Because we tried, but got burned.

I used to let failure be a period at the end of a sentence. Then I’d go back after some time and try again. I can see this most prominently in my attempts at blogging, at starting a magazine, at publishing a book. I realized how resilient I am.

I  now know that failure shouldn’t be a period, but more like a comma.

In anything you set out to do, it will be accompanied with moments of failure. But the goal is to not let it hold you back.

As one Medium article puts it, “Failure doesn’t hold you back, you do.”

It’s not failure that says to you, Pack your bags — you’re not good enough. It’s you. I conceived in my own mind that because I had failed, that meant that I wasn’t good enough to achieve whatever I wanted. But that couldn’t be further away from the truth.

Failure is a sign to us and I think it sets us back to let things stay in their proper time frame. Sometimes we fail because we try to do something before it was our time to do it. Or we fail because it shows us the flaws in our plans, or in ourselves. There are countless reasons.

But at the end of the day, know this: failure isn’t meant to stop you in your tracks. It’s meant to let you pause, reflect, revise, improve, and go forward with better plans and intentions.

Remember, your success isn’t going to come overnight. Look how  long it took J.K. Rowling to get Harry Potter to where it is today. She was rejected dozens of times, only to be one of the most well-known names of our time. Imagine if she’d stopped upon her first rejection. But she kept pressing forward because she knew she had something great.

So next time you feel like a failure, tell yourself that yes, you failed. But ask yourself why, and see where you can improve. Then pick yourself up and keep going.

Failure is a part of life. Experience it. Feel the pain of it. Then move on. Because you’ve got greater things to do.

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This is Why Failure is Your Biggest Strength

While many unpredictable situations come up during our lives, a dire need to make a change can become so overwhelming that it freezes one into immobility. This sinking feeling is plain, simple, and ultimately defined as the fear of the unknown. The culprit? Raw emotions that create an overwhelming amount of contradicting thoughts while trying to control a potential setback. Resilient people have a striking ability to tolerate these fears by being okay with not controlling something that cannot be controlled. How is this possible for some of us, and not for others?

The answer is that it all depends on how much meaning you give the potential setback – or if you prefer, the word “failure”. Whether personally or professionally, one can take failure head-on in one area of their life while in another area letting a setback hit their ever-so-close emotional soft spot with an urge to make pounding retreat, or just “give in and give up.”

Whether someone gets passed up for a new position, or if they fail to close an agreement, people that don’t give up tackle failure as a massive learning opportunity. Growing through setbacks is the greatest way to excel fast – and the faster you grow with the setbacks, the less emotional pain you’ll ultimately experience. This will ultimately turn into the strength to take on more challenges.

Here are the five strategies to reverse failures:

• People that take on failures recognize that no matter how low they might feel at the time, things could always be worse. They give less meaning to the bad (and more meaning to the good) by following up and doing research on how to improve what originally failed. Those that are determined to take a crack at it again learn to keep going until they get it right. The outcome? CONFIDENCE! This is a great opportunity to stop projecting ahead from “I can do this” to “I will do this, and this time I will be 10 times more prepared.”
• Search for ways to remove excuses as opposed to living in them. Constantly look at improving problems to solve, lessons to be learned, and ultimately understanding that wisdom comes from experiencing both the good and bad – not by simply justifying why something doesn’t work. Evidence is a great way to measure how something that seemed to go so wrong at first can go so right over time, and by building an evidence list of trial and error. Consistently make small improvements, which can be uncomfortable at first if you are pushing through self-doubt. Always embrace this approach and you will be thankful as time goes on.
• Be at peace with being sensitive. Strong people aren’t afraid to admit they are sensitive and vulnerable, and that weaknesses are opportunities to improve. Here is where awareness makes a big impact on how one sees their behavior effecting themselves or others. Sometimes we fail to see our own poor behavior until it is too late, or we lose the ability to recognize it at all. Asking questions from peers and other quality-driven people is critical in avoiding potential failures that could be lurking now or in the future. Humility is a major strength, and ego can be the shadow to a potential failure.
• Keep track of your failures and list how you turned them into strengths. Step back and look at your strengths – they typically come from things that you practiced the most and focused on more than anything else . This is powerful if you realize that most things are relative, and how you utilize your strengths can be beneficial in all areas of your life. Taking on the hardest things will pull out your greatest strengths during the toughest times. Those that embrace failure have acknowledged their toughest times in the past in order to learn what not to do in the future. When people acknowledge their strengths they do it not to prove to others that they’re right in everything they say or do, but to prove to themselves that they can do it again and again.
• Learn the roadmap that creates a better plan for the future. Instead of viewing failure as one road with a stop sign, view it as the opportunity to build a road that has no stop sign – with turns that lead to other roads and greater places. This is your beginning point.  Finally, failure is not an end – and quite frankly, the word is overused and meaningless unless you give it the power to have meaning. No one’s self-worth should be determined by failure. If it were, we would not have power or electricity. People that view failure as a springboard no matter what they do in life feel good about themselves regardless, and that is the true definition of happiness.

– Tim S. Marshall, Author of “ The Power of Breaking Fear”

Click here to download “the power of breaking fear” audiobook, some reviews of “ the power of breaking fear ”:.

“The Power of Breaking Fear” “Tim S. Marshall has gone out of his way to arm his readers with a seemingly endless number of vitality strategies that are easy to incorporate into one’s daily life. The Power of Breaking Fear belongs on every bookshelf.” – U.S Review ••• – Independent Press Award (IPA) “The Power of Breaking Fear” winner for Best Audio and book Content! ••• “The Power of Breaking Fear” is a must-read for anyone who is frustrated in life, and wants to achieve true long-lasting success and happiness.” -Paul Noble, 5-Time Emmy Award Winner ••• “The Power of Breaking Fear” is one of the most fascinating books I have seen. A fresh new look to end the fears that hold us back from true success.”

– Kenneth Blanchard, #1 Best-Selling Author of The One Minute Manager, 13-million copies sold.

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When We Learn From Failure (and When We Don’t)

• Gretchen Gavett

It mostly has to do with whether we can blame somebody else.

When do you pass the buck and when do you take the blame? New research shows most of us only cop to failures if they can’t be attributed to something – or someone - else. But when we dodge accountability, we prevent ourselves from learning.

• Gretchen Gavett is a senior editor at Harvard Business Review.

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February 14, 2024

The Resilience Factor: How Flaws and Failures Can Strengthen Your Application

A speaker recently told a story about traveling in Asia, where he saw a stunning emerald. Enchanted by the stone’s beauty, he decided to buy it on the spot.

He returned home and took the emerald to a jeweler for appraisal. The jeweler began examining the stone through his magnifier, and as he did so, his face went pale.

“What’s the matter?” asked the proud owner of the emerald.

“I can’t find a flaw,” said the jeweler.

“Wonderful!” said the stone’s owner.

“No, it’s not. If it’s flawless, it’s a fake. A phony. Nothing in the natural world is flawless,” replied the jeweler.

“Then find a flaw!”

After a few more tense moments, the jeweler discovered a small flaw, and the owner of the stone stopped worrying that he had been taken in by a piece of plastic masquerading as a gem.

What does this have to do with admissions? Just this: When the adcoms ask you to write about a flaw or weakness in your essays, and you either fail to offer any or the ones you come up with sound like you are just checking a box – mentioning something vague and generic and not of much significance – you will seem like a fake in their eyes.

Everything in nature has an imperfection or two (or three), including human beings. Don’t misunderstand: we’re not suggesting that you cop to every weakness you know that you have and say, “This is me. Take it or leave it.”

But if you have learned and grown from your weaknesses or succeeded in overcoming obstacles , you are well positioned to flip those shortcomings into strengths in your essays. It takes honest self-reflection, a desire to improve, and hard work to break an unhealthy habit, pattern, or way of thinking. The ability to demonstrate self-awareness by working to minimize your flaws and develop new skills or talents to compensate for weaknesses will prove your maturity while also building your resilience. These are qualities that adcoms especially want to see these days. 

How can failures and flaws really build resilience? 

Recently, we worked with a client who was applying to MBA programs and had once made the type of mistake that could have not only gotten him fired but also destroyed a lucrative business relationship between his employer and a major customer. 

Here’s the story: “Sami” was working in an analytics department and played a role in the incorrect interpretation of some key data. This incorrect reading led his employer to recommend a business strategy to the firm’s customer that was the exact opposite of what it should have been. What a disaster! Sami didn’t discover this catastrophic error until after the new strategy had been implemented. 

He could have watched from afar as the strategy failed and things fell apart. Instead, he came clean and waited for the blowback. Sami expected the worst and nearly began clearing out his desk.  

Instead, he was rewarded for his integrity, despite the risk to his reputation. Not only did he keep his job, but the relationship between his employer and the firm’s customer actually flourished. This experience clearly positioned Sami to write about a “failure” and the lessons he learned about owning up to one’s mistakes and accepting responsibility. He didn’t look smaller because of his mistake – his stature grew because of his honesty.  

“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”

Essay questions that ask you to discuss failure, risk, mistakes, conflict, difficult interactions, or overcoming obstacles often make applicants cringe. After all, you’re on a mission to show the admissions committee that you are on top of your game and ready to conquer the world. The last thing you want to do is wave a flag that calls attention to the gory details of when and where you’ve fallen short. 

As Sami’s experience proves, however, questions about failure provide a window into your character. How resilient are you in the face of a setback? How did you respond to the situation? Did you shrink from the impact of your actions, or did you muster the courage to try to set things right, as best as you could, under the circumstances? What did you learn about yourself, about the world of business, about relationships, and/or about communication? What wisdom did you gain that you have applied in your life since then? Can you show convincingly that you view your stumble as an inevitable, vital, even transformative step on the road to achievement?

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once said, “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” So take heart: writing about your flaws and setbacks is an opportunity for you to shine by showing your humility, commitment to growth, and determination to apply lessons learned. Reading about your setbacks allows the admissions committee to understand what you’re really made of. 

Follow these four steps to transform your setbacks into achievements.

1. demonstrate how your failure led to success..

The mistake you made might have led you to discover a new idea, strategy, or invention that you otherwise would not have discovered. Or, it might have given you the determination to strengthen your skills or knowledge base. Be specific when you present your examples. A mistake you made in the lab might have cost you weeks of work. However, as a result, you learned something important about lab techniques, and now you’ve adopted more fastidious research practices. (Note: this needs to go way beyond the normal trial-and-error nature of research.) If you are discussing a personal failure, maybe you neglected an important relationship to the point where the relationship died. Feeling this loss keenly, you now make a point of treating people with greater respect. When writing about professional or personal failures and lessons learned, you cannot simply claim that you’ve changed without citing evidence. Clearly spell out what you learned and how you have changed. Offer true, believable examples of times when you behaved differently, more purposefully and sensitively, as a way of investing more deeply and wisely in your relationships.

2. Show that you truly understand why something went wrong.

Explaining what went wrong is only half the game in these essays. You must also explain why it went wrong. Doing so will show the adcom that you have taken time to really think about and reflect on your role in the situation and your understanding of the dynamics that led to the problem. Don’t play the blame game. Explain the process you went through to get real answers and solutions. Relate some of the steps you have taken to avoid making similar mistakes since. Perhaps you caught yourself about to repeat the mistake, but realized that impulse was not the “new you” and saved yourself from making the error again. Let’s look at an example. You pushed your colleagues hard to complete a work project, but your hard-driving nature made them resent you, and with no benefit to the project. Having realized your mistake – even though your sole intention was to get the job done on time – perhaps you could write about the focused attention you now pay to your colleagues’ suggestions, efforts, and capabilities. In other words, from that error you have learned to turn lemons into lemonade. Offer at least one specific example of how your efforts have paid off.

3. Focus on what you’ve learned on a personal level.

Mature applicants view and consider situations and people differently – and make decisions more deliberately – after making mistakes. Prove that you are this kind of applicant. Show how you grew by, for example, taking a course in time management to help better juggle all your responsibilities without dropping the ball, starting therapy to help with your anxiety when work pressure feels overwhelming, or another tangible step forward. Add power to your explanations by describing “before and after” situations: the “before” stressed-out, not-well-organized person staying up till 3 a.m. to get everything done and delivering haphazard work, and the “after” person practicing time-management and mindfulness skills, and coping with responsibilities more calmly, deliberately, and competently. Demonstrating these changes through real-life examples presents you as more grown-up and emotionally intelligent. And you can bet the admissions committee wants to see these valuable traits.

4. Show the adcom how you’ve become more resilient.

“Resilience” has become a cliche, but it’s critical to appreciate the concept: it is the building of inner strength and fortitude in the face of conflict, pain, or disappointment. Successful adults must be resilient to cope with life’s rocky patches. Naturally, colleges and universities want to see evidence that you have this important quality. 

Earlier in this article, we said that a weakness or failure could be flipped into a strength, given the right attitude and effort. Similarly, a weakness can also be the flip side of a strength. For example, perhaps your tendency to be “too detail oriented” resulted in your discovering a critical error before it triggered a larger problem. Identifying your weakness and giving it careful thought might have prompted you to take steps to correct or minimize it.

Be thoughtful in your responses to questions about weakness or failure, and don’t shy away from them. Successful leaders must have honesty and integrity as part of their DNA and be able to identify and admit to failures and weaknesses. As motivational speaker Zig Ziglar pointed out, “It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.” 

Nobody’s perfect, but a “perfect” answer to questions about flaws and failures just might get you admitted! To make sure your essays reflect you at your best, work with us . Every consultant at Accepted has years of experience in admissions and guiding applicants to gain coveted acceptances at top schools worldwide. Let them do the same for you!

By Judy Gruen, a former Accepted admissions consultant. Judy holds a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University and is the co-author of Accepted’s first full-length book, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools . Want an admissions expert to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• From Example to Exemplary: How to Use Sample Essays to Make Your Essay Outstanding! , a free guide
• Three Ways Writing About Obstacles Strengthens Your Application Essays , a short video
• Strategy for Writing an Accomplishment Essay (with examples)

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The Value of Failure: How We Can Make the Most of Losing

March 14, 2019 • 10 min read.

A full active work life will, of course, produce some failures. What counts are the lessons taken from them, writes former Tulane University president Scott Cowen.

It’s all eyes on the winners this time of year. With the Academy Awards and other major entertainment industry award shows, and America’s   greatest sports spectacle just behind us, our obsession with being successful is in full bloom. The truth though is that winners get our undivided attention all the time. We all like to win and we revel in victories — the ones we brought about and the ones we embrace as our own, such as our favorite sports team’s triumphs. We want to be successful in what we do and eagerly consume advice on how to be better and achieve more. But wouldn’t it be equally, if not more, instructive to examine failure? As Oprah Winfrey once said, “Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.”

Instead of just focusing on what it takes to be successful, we should be keenly aware of shortcomings that hinder our success. As much as we like to win, we are all prone to making mistakes. Failing is a natural, necessary process. Some failures must be experienced first-hand so we can “live and learn,” but there are common leadership failures that we can learn from, and hopefully steer clear of, in order to be more effective leaders. The following list describes failures that were part of my personal leadership path as well as failures that I have observed in other leaders or that emerged as common themes in conversations with leaders.

Failure 1: Inability to understand reality

When Hurricane Katrina almost destroyed Tulane University at the beginning of the fall semester in 2005, after I had worked through the initial shock and distress, I was determined to reopen the university for the spring semester. We had less than five months to restore the campus and bring back students, faculty, and staff, but I was convinced we could do it. And we did. But the number of students who returned was lower than I had expected. What I had not realized was that the rest of New Orleans wouldn’t be moving as quickly and that the city was nowhere near where we were by the time we invited our students back to campus. The students wanted more than a fully functioning campus; They wanted a thriving community surrounding it. I had failed to understand reality, that is, a decimated New Orleans would likely have an adverse impact on Tulane for years to come. Filled with hope and wrapped up in our spirited and frantic efforts to reopen the university, I missed the opportunity to climb on the balcony and see the larger picture.

“Instead of just focusing on what it takes to be successful, we should be keenly aware of shortcomings that hinder our success.”

A healthy dose of constructive cynicism (hope is not a plan) and a broader, more realistic perspective, that focused on weaknesses as much as on what is possible, would have served me better. On a general note, it’s crucial for organizations to not just look at the bright side and keep an open, critical mind. Change is the new normal and success is fleeting. In fact, the more successful an organization, the more likely the seeds of its destruction are being sowed. No leader or organization should ever fall into complacency.

Failure 2: Hiring the wrong person and then taking too long to correct the mistake

I once promoted a staff member who had been successful in her previous position at the university to a position on my leadership team. I liked the person and assumed she would do great given her previous track record. Lo and behold, things didn’t work out. The staff member’s competencies and skills didn’t line up with the requirements of the new job. Out of fear of conflict and awkwardness and because I was hoping she might grow into her new responsibilities, it took me a while to remedy the situation. Much time and energy were unnecessarily wasted. Fit is everything in building a strong team, and honest performance evaluations and feedback are important for developing your staff. Unfortunately, it is far too common for leaders to not take the time to help their staff members grow as leaders, and they rarely undertake rigorous succession planning, which typically results in outside hires. This increases the chances of bad fit, which means the organization may end up with someone in charge who shouldn’t be because no one has the courage to confront the issue.

Failure 3: Lack of courage in decision making for fear of failure, controversy or being disliked

It is ironic that we often shy away from challenging situations for fear of failure when it is exactly our inaction and indecisiveness that will bring about failure. In 2003, I had the chance to move Tulane athletics from Division I to Division III, but once the news of our discussions became public, all hell broke loose. I was met with hate and disdain at an unprecedented and, quite frankly, frightening level, which involved me being hung in effigy outside of my office. The board got skittish and critics of the proposed move started making promises that suggested we could turn the current situation around if given a chance. I also started to wonder whether I would be able to get anything done, assuming that I was able to keep my job, if I were to go through with the plan. I acquiesced and kept things the way they were although I had serious concerns about whether the status quo made long-term sense from an academic, financial and strategic viewpoint. The facts were pointing us in a different direction, but I couldn’t bring myself to go there. This decision, or lack thereof, has haunted me to this day. I do pray that the critics were correct, but I have spent more time second-guessing myself on this decision than on just about any other decision in my presidential career.

“Fit is everything in building a strong team, and honest performance evaluations and feedback are important for developing your staff.”

Oftentimes, making no decision is akin to making a decision, but all you’re doing is perpetuating the status quo. Effective leaders have the courage to make tough decisions based on hard facts and a point of view about the future. They are OK with not being liked all the time and by everyone (I’ve grown a very thick skin over the years). If everyone likes you, chances are that you have not made any tough decisions.

Failure 4: Failure to listen to and learn from those who disagree with you

If I ever had a tendency to block out critics and naysayers, it must have been before my time as university president. The academy’s unique model of shared governance ensured that I considered varying viewpoints before any major decision, and I learned to appreciate the process of respectful debate because it ultimately led to the right decisions. But I have come across many leaders who prefer talking over listening, who consider themselves the smartest person in the room, and who reach decisions based on their feelings and wants. Disagreement is not only the hallmark of democracy, it is a fundamental of great leadership. Disregarding different and opposing perspectives can block the emergence of ideas and solutions. Leadership should never be about one person’s agenda; it’s about facts, mission, vision, values, and principles. Consequently, it is of great importance to seek inclusive dialogue.

Failure 5: Lack of understanding of one’s personal strengths and weaknesses 

I have seen leaders fail because they didn’t take the time to show people who they are. Letting your followers get to know you requires showcasing your strengths while also exposing vulnerabilities. People will not only support you when they embrace you as a person, they can help guide you in your decision making and growth. The most effective leaders understand that leading involves learning, and they encourage feedback from people around them to work on their weaknesses. I believe in the power of authenticity and emotional intelligence — it helped me a great deal when I was trying to instill hope and faith in the future of Tulane against all odds after Katrina. Self-awareness, one of the key characteristics of high EI, is a quality that can distinguish a good leader from a great leader. If you don’t know who you are, if you don’t know what your strengths and weaknesses are, you will have a hard time gaining people’s trust and growing as a leader.

“By better understanding how we can fail, we are ultimately learning how to succeed.”

Failure 6: Not knowing when to leave

Many leaders tend to stay past their best-buy date. Even the most extraordinary leaders reach a point where they no longer have what it takes. They may have lost their energy, motivation and drive or their skill set no longer meets the demands of an ever-changing world to continue to move the organization forward. Whatever the reason, staying on when one’s leadership is no longer in the best interest of an organization is a fatal and common mistake. I stayed at Tulane as president for 16 years because Hurricane Katrina confronted me with a challenge seven years into my tenure that required a longer-term commitment. Without such a bona fide crisis, I probably would have left after 10 years. With the occasional exception (Norman Francis, whose presidency at Xavier University in New Orleans lasted 47 years, being one such exception), I believe that it normally takes about a decade to achieve transformative, sustainable change. Any existing problems after that are likely of your own making or you aren’t able to solve them. Change is not only normal but also healthy, so a leader’s decision to step away after certain milestones have been achieved and his or her level of incompetence has been reached (think Peter principle), is in fact an act of great leadership.

I wholeheartedly believe that experiencing failure can be the source of exemplary leadership, but the common leadership failures outlined in this article should be seen as cautionary tales. By better understanding how we can fail, we are ultimately learning how to succeed. With a healthy dose of self-awareness, an open mind, and the courage to see what’s really going on and what needs to happen, leaders can avert failure and continue their winning streak.

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The Medicine Arrows and the Sacred Hat

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The Medicine Arrows and the Sacred Hat is a short essay by anthropologist George Bird Grinnell (l. 1849-1938) explaining the origin and significance of the medicine arrows and buffalo hat, central to Cheyenne culture . The essay provides a backstory to the Cheyenne legends The Life and Death of Sweet Medicine and Old Woman's Water and the Buffalo Cap .

These two tales tell the stories of the Cheyenne culture heroes Sweet Medicine and Standing-on-the-Ground, who gave the gifts of the Four Sacred Arrows and the Buffalo Hat to the people long ago, establishing order and encouraging reverence for the Creator from whom these gifts had come. As Grinnell notes, in time the people failed to show proper respect for these objects – the Four Arrows were taken by the Pawnee in battle when the proper ceremony prescribed by Sweet Medicine was not observed, and the Buffalo Hat degraded owing to improper care by its keepers – and this failure was understood by the Cheyenne to be responsible for later misfortune.

Initially, the sacred objects were well cared for, and the proper rituals concerning them were observed. The passage of time and circumstance are said to have contributed to their loss, but, in the present day, the gifts of the culture heroes are again central to Cheyenne observances.

Culture Heroes & Sacred Objects

All Native American nations have their own culture heroes – people who serve as mediators, messengers, or even avatars of the Great Spirit – who bring significant gifts to the people at pivotal points in their history. Among the most famous of these is White Buffalo Calf Woman of the Lakota Sioux and Hiawatha of the Iroquois. In the Pawnee legend, Making the Sacred Bundle , Chief Eagle Feather plays the part of culture hero by establishing the tradition of the medicine bag, and among the Cheyenne, central figures include Falling Star , Ehyophsta (of the Ehyophsta Legend , not the 19th-century warrior woman), Sweet Medicine, Standing-on-the-Ground, and Erect Horns (the latter two sometimes replacing each other). Scholar Larry J. Zimmerman comments on the significance of these figures:

Once the world had come into existence, more accessible beings transformed it and made it habitable. These characters brought people light and fire and the tools and technologies of their traditional cultures: Sweet Medicine gave sacred arrows to the Cheyenne; Lone Man established the Mandan tradition of leaving a plaza in the center of the village in which to dance. These imposers of order (a popular activity is vanquishing the primeval world's monsters) are referred to by anthropologists as "culture heroes" – creative beings who transform their surroundings and themselves, while assuming human or animal characteristics and personalities in the process. Heroes come in many forms and include the extraordinary activities of otherwise normal people. A hero might have been involved in the creation of human beings, have played a part in bringing new technology or belies to a group, or in saving the people from catastrophe. Heroes exemplify intelligence, generosity, and personal sacrifices made for the good of the group. Preserved in their basic structure, the stories of culture heroes are often adjusted to meet the needs of each generation. (180-181)

Culture heroes – as well as their counterparts, the trickster figure – also exemplify transformation and the recognition of change as not only inevitable but desirable. In the case of Sweet Medicine, he was initially a troublesome trickster figure before recognizing the values of the Creator God Maheo (Wise One Above) and becoming a lawgiver and prophet to his people.

Culture heroes are frequently associated with sacred objects, and so it is with Sweet Medicine and Standing-on-the-Ground. Even if the people eventually fail to value these objects as they should – or as they once did – the "medicine" (the spiritual power) – of said objects does not diminish; it only becomes less accessible to those who need it. The "power object" remains imbued with the same spiritual energy whether one believes in that energy and honors it or rejects and ignores it. This same paradigm applies to the Four Arrows and Buffalo Hat of the Cheyenne as to any other sacred object.

Spiritual Power & Tradition

Medicine bundles – and the objects they hold – are not diminished by one's lack of belief in them or failure to care for them; those who do not honor them suffer for such lapses, and these are always due to a breakdown in observance of tradition, which is caused by a failure in following the instructions laid down by a culture hero. Native Americans understand the world as alive with spiritual energies that demand proper respect and the observance of rituals, performed in accordance with tradition, showing that respect. A given ceremony needs to be enacted precisely as it has always been – in the place where it had always been observed if possible – for it to be regarded as valid and acceptable to the spirits it is supposed to honor. Zimmerman comments:

Not only do landforms, plants, and animals have a spirit, they can actually be the spirit. An eagle is an eagle, but it can also be a thunderbird with special powers for protection; coyote is a coyote, but it can also be a manifestation of trickster, willing to lead a human or other animal astray or to teach them a lesson. It is imperative for people, who have to live alongside these multitudinous spirits, to know this and behave accordingly. If one obeys certain rules, there may be benefits; if one doesn't, there may be dire consequences. This concern with the spirits of nature does not in any way mean that either the spirit or nature is venerated; rather, nature is praised at the same time that one lives with and uses these invisible powers. Elders teach children about how to deal with nature spirits, in the hope of ensuring proper respect. Some individuals seek to harness and direct the power, or "medicine" – normally in a modest way – perhaps by using a talisman in a medicine bag or a bundle. (86)

This concept is exemplified by the Four Arrows and the Buffalo Hat: the spiritual power is inherent in the objects, but it is not accessible unless one performs the proper ritual in faith and in accordance with the instructions that have come to form the traditions surrounding that ceremony.

The Four Arrows & the Buffalo Hat

A common theme in Native American legends – as well as accounts of historic events and figures – is the danger inherent in a failure to follow simple instructions or perform ceremonies in accordance with tradition. One famous example of this is the death of Roman Nose (Cheyenne Warrior) (l.c. 1830-1868), who neglected to perform his protective ritual before the Battle of Beecher Island and was killed. Many of the Wihio Tales of the Cheyenne – and the Iktomi Tales of the Lakota Sioux – as well as similar trickster stories of many nations – warn of the danger in failing to observe traditions, and this is the same case with the Four Arrows and the Buffalo Hat.

As Grinnell explains below, the Four Arrows were lost in battle against the Pawnee in 1830 after a failure to observe the proper ceremony concerning them, and, although various sources differ on the final outcome, it does not seem all four of the original arrows were ever regained. The Cheyenne had arranged themselves for battle to surprise the Pawnee camp, that summer of 1830, when they were discovered by Pawnee buffalo hunters. The ceremony of the Four Arrows had not even begun, but there was no time for it once the battle began, and so Chief White Thunder of the Cheyenne handed the four arrows to the warrior Bull to carry them into battle. Since there had been no ceremony accessing the power of the arrows, however, their protection was neutralized, and the Cheyenne were defeated, losing their sacred bundle of arrows to the Pawnee who then refused to return them.

Grinnell's brief narrative on the fate of the Buffalo Hat follows a similar model in that the keepers of the hat do not seem to intend any disrespect to purposefully cause the degradation of the hat, but still, through a failure to observe the traditional ceremonies, the hat falls into disuse and disrepair. The loss of these sacred objects, as noted, was then blamed for Cheyenne misfortune including defeat in battle, massacres of the elderly, women , and children by the US army or enemy Native nations, and the loss of Cheyenne lands through the double-dealing of representatives of the US government.

As the Cheyenne, like other nations, have succeeded in fighting for and demanding their rights as an autonomous people, these once-sacred objects have again come into focus. Whether the arrows held by the Cheyenne today are the same arrows said to have been given them by Sweet Medicine is challenged, as is the case with the Buffalo Hat, but the spiritual powers these objects represent continue to be honored through ritual today just as they were in the distant past.

The following text is taken from B y Cheyenne Campfires (1926) by George Bird Grinnell. The story of the Four Arrows and Buffalo Hat was most likely translated for Grinnell by the Anglo-Cheyenne interpreter and historian George Bent (l. 1843-1918), who was responsible for translating most if not all of the communication between Grinnell and the Cheyenne.

In the different war stories, frequent mention is made of the medicine arrows and buffalo hat, two protective mysteries long possessed and greatly reverenced by the Cheyenne. These were brought to them by the culture heroes of the two tribes, sent by the Great Power to insure to the people health, long life, and abundance in time of peace, and protection, strength, and victory over their enemies in war. The medicine arrows were brought to the Tsistsistas by Sweet Medicine, and the buffalo hat to the Suhtai by Standing-on-the-Ground. The arrows were four in number, with stone points as in the ancient times, and the sacred hat is a cap or bonnet made of the skin of the buffalo cow's head, ornamented by a pair of buffalo horns shaved down, flattened, and decorated. Love History? Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! The arrows were in charge of a special man who, when he supposed he was about to die, handed them over to be cared for by some man of his family – his younger brother, or his son, or perhaps his nephew. The arrow keepers were men of wisdom and of power and were respected advisers in the tribal affairs. In the same way, the sacred hat was in charge of a chosen man, from whom it passed on to another, usually a relative, and from him to another. From time to time, occasions arose when it was necessary to renew the arrows, by which was meant taking the four arrows from their bundle, perhaps removing the stone points from the shafts, replacing them with fresh winding of sinew, and putting new feathers on the shafts. There were various reasons for this renewing the arrows; sometimes it was performed as a sacrifice or an atonement for a wrong done; sometimes to ward off a feared misfortune; sometimes to end an existing evil; and sometimes as the payment of a vow. Some man must have pledged himself to do this renewing and it was a difficult and a costly sacrifice to make. If in the camp an individual killed one of his tribesmen by accident or design, the arrows must be renewed. If inspected after such an event the arrows all showed little specks of blood on the heads. Sometimes such marks on the arrows were seen when no one had been killed and, in that case, it was thought either that someone was about to be killed or else that a great sickness threatened the camp. When the arrows were to be renewed, all the divisions of the tribe, which might be scattered out in many different groups and places, were summoned to come into the main camp and there to remain during the four days that were occupied in the ceremony. All the people were usually glad to come, for they would be benefited by the ceremony, the good influences of which were helpful to all in the camp. Sometimes, in order to be revenged for injuries inflicted by enemies, the whole tribe, men, women, and children, set off to war and, on such an occasion, took with them the medicine arrows and buffalo hat. To ensure the success of such a war journey, it was necessary that these sacred objects should be treated in a special ceremonial fashion. If not so treated, their protective help was lost. So long as proper reverence was paid to them, and the ceremonies performed which the culture heroes had prescribed, it was believed that these mysteries would protect the tribe from harm. It was the law that, when these two sacred objects were taken to war by the tribe as a whole, a certain ceremony must be performed before the enemy was attacked. Before this, two young men were chosen to carry these things into battle, one to carry the arrows and the other the sacred hat. Before they were given to these men, the ceremony, which was part of the ritual of these objects, was performed. It was intended to confuse and to alarm the enemy. Before the attack was to be made, the arrow keeper took in his mouth a bit of the root that is always tied up with the arrows, chewed it fine, and then blew it from his mouth first toward the four points of the compass and, finally, toward the enemy. This blowing toward the enemy was believed to make them blind. After this had been done, the arrow keeper took the arrows in his hand and danced, pointing them toward the enemy, and thrusting them forward in time to his dancing. Drawn up in line behind the arrow keeper stood all the men of the tribe, each one standing as the arrow keeper stood, with the left foot forward, dancing as he danced, and making with their lances, arrows, or whatever weapons they might hold, the same motions toward the enemy that the arrow keeper made with the medicine arrows The arrow keeper thrust the arrows four times in the direction of the enemy and a fifth time he directed them toward the ground. After he had gone through this ceremony, and sung the songs which go with it, the man chosen to carry the arrows into the battle went to the arrow keeper, who tied the bundle of arrows to the young man's lance. He who was to wear the sacred hat took that up from the ground and put it on his head, securing it there by means of a string which passed under his chin. The two men then mounted their specially chosen swift horses and rushed toward the enemy, riding ahead of the line of fighting men. When the two had come close to the enemy, each turned toward the other, and they crossed each other in front of the charging line, and then passed around behind it. This method of riding was supposed to blind, confuse, and frighten the enemy. All these operations should be performed before any attack was made on the enemy; yet it frequently happened that young men, eager to gain personal glory for themselves, did not wait for these ceremonies to be completed but stole off to attack the enemy independently. If this attack was made before the ceremonies were completed, the act took away the power of the arrows and of the hat, their spiritual power was neutralized, and the Cheyenne were very likely to be defeated. This explanation seems necessary, in view of various allusions made to the arrows and the hat in the war stories [told by the Cheyenne]. Long ago, in the year 1830, the Cheyenne and the Skidi Pawnee had a great battle on the head of the South Loup River in Nebraska and, in this battle, the Cheyenne lost their medicine arrows, which were captured from them by the Pawnee. At a much later date, there was a dispute in the tribe over the guardianship of the sacred hat, and a lack of reverence was shown the object by Broken Dish, who had it in his possession, and by his wife, who removed and kept in her possession one of the horns attached to it. The capture of the arrows by the Pawnee and the failure to treat the sacred hat with respect are supposed to have brought to the Cheyenne many of the misfortunes which came to them in the latter half of the last century. It is not known that any white man has ever seen the medicine arrows or the complete sacred hat. With the passing of the older generations, the importance of these objects has grown much less.

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Bibliography

• Edmonds, M. & Clark, E. Voices of the Winds: Native American Legends. Chartwell Castle Books, 2009.
• Grinnell, G. B. By Cheyenne Campfires. University of Nebraska Press, 1971.
• Grinnell, G. B. The Cheyenne Indians, Volume 1. Bison Books, 1972.
• Grinnell, G. B. The Cheyenne Indians, Volume 2. Bison Books, 1972.
• Nozedar, A. The Element Encyclopedia of Native Americans. Harper Element, 2012.
• Zimmerman, L. J. The Sacred Wisdom of the Native Americans. Chartwell Books, 2023.

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Mark, J. J. (2024, August 07). The Medicine Arrows and the Sacred Hat . World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2510/the-medicine-arrows-and-the-sacred-hat/

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Mark, Joshua J.. " The Medicine Arrows and the Sacred Hat ." World History Encyclopedia . Last modified August 07, 2024. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2510/the-medicine-arrows-and-the-sacred-hat/.

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