Failure doesn’t need to be the end of your project — it can be just one more tool that helps with your ultimate success. One of the most important things you can learn from a business mentorship is that the only people who never fail are those who do not try.

Four Lessons Business Mentorship Teaches About Failure

It’s okay to fail. In fact, failure is inevitable for
anyone with entrepreneurial innovation. But once you begin seeing mistakes as opportunities (and not proof that you don’t have what it takes to reach a goal), you can embrace failure for the valuable lessons it provides.

1. Failure Helps You Grow Stronger

Failure is an experience that separates the doers from the dreamers. Doers get knocked down but bounce right back up with a stronger commitment to their goals. Don’t let failure stop or break you — let it motivate you to do more, do it better, and keep doing it until your idea succeeds.

2. Failure Sparks New Ideas

Sometimes, the best ideas come from ideas that didn’t work. Brainstorming by yourself or with others to find new solutions sparks some of the best creative thinking you’ll ever experience. Failure drives people to try different avenues and find the path they were meant to walk.

3. Failure Keeps You Humble

Successful people are confident, curious, driven, and self-assured. But they are also humble enough to admit that they don’t know everything and need the input of experts to achieve their goals. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you and you alone know best. Instead, use failure as an opportunity to tap into the expertise of others.

4. Failure Deepens Understanding

Getting a clear picture of where things went wrong improves your understanding of the project as a whole. The deep dive that some failures provoke also provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to reexamine their motives. You may realize you feel more committed than ever after a failure.

Don’t Fear Failure

The fear of failure prevents some people from ever getting started. But we’d encourage you to adopt the mindset of M. Jayson Meyer, who pioneers the idea of positive failure through his Failing Forward Initiative. That is, learn to let failure propel you into greater success.

Letting go of the anxiety of potential failure frees you to become a more creative entrepreneur. Embrace the lessons failure can provide, and remember — you only truly fail if you quit before reaching your goal.