F - Failure is part of life and should be viewed as a learning opportunity. A - When facing failure, assess the immediate and root causes to understand what went wrong and what is within your control to change. E - Failure becomes an ally when you learn from it and are able to rise, redo, and eventually enjoy success again in the future.

1. LIFE THROUGH THE BACK WINDOW
Failure ispartof life. If youdon’tbelieve me,lookatSpringbokRugbythispastyear. Lookat our
politics,lookatourcountry. We are failingeverydaysomewhere. We have become usedtofailing.
We got sousedto it, that we forgetthat it isa wonderful tool. We accept failure asnormal,andas
a way of remindingusthatwe are not destinedtosucceed.
On myway to workthismorningI wasplayinga little bitwiththe wordFAILURE,andthoughtif we
can learnsomethingfromit?
Well here goes:
F – Facts
A – Assess
I – Identify
L – Listen/Learn
U – You
R – Redo/Rise
E – Enjoy
F – Facts; the firstcritical issue of failingistoacceptthe fact thatyou have lostor failed. Toplayit
downand ignore the factthat it happenisnotdoingyou anygood. Most of usknow it as the ostrich
syndrome. We stickour headin the sandand hope that no-one hasnoticed. Youare the onlyone
that can make the difference here. Lookthe probleminthe eye andsayto yourself,‘Self,youhave
failednow.’
A – Assess;inthe Safetyindustrywe like torefertoimmediate causesandrootcauses. Immediate
causesare the thingthat actuallyhappenedortranspired. Usuallyyoucanuse yoursensesto
identifyit.Look,touch,feel,smell andhear. PatLambie kickedthe ball downfieldandhe couldnot
recoverthe ball whichledtoa try forthe All Blacks. It is an immediatecause. The rootcause if you
listentoAllisterCoetzeeisthe SouthAfricanrugbyplayersare notgoodwithaerial competition.
Thisliesat the root of the issue. Ineverydaylife,Ididnotlearnenoughforthe exam, andtherefore
I failed/underperformed. The rootcause howevermaybe,Iwasill,there wasdeathinthe family,I
didnot like the teacherwhopresentedthe subjectetc. If youcan distinguishbetweenthese two
thingsyouhave manageda lotin life.
I – Identify;thisisto make sure what isthe thingyou have control overand whatnot. Reinhold
NiebuhrprayedGod, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to knowthe difference.
Consideringthe previousstepif youhave identifiedthe rootandimmediatecausesof yourfailure,it
shouldbe easiertoidentifywhatyouhave control overandwhatnot.
L - Listen/Learn; thisiswhere itis importanttohave trustworthyfriends/familythatyoucan share
your concern/problem/issue with. Listentowhatothersay,but mostimportantlistentoyourheart.

2. Your heartknowsthe truth. It isnot alwaysnice to hearit,but listentoit. However,donot
condemnyourself. Decreeingthatyouare a failure isnotgoingto helpyouat all.
U - You;you are the onlyone thatcan make the difference. If itwasyour faultyoumuststepup to
the plate and fix it. Onlyyoucan be the bestyou. You can and will neverbe like anyoneelse,and
no-one caneverbe like you.
R – Rise/Redo;if possible dothe same thingagainand proof to yourself thatyoucan. WhenI was
about12 yearsoldwe wentfor a weekendtoBoegoebergDam(NorthernCape) andspentthe
weekend water-skiingandenjoyingwateractivities. Onone of the trips,my Dad,Mother, Auntand I
tooka tripon the dam. There wasan accidentand all of usfell overboardexceptforme. My Aunt
couldnot swim,andshe sanklike a stone tothe bottom. My Dad yelledthatImust kill the outboard
motor. He diveddowntofindmy Aunt. Eventuallyeveryone of usgotback in the boat; myAunt
whonearlydrownedgota panicattack and refuse that my Dad starts the outboardmotoragain. In
hiswisdomhe forcedmyAuntto sit andtaskedme to start and insteadof goingback to the river
bankto drive upstream. We spentabout15 – 20mins on the waterafterthe incident. The principle
was simple my Dadexplainedlater. If the horse kicksyouof,get back andkeepon riding. Don’tlet
your fearovercome you. Rise fromyourfailures. Don’tgetholddown. If youcannotswimgo for
lessonandlearntoswimand go back to the water.
E – Enjoy; failure isnevernice. Butif we can learnfromit,it becomesyourbestally. Failure ispart
of ourlives. Yesthe Springboksmayhave some bad recordsagainstthemafterthisyear. Whenwe
winthe WorldCup in2019, no-one isgoingtorememberthe lost againstIreland,Argentinaorthe
All Blacks. We will onlyrememberthatwe managedto learnfromour mistakesandrose tothe
occasion.
Thisarticle waswrittenbyWillemHüsselmann. Youcancall himon 082 415 7725 to bookyour Life
Coachingsession.