Occasionally, members of the site fail the exam. Their and our own reactions can teach us a lot. But what have you truly lost if you do fail?

I have failed at quite a few things in my life.

Failed my police entrance exam first time
Failed my CCNA
Failed my police promotion exam
Failed my CCIE lab
Failed my first driving test
Failed at my first marriage
Failed with my third company

But looking back, I learned a lot and to be honest I am a far better person for my failures.

'Success is a poor teacher' Robert Kiyosaki.

We are programmed at school that failure is bad. We are punished with poor grades, detentions, social stigma and so on. This system is designed to train us all to be happy little workers. To be trained to confirm, do what we are told and like it.

If you are failing at something then you are learning. If you stop learning you might as well give up on life.

I'm glad I failed at all the above things. It helped me either redouble my efforts or realize that I didn't really want it after all. I have no interest in becoming a CCIE at all. It doesn't fit in with my life goals.

When I see a comment on the forum saying 'I've wasted my money, I failed the exam today. What a waste.' I think that is the wrong way to look at it.

If I fail anything I keep it to myself, I don't want to engage in a pity party. If I need some tips on how to pass next time then I will ask for those instead.

If you fail your exam you have learned about your weak areas. Better in the exam than on live network. You have learned that your hands on speed needs work. You have learned about stress and anxiety and that you need to learn some relaxation techniques.

The Japanese have a saying 'Fall down seven times, stand up eight.' If you keep going towards your goals then you are successful. If you quit then you are a failure.

Our dual CCIE Farai Tafa failed his CCNA five times. That must be some sort of record. Now he walks into the network at Cadburys or Pepsi and everyone stands back and watches.

If you fail get over it. Learn what needs to be learned and carry on.

Paul Browning

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1 of 1 people found the following comment or review helpful:

	You learn more when things go wrong, February 19, 2010
	By pwilko - See all my comment or reviews

Great article Paul.

Some days even after a lot of planning, something unlikely happens which throws you and its hard to get back on track. You learn to make sure it never happens again. Another day that event wouldn't have happen, you get away with it and you wouldn't have learnt that lesson, which means you haven't grown, and it could come back to bite you later on.

You learn more from hard faults or project which go badly, then easy jobs.

My experience of the CCNA exam was that it is a true test. Like any true test, some days things click, some days they don't. Some days you can fight your way out, somedays you have to backout, reassess and give it another go.

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2 of 2 people found the following comment or review helpful:

The only time you fail is when you quit!, February 19, 2010

By eeb2 - See all my comment or reviews

Failure is only a check point in the learning process. Everyone fails at something, but those who achieve success are the ones who learn from their failures. A very important lesson in life as a whole. When I fail at something, I kinda get excited, because I know I am going to have a victory party soon...no time for a pity party around here

eeb2

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