As a baby， we learn to walk not by walking， but by falling. We try to push ourselves up， and then we fall down.

作為一個嬰兒的時候，我們不是靠走，而是靠跌倒學會了走路。我們試著爬起來，然而卻又摔倒了。

Some might say we fail， over and over again. But a parent looks at their baby trying to walk and thinks， “Look at her trying to walk！Shes doing so well. Look， she made it three steps further this time.”

有些人可能會說我們一次又一次失敗了。但是做父母的看到他們的孩子正嘗試著走路，會想：“看她試著走了！她做得很好?？?，她這一次又多走了三步?！?/p>

No matter what you call it， learning something new involves taking risks of failure. Not just once， but over and over again.

不管你怎么稱呼它，學習一些新的東西，總要冒著失敗的風險。不只是一次，而是一次又一次。

Of course some of us learn more easily than others. But for most of us， its a hard， sometimes trying process. It may result in failure time and time again， just like a little baby learning to walk. But unlike the baby， we often criticize our failures as adults—were stupid， were not good enough.

當然，我們中的一些人學起來比其他人更容易。但對我們大多數人來說，這是一個艱難的，不斷嘗試的過程。這可能會導致一次又一次的失敗，就像一個嬰兒蹣跚學步一樣。但和蹣跚學步的孩子不同的是，作為成年人，我們經常批評我們的失敗——我們太笨，我們做得還不夠好。

Babies dont think that. They think， “Hey， this walking thing is kind of cool. Its what grownups do and Im doing it！Oh， I fell again.

Well， Ill just get back up and try again.”

幼兒不這么認為。他們認為，“嘿，走路這事兒有點酷。這就是大人做的事兒，我也正在這么做！哎呀，我又摔倒了。好吧，我要重新再來一次?！?/p>

They dont criticize themselves （they dont even know what criticism is）. They take the risk， time and time again， falling over and over again. And all they know is to get up and try again.

他們不會批評自己（他們甚至不知道什么是批評）。他們一次又一次地冒險，一次又一次地摔倒。他們只知道要站起來再試一次。

They see the joy on other peoples faces when they try again. They hear the excitement in their voices and feel that no matter what， someone will be there to make sure they dont get hurt too badly when they fall.

當他們再次嘗試的時候，他們看到的是別人臉上的喜悅。他們聽到他們的聲音里的興奮，并認為，無論怎樣，都會有某個人在，以保證他們跌倒時不會受到太嚴重的傷害。

As adults， we dont always have someone to rely on to watch out for our hurts when we fail or fall. We have to learn to rely on ourselves. Nobody can be our safety net all the time in our lives — only we can act as our own safety nets.

作為成年人，當我們失敗或跌倒時，并不總是有人能讓我們依靠并關注我們受到的傷害。我們必須學會依靠自己。在我們的人生中，沒有人能一直做我們的安全網

——除了我們自己。

We need to fail—failure is how we learn. If we never fail at anything， we probably havent learned all that life has to teach us. So to me， its not a question of failing， but how I can fail more quickly and take something away from the experience.

我們需要失敗——失敗是我們學習的方式。如果我們從來沒有失敗過，我們可能學不會生活要教給我們的一切。所以對我而言，這不是關于失敗的問題，而是關于我怎樣才能更迅速地失敗，并從中汲取經驗的問題。

What can help us when we fail？

當我們失敗的時候，有什么能夠幫助我們？

1. Dont criticize yourself for trying and never stop trying.

Trying or learning something new is often half the battle. Babies dont give up until they learn to walk. If you really want to change some behavior or learn to do something new， dont give up trying. You may get depressed by the lack of progress sometimes， but if you give up， your progress will come to an end.

1. 不要因嘗試而批評自己，也不要停止嘗試。

嘗試或學習一些新的東西往往等于成功了一半。學步的孩在學會走路之前不會放棄。如果你真的想改變或學習做一些新的事情，不要放棄嘗試。你可能因為進展不順而沮喪，但如果你放棄，你的進步會戛然而止。

2. Understand the power of optimism1.

While optimism is the “new happiness”， there is a certain power in optimistic2 thinking whether you believe it wholly or not. Putting yourself in a more optimistic mindset （or even a more mindful mindset） can open you up to more possibilities than usual. Kids dont ask whether they can do something or not—they know they can. And thats one of the values we so cherish in children.

2. 理解樂觀的力量。

雖然樂觀是種“新的幸?！?，無論你是否相信，樂觀的思維總有一種力量。把自己放在一個更樂觀的心態(tài)（甚至是一個更謹慎的心態(tài)）能夠讓你獲得比平常更多的可能性。孩子們不會問他們能不能做到某些事情——他們知道自己可以。這是值得我們珍惜的孩子們的價值觀之一。

4. Learn to rely on yourself first， then others.

Those who are self-reliant3 are also usually more resilient4—meaning they can bounce back from problems， stress and heartbreak more quickly than those who arent. Becoming more self-reliant is easier than it sounds—become your own best friend， do everything that you can possibly do for yourself， and learn what your strengths and weaknesses are.

4. 學會先依靠自己，然后才是別人。

那些自力更生的人通常也更有韌性——這意味著，比起那些沒有自主性的人，他們能更快地從問題、壓力和悲傷中恢復。變得更加獨立比聽起來更容易做到——成為自己最好的朋友吧，為自己做力所能及的一切，了解你自己的優(yōu)點和缺點是什么。

5. Dont look back.

We spend too much of our adult lives looking back. Theres nothing back there to see. A baby wouldnt get anywhere walking if all she did was look behind herself while trying to move forward. Spend just 10 percent more of your time looking forward to what life holds for you in the future， and I suspect youll find yourself in a better position.

5. 不要緬懷過去。

我們成人花了太多的時間去回顧過去。沒有什么值得回頭看的。一個蹣跚學步的孩子如果在向前的時候總是回頭看，是去不了任何地方的。多花百分之十的時間去期待著你未來的生活吧。我想你會發(fā)現自己會做得更好。

Failure is a part of life since our earliest moment of life. Somewhere along the way， we think of failure as something bad—it gets laden down with negative thoughts. But failure is a normal and natural part of life that is neither bad nor good—its just how we learn.

從我們生命的一開始，失敗是生命的一部分。在人生旅途中，我們認為失敗是個糟糕的東西——它充滿了消極的想法。但失敗是生活中很正常的、很自然的一部分——它只是我們學習的方式。

So the question isnt whether you want to fail or not （because we all wont）， but how quickly you can accept your failure， learn something from it， and try again. We can learn something from a baby learning to walk—they dont take their failure to heart； they simply try again.

因此，問題不在于你是否愿意失?。ㄒ驗槲覀兌疾幌胧。?，而在于你如何快速地接受失敗，從中學到一些東西，然后再試一次。我們可以從一個學走路的孩子身上學習一些東西——他們不把失敗放在心上，他們只會再試一次。