Your failures don’t define you

During my university days, I was asked by my father to take charge of a horticulture project on a large piece of hilly land in our village in Cumilla.

My first thought was what to grow in such a jungle. In pursuit of its feasibility study, I sought guidance from a senior soil scientist in Khamar Bari. Perceiving my frustration with the quality of the soil, he said, "Mahtab, no soil is bad soil as long as you know what to grow there."

He went on to explain that you plant crops based on the nutrition of the soil and on a process of trial and error. He continued that when a piece of land is not suitable for planting pineapples, try planting jackfruits. If jackfruits are not growing, try planting dragon fruits or veggies.

And if none of that works, scatter buckwheat seeds, which will one day bloom in flowers. On the very land itself, one seed will germinate and grow. His words remained in my heart as a lifelong lesson that I could apply to many situations throughout my life.

Success is a combination of hard work, determination, patience, and support from the right people. And during the journey of life, failure with frustration and disappointment is inevitable. Do not stop. Keep going. After all, your failures don't define you.

There are many examples of success preceded by failures. On his failed attempts before inventing the bulb, Thomas Edison said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. However, he was omitted from his high school as well as university basketball team. JK Rowling struggled on welfare as a single mother before her success with the Harry Potter series.

There was once this young man who failed to perform well in academics and at work despite his repeated efforts to prove otherwise. Then he got a job as a primary school teacher that he started to enjoy. Soon, he found himself sacked for his incompetency.

Dejected, he went home, and his wife comforted him, pointing out how he did not have any formal training in teaching or experience. She explained, "When the creator says yes to your prayer, he gives you what you want. And when he says no to your prayer, he has something better for you. Hence, there is probably a more suitable job waiting for you out there."

Gathering some hope, the man kept looking for opportunities but continued to fail at jobs while his wife remained steadfast in supporting him. Finally, he encountered success when he found a job as a counsellor in a school for physically and mentally challenged kids. In a few years' time, he opened his own school with branches in other cities and became a multi-millionaire.

After many years, on a lazy afternoon, the now rich man asked his wife what prompted her to believe in him when he was repeatedly proving himself to be a failure. Her reply was simple, yet very profound. She said that no one in this world is useless. The land may be fertile, but you may not have figured out your seed. It takes a while to figure out what works for you, but once you know it, you fly!

Success is not about avoiding failure but rather about persevering through it. What is important is to have a positive attitude, the will to keep trying, self-belief, and a determination to learn from each failure. These are the keys to ultimate success. Setbacks and failures all add up to the journey to success.

The author is founder and managing director of BuildCon Consultancies Ltd