--- title: Psychology: Why We Need to Accept Our Failures description: Embracing the emotional experience of failure can enrich your sense of happiness canonical: https://time.com/3977255/accept-failures-happiness/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-03T11:00:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:00.687Z article:section: Ideas og:title: We Need to Accept Our Failures og:description: Embracing the emotional experience of failure can enrich your sense of happiness og:url: https://time.com/3977255/accept-failures-happiness/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta15fb3003ba7e231/69885d16cd684822cd0a1083/man-standing-silhouette.jpg?branch=production&width=511&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 511 og:image:height: 287 og:image:alt: man-standing-silhouette og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: We Need to Accept Our Failures twitter:description: Embracing the emotional experience of failure can enrich your sense of happiness twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta15fb3003ba7e231/69885d16cd684822cd0a1083/man-standing-silhouette.jpg?branch=production&width=511&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # We Need to Accept Our Failures > Sponsored content. 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Joyce Carol Oates Speaks at NCCC Commencement 2015_ by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Aug 3, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  Man standing on pier at sunset Man standing on pier at sunset Getty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Aug 3, 2015 11:00 AM UTC --- > “” --- If failure is so ubiquitous you would think that it would be treated as a more natural phenomenon; not exactly something to celebrate but not something that should be hidden away either. In the book [The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0865478015/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0865478015&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=TMFHOWR6MT3PKFOL), Oliver Burkeman visits a ‘Museum of Failed Products’ and comes away with quite a few insights into our reluctance to accept, or even acknowledge, our less successful ventures. --- > “” --- I’ve spoken about Burkeman’s book before. There is a great chapter on the [flaws related to goal setting](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/02/oliver-burkeman-uncertainty/) and another on the [Stoic technique of negative visualisation](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/12/the-secret-to-happiness-the-power-of-negative-thinking/) but they all come back to the concept of turning towards the possibility of failure. --- > “” --- So what does it all mean? If avoiding failure is as natural as failure itself, why should you embrace it (or even attempt [an Antifragile way of life](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/10/an-antifragile-way-of-life/)). --- > “” --- It’s almost jarring how simple and sensical that is, considering our aversion to failure. Accepting failure is becoming more conversational, even if we’re a ways from embracing it. ‘Learning from our mistakes’ has become the new business mantra, replacing ‘being innovative.’ Although, I can see this quickly losing its shine when the mistake is idiotic. Burkeman notes, it’s just too easy to imagine how the Museum of Failed Products gets populated (it is also worth noting that [successful products have a lot to do with luck](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/03/five-techniques-improve-luck/).) --- > “” --- [The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0865478015/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0865478015&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=TMFHOWR6MT3PKFOL) is an eye-opening look at how the pursuit of happiness is causing us to be more unhappy than ever. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/07/turning-towards-failure/)**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3977255/accept-failures-happiness/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3977255/accept-failures-happiness/"},"headline":"We Need to Accept Our Failures","datePublished":"2015-08-03T11:00:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:06:00.687Z","description":"Embracing the emotional experience of failure can enrich your sense of happiness","url":"https://time.com/3977255/accept-failures-happiness/","keywords":["Psychology","Happiness","emotion"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta15fb3003ba7e231/69885d16cd684822cd0a1083/man-standing-silhouette.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta15fb3003ba7e231/69885d16cd684822cd0a1083/man-standing-silhouette.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"man-standing-silhouette","caption":"man-standing-silhouette","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3977255/accept-failures-happiness/","name":"We Need to Accept Our Failures"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Joyce Carol Oates Speaks at NCCC Commencement 2015","description":"Joyce Carol Oates Speaks at NCCC Commencement 2015","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SVZDC95h/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-05-21T20:28:21.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SVZDC95h.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3977255/accept-failures-happiness/","duration":"PT19M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3977255/accept-failures-happiness/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```