Overcoming setbacks, learning from mistakes and cultivating patience in the pursuit of achieving goals
The movie “12th Fail” influenced me to write about this topic. The film, produced by Vinod Chopra, sheds light on how determination, hard work, and consistency play an important role in shaping your career. It revolves around Manoj Sharma, a civil service aspirant who comes from a poor and backward village, Bilgram, in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. He overcomes extreme poverty to become an IPS officer, showcasing that if you want to be successful in your life, you need to be consistent, determined, and hardworking.
Apart from this, it also emphasizes that you need a partner in your life who will always be there for you, not as a distraction but as your support and inspiration. Manoj clears his exam on his last attempt, but before he clears his exam, he commits himself from the very beginning to a word, i.e., “RESTART.” Every time when he fails, he asks himself that he has to restart, meaning he has to start from scratch. Manoj gives us an important lesson that whenever a person encounters a personal setback, he feels disappointed, frustrated, and sometimes even doubts his abilities. It’s natural to have these emotions, but one should remember that setbacks are a part of life and growth. Instead of dwelling on the setback, you can use it as an opportunity to learn and grow.
Setbacks are not there to define us, but how we respond to these setbacks matters, and that defines us. Once a person encounters a setback, he needs to commit himself to the word “RESTART.” It means that sometimes we need to let go of the past and start fresh in order to achieve our goals. It’s all about embracing change and being open to new opportunities. Take an example of playing the snake game on your mobile, and when you encounter a challenging level, you keep failing and getting frustrated. But instead of giving up, you apply new strategies, and you try to be more cautious that you do not commit the same mistake again. The same concept applies to real life; we all face obstacles and setbacks on our journey to success. By embracing the idea of restart, we give ourselves a chance to rectify the mistakes and adapt new strategies to achieve our goals.
The idea of restarting gives us an opportunity to learn from our past experiences and make adjustments. We can reflect on what worked and what didn’t and then apply that knowledge to improve our approach. It’s all about adapting, growing, and finding better ways to achieve our goals. Someone has rightly said that failures are the pillars of success, which means that once you fail, you get a chance to learn something from your mistakes and to rectify those mistakes. You get a chance to look out for what is lacking in you and you get a chance to identify your weaknesses. Once you identify your mistakes and weaknesses, you look for solutions; that means you are now a step ahead towards your goal. But one should always remember the repetition of the same mistakes is called the decision, and once you repeat your mistakes, that shows how imbecile you are.
I believe one should make mistakes because it’s the mistakes that show you the right path, and sometimes they become a stepping stone to success, prosperity, and achievement. Mistakes make you bound to restart, and once you restart with a different mindset and attitude, you are rightly confronted with success. The word “Restart” makes you determined and focused on your goal and excludes you from the category of losers because they never even think to restart. I believe losers are those who give up despite having some fair chances left to prove themselves. Restart gives you the taste of patience, and that is what you need for your success.
In the Quran, Allah, the most merciful and high, said, “And be patient, surely Allah is with those who are patient.” From this beautiful verse, we can say that no matter what the situation we are facing, we should be faithful and patient that Allah is with us, and he will never leave us alone. I believe one should not be afraid to hit that restart button when needed because someone has rightly said, “Success often lies just beyond the restart.”
Till now, I observed that struggle is part of everyone’s life, but some use this as a justification for giving up, and some genius people use it as a stepping stone to achieve their goals. One should always remember that struggles often provide us valuable opportunities for growth and development. They force us to confront our limitations and push ourselves beyond what we thought was possible. This process of stretching ourselves helps us to discover new strengths and skills that we may not have realized we had.
Struggles can sometimes foster empathy and compassion in ourselves. When we go through tough times, we become more understanding and supportive of others who face similar difficulties. Struggles are not roadblocks to success but rather stepping stones that propel us forward. Embrace them, learn from them, and use them as opportunities for growth and self-improvement. This article is particularly meant for those students who are looking forward to going for competitive exams like NEET, JEE, UPSC, JKPSC, etc.
I would conclude with a beautiful quote of J.P. Morgan: “The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you are not going to stay where you are.”
The writer is a student of BA LLB (3rd semester) at the School of Law, University of Kashmir. He can be reached at ba************@***il.com