• About
  • Mortgage Basics
  • $40K Challenge
  • Aunt Doris
  • Grandfather Says
  • Privacy
  • Archives

Len Penzo dot Com

The offbeat personal finance blog for responsible people.

100 Words On: Why You Should Never Ever Be Afraid of Failure

By Len Penzo

Most of us learn to fear failure and avoid it at all costs. During our quest for financial freedom, however, well encounter plenty of failures. Usually, we learn from them and move on. Sadly, the fear of failure is also used as a convenient excuse for some folks who dig themselves into a deep financial hole and are looking for any reason to avoid the hard work of overcoming their oppressive debt.

The bottom line: Success earned in spite of failure is the ultimate reward. Failure, in its purest form, will only become reality for those who are willing to accept defeat.

Photo Credit: cdharrison

July 7, 2022

Comments

  1. 1

    Doable Finance says

    You not only learn from your own mistakes but you can also learn from others’. I think mistakes and consequent potential failure can be considered a fact of life. It would be nice though to not make mistakes and avoid failure but that can be pretty hard to do.

  2. 2

    Little House says

    Not only is it fear of failure, sometimes it’s fear of hard work. Working oneself out of a big financial mess takes some diligent budgeting and hard work. I know plenty of people who like things to be easy and when they’re not, they just give up.

  3. 3

    retirebyforty says

    Learning from your own failure is something we all must do to find success. I won’t let fear get in my way of success.

  4. 4

    Kevin@OutOfYourRut says

    If we could only find a way to not emotionalize failure, it wouldn’t be failure at all. It would just be something that didn’t work, and nothing more.

    Emotionalizing is what causes the fear that paralizes us and keeps us from moving on. Going forward is the only constructive course in life, and somehow we have to make a default setting. Especially when we’re tempted to camp out on our “failures” and beat ourselves up over them.

    • 5

      mum4vr says

      great point! Thanks!

  5. 6

    First Gen American says

    You know it wasn’t until I went into sales that I truly embraced failure as a positive thing. When your hit rate to sales is 20-30%, you have to fail A LOT in order to succeed and hit your metrics.

    Now I view failure as my path to success. Even as an engineer where you have to fail a bunch before you find a technical solution that works, it didn’t have as big an impact until I had to start failing all the freakin time. It’s warped but it really has helped my perspective on things.

  6. 7

    Daniel H. says

    Len, it sounds like you read Seth Godin’s latest book – Poke the Box. If you didn’t, it sounds like you’d love it.

    • 8

      Jenna says

      Definitely agree with this statement. Len – I think you’d love that book.

  7. 9

    Miss T @ Prairie Eco-Thrifter says

    Sometimes it’s the things that scare us the most that turn out to be the best for us. I have learned this lesson many times.

  8. 10

    Justin @ MoneyIsTheRoot says

    I think a fear of failure is common when you have a family and consider starting a cash intensive business…but fear of failure just for the sake of failing, we need to be a bit more bold than that!

  9. 11

    Jackie says

    Love this! Failure is one of my favorite things, because it’s eventually followed by success 🙂

  10. 12

    Robert @ The College Investor says

    Somebody has been reading HBR this week. The entire edition was about failure, and how many people fear it too much to take risk, or the inverse, don’t learn from their failures.

    • 13

      Len Penzo says

      I had to look up HBR! LOL I assume you meant Harvard Business Review? Nope. I’m not worthy to read that. 😉

  11. 14

    Vangile Makwakwa says

    I have come to realize that I wasn’t scared of failure but what others would say when I failed and was obsessed with looking good. When I got over that (rather recently too) I was able to really just go after what I really wanted. Because really people are free to say what they want.

  12. 15

    mum4vr says

    Very encouraging post and comments!

    IME, the fear of failure was directly proportional to the lack of preparedness. My fear has been a good and true indicator that I have not done due diligence– whether in market research, emergency fund/ general prep, etc… “I am afraid to fail, bc if (WHEN!) I fail… (x,y,&z will surely happen, bc I have done nothing about those aspects yet.”

    So, back to a better plan with responsible safeties in place, and hard work done, and backup plans B, C, D, etc… then on with the show, and why fear anything?

  13. 16

    RD Blakeslee says

    Sometimes “failure” isn’t.

    Most young patent examiners in my day went to law school,at night, preparing to be patent attorneys. I “failed” at that – didn’t do well (I hate formal study), but one of my professors helped me with a contract to buy our first house. That led to another “failure”: the house was “impacted” by new plans for an expressway nearby and we couldn’t sell it. We rented it and discovered the possibilities for real estate investing.

    That was during the late 1950s through the early sixties.

    That went well and eventually made early retirement possible.

    So, “opportunity” sometimes looks like “failure”, early on.

  14. 17

    bill says

    Growing up in an abusive family had me mentally conditioned to think that I was already a failure. I healed enough to start taking small chances. I failed sometimes. I asked God for help, and tried again. I grew more and more all the time. Sometimes I fail. I learn from it. I pray about, and I go console myself with two burritos. Taco Bell has a happy hour deal. lol

    I am so glad I tried. I’ve had some failures but oh the huge successes I have had in life.

Trackbacks

  1. Grandfather Says: The Importance of Self Confidence and Independence - Len Penzo dot Com says:
    February 8, 2018 at 4:15 am

    […] Can it be developed and/or strengthened? Grandfather says he doesn’t know, but recommends you should try. […]

  2. The High Cost of Being Poor (and How to Vanquish It) – Len Penzo dot Com says:
    December 10, 2018 at 5:12 am

    […] The only thing we could do was persevere. If there are ever words to write on our tombstones, let them be “I didn’t quit.” […]

  3. Why It Pays to Never Give Up – Len Penzo dot Com says:
    September 27, 2019 at 4:15 am

    […] The bottom line: Success isn’t measured by how often we fail — it’s measured by how many times we try. […]

The Question of the Week:

Will you be taking a summer road trip of 500 miles or more this year?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Recent Posts

  • Black Coffee: The Sky’s the Limit
  • The Difference Between Real Wealth and Paper Wealth
  • Savings Tips for High School Grads: 6 Ways to Kick-Start Your Savings
  • Shopping In the Modern Age: Does the Internet Encourage Overspending?
  • 9 Ways to Ensure Your Road Trip Sucks
  • Black Coffee: Tick Tock Goes the Debt Clock
  • Grandfather Says: The Continuing Chronicles of Elaine, Part 15
  • How to Determine If Your Artwork Is Valuable
  • 6 Ways to Clean Out Your House for Cash This Spring
  • 12 Good Reasons Why You Should (and Shouldn’t) Pay Off Your Mortgage Early

Disclaimer

This site is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and the content herein should not be mistaken for professional financial advice. In fact, making investment decisions based on information published here, or any other website for that matter, is more than unwise; it is folly. This website accepts advertising in the form of monetary and other compensation; as such, topics of discussion are occasionally influenced by these advertisers. Sometimes, an article may also include affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, this blog earns a commission if you click through and make a purchase (for example, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases). Remember, you and you alone are responsible for the decisions you make in life, so please contact an independent financial professional for advice regarding your unique personal situation.

Sign up for the weekly Len Penzo dot Com newsletter
Len Penzo dot Com Delivered Weekly
Join more than 40,000 readers and fans who enjoy personal finance and macroeconomics with an offbeat twist!
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing!

Popular Now:

  1. 1. How to Fix Your Finances Without More Money
  2. 2. 34 Financial Tricks to Help You Retire Early
  3. 3. Why Coffee Drinkers Waste More Than Money at Starbucks
  4. 4. How Smart Couples Save Money by Gaming the System
  5. 5. Effective Negotiating Tactics Everyone Should Know
  6. 6. Credit or Debit: Which One Is Actually Better?
  7. 7. Is the Payback Period on Energy Efficient Lights Too Long?
  8. 8. Why Paying Off the Mortgage Early May Be a Big Mistake
  9. 9. Historical Gold & Silver Benchmarks for Wages and Commodities
  10. 10. 4 Good Reasons Why Some Quarters Are Painted Red

All-Time Most Popular:

  1. 1. 19 Things Your Millionaire Neighbor Won’t Tell You
  2. 2. Dear Friend: Here Are 41 Reasons Why I’m NOT Lending the Money
  3. 3. Why Your Expensive Luxury Car Doesn’t Impress Smart People
  4. 4. If You Can’t Live on $40,000 Annually It’s Your Own Fault
  5. 5. 21 Reasons Why Corner Lots Are for Suckers
  6. 6. 4 Smart Reasons Why College Isn’t for Everyone
  7. 7. 18 Fast Facts About Social Security Numbers
  8. 8. My Ketchup Taste Test: Upset! Guess Which Brand Topped Heinz
  9. 9. Why I Prefer a Spreadsheet to Track Expenses and Manage My Finances
  10. 10. Here’s a Simple Trick for Getting Credit Card Interest Charges Waived

Copyright © 2023 Len Penzo dot Com · All Rights Reserved · Designed by Nuts and Bolts Media

© Len Penzo dot Com 2008–2023

x
x