“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald

Too many times we consider the word “failure” as the final outcome. However, the word “failure” has to very different uses. Looking that the definition of failure from Dictionary.com, we find the first definition focuses on a single activity or endeavor:

an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success:

His effort ended in failure. The campaign was a failure.

In this instance, failure is the outcome of an attempt, which could be as simple as trying ten pull-ups and only achieving eight or a longer project, such as in flipping a house with a goal of a 20% increase but breaking even or taking a small loss.

The last definition is the one we all too often feel about ourselves (or may assign to others) under similar or protracted circumstances:

a person or thing that proves unsuccessful:

He is a failure in his career. The cake is a failure.

In this case, failure is intoned with a sense of finality, the ultimate outcome. And yet the difference between the two is often a matter of both timing and choice.

For example, at the end of 2010, as the Secretary of State records indicated, I closed and dissolved my business. My venture had failed. The same Secretary of State Records will show that in 2011, I filed a new legal entity to represent my continuing business interests with the intent of continuing on as a freelancer and entrepreneur. This was before undergoing a painful bankruptcy and several years of underemployment. Today, my simple LLC stands and I am involved with multiple startups in different capacities while also providing freelance work for small and medium ventures.

My business that closed was most definitely a failure and I failed that venture. But rather than becoming a failed business owner, I became an entrepreneur who had experienced business failure. Having taken the time to both learn from that failure and learn what I should do differently. I am know considered to be successful in the entrepreneurial world. I still have several milestones to reach, and will encounter many more set-backs (failures). But I am focused on working my way to success and will ultimately find my win.

So, in short, you will fail. You may fail over and over again. The key is not avoiding taking risks and not trying new things (or old things in new ways). The key is to learn from each of these failures to build a better map and skillset for moving forward to success. You choose whether your failure is a “single defeat” or a “final defeat”.