This is why failure doesnt actually exist and how to look at it

This is why failure doesnt actually exist and how to look at itThis is why failure doesnt actually exist and how to look at itWe tend to think of failure and achievement in separate terms.Achievement means you were right.You were correct. You tischset an expectation and then you met it.Failure means you were wrong.You missed the mark. You set an expectation and you didnt measure up.When we approach our work with this separate mindset, we inevitably set ourselves up for failure.Heres whyThe key to growth is to set goals outside of your comfort zone.In order to continue growing as a person with your respective craft, you have to set unreasonable goals.Thats the point.You have to aim outside of your comfort zone and push yourself to stretch for things that you cannot yet do.If you know what youre doing, you arent trying hard enough.However, in order to actually set goals far outside your comfort zone, you have to understand and be ok with the fact that you will fail.You wont get there t he first, or second, or third time.You will fall short.You will make mistakes and it wont be a straight shot to the end.However, failing to meet the expectations you set for yourself when aiming outside your comfort zone actually moves you much closer towards your goals than if you were to achieve something easily within reach.Thus Achievement, in this sense, is actually detrimental. Failure is the real win.In every failure there is a lesson.The problem so many people run into, and the reason why so few are able to reinvent themselves over long periods of time, is because they fear failure.It is much easier to set a reasonable goal, achieve it, and then have everyone around you clap and cheer and pat you on the back, than to set an unreasonable goal, not reach it, but learn so much mora in the process.This goes back to the dilemma between the appearance of success versus deep inner knowledge.Many would rather set smaller goals and appear to be more successful, than to set bigger goa ls, appear to have failed, but acquire an endless amount of working knowledge beneath the surface.If you see your journey in terms of achievement and failure, youve already failed.You are already disconnected from the process itself.You are far more concerned with appearing successful than actually having working knowledge of your craft in ways only attainable through messy failure.The truly successful, the innovators, the creative geniuses, the legends all share this in common.They do not care about appearing successful or as having failed. They only care about knowledge of their craft, and they are willing to go to whatever length to get it.You cant discover anything new without failing.You cant explore different ways of doing things without failing.You cant forge a name of your own without going off the beaten path, getting lost, and then coming back and sharing what youve found.Failure does not exist.It only exists to those who are more concerned with appearing successful.This a rticle originally appeared on Inc Magazine