The Last Word

By Mitch Pryde | Posted: Tuesday August 9, 2016

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” - Denis Waitley

The fear of failure in todays society sometimes out weighs the thought of success, with what could be an amazing idea, invention or comment but is not said or shared because of the fear of failure.

The thought of failure should not determine what you do or where you go in life, it should not dictate your thought process, it should drive you to be the best you can be and prove to those who are effected by the fear of failure to give it your best and do say or share what you're thinking because by sharing your thoughts you don't know what doors to opportunities can open.

Today I did the unusual, I started my last word with a quote. Something we aren't typically used to with last words, which are usually finished with one to leave you thinking. It wasn't an easy decision, the thought of people judging me for breaking tradition, thinking I'm trying to be funny, and looking at me sideways for it. I chose the fear of failure when making the decision but it was a choice I made and took it by the horns and gave it my best try. Now if I have failed, I'm not going to sulk, simply just take it on the chin and keep on trucking and try to come back with something better.

It's that time of year again, where sports teams hit the finals, and exams keep getting closer and closer, and I guarantee it wont be long until Mr Hooper comes along with a countdown of days, minutes and even seconds until they get underway. Personally for me, I find it easier to get motivated for a sports final rather than my end of year History external but either way for both of these, the fear of failure is always hot on your trail, breathing down your neck.

Soon enough teachers are going to give you lengthy lectures on study tips and how to study properly, but to be brutally honest, I would be surprised if more than 25% of us in this assembly actually went away and put this into practice. Listening to Mozart while memorising flash cards and making a study schedule isn't my type of candy, and I bet it isn't most of yours.

Everyone in this assembly will have their own way of studying and preparing for a sports final, but when your hours away from your exam without even skimming though you're notes you spent all year wingeing about writing or you're 60 minutes into that sports final and you're down on the scoreboard because of a sloppy first half, this is when the fear of failure can set into your mind.

Instead of having to have that fear of failure in your mind, work hard in the early stages. Set a good platform so that fear doesn't even have to come into your mind, even if you're mates give you some classic banter for knuckling down and getting yourself to a good platform. Just think about how they are going to have that constant fear of failure tapping them on the shoulder when they are down on the score board with 10 minutes to play because of that sloppy first half while you worked hard in that first half and have a comfortable lead, or they start stressing about their up coming History external they have done no study for, while you put in the hard work to nail it with ease.

Just remember, if you do fail, it's only a delay, not defeat. It's a detour not a dead end. Everyone will have times where failure will get you in life, but put the hard work in early to try beat failure to stand up and be successful.

Cheers.