Life is a mixture of successes and failures. We may succeed in many of our actions and fail in some. We need to take both ,in our stride. While successes make us happier, failures may leave us sad. But one needs to realise that we can learn from both our successes and failures.

In my book, failures possibly teach us more than successes. We have so many instances of sportspersons teaching us valuable lessons, on how to learn from failures.

I was recently reading about two world champions ,in the field of sports. Both of them narrated that they failed more than they succeeded ,in their sporting career. But the crucial learning is that ,their failures made them learn more and ultimately ,they evolved as world champions.

Let me narrate a few of my failures and how I learnt from them. The first incident was when I was in school. I was the elected school pupil leader and was to lead the school march past ,on our annual sports day. Our school was in an Air Force campus. The chief guest was the top commander of the Air Force station. As expected, he was punctual and dot on time ,for the ceremony.

I had come early to school in my white uniform. But, while playing on the ground, I fell down and soiled my clothes. My friends suggested that I go home and change my uniform , as they were soiled. I cycled my way back home for 5 kms and then back to school, and in that process, was late for the ceremony. The deputy school pupil leader was asked to lead the school parade.

This was the most important lesson on punctuality for me ,in my life. From then on till today, I am normally very punctual unless I default due to reasons beyond my control, which would be very rare. So, this failure of mine taught me one of the most important lesson in life ,to be punctual.

The second failure was when I finished my graduation and tried for admission ,to leading business schools in India. I cleared the entrance test of two of the best business schools for HR in India. However, I could not clear the interview ,since my general knowledge and awareness was poor. This led to me to evolve as a quiz master in the future and also work hard and lead HR in some of the best organisations in India.

I would not state that ,successes do not teach you lessons. My career progression was excellent and each step ahead taught me to be grounded and be a life long learner. Success can sometimes blind you but if you keep your feet on the ground and are willing to be humble, the chances of your doing better in life and career ,is higher.

We need to realise that life will always be a combination of successes and failures. We need to learn from both of them. My life teaches me that possibly failures teach you more important life lessons than successes. But, if we are willing ,even successes teach us lessons.

Let us learn to learn from both failure and success ,in life.

S Ramesh Shankar

19th Jan 2025