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Why do I always fail even when I try my hardest?

243 Answers
Last Updated: 05/27/2022 at 2:42pm
Why do I always fail even when I try my hardest?
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United States
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Alex DS Ellis, MA, LMFT

Marriage & Family Therapist

Feeling depressed or anxious can be so overwhelming. I want to help you feel better and be able to enjoy life. You are not alone and you deserve emotional support.

Top Rated Answers
rayofsunshine888
November 20th, 2020 8:49am
i was just thinking of this. i always do honestly. my hard work never pays off whether it's an exam or anything else. i put so much work and effort in things that other people barely pay attention to and they succeed in it way more than i do. which leaves me wondering, am i just stupid? i once studied for long hours for my physics exam and thought i was gonna ace it. it was a three hours long exam and i had a breakdown in the first hour and didn't know how to write anything. i died that day unsurprisingly and felt like the biggest loser in the world. till this day it still happens to me to put my best into something and failing. but if i can only succeed at failing let it be.. failing is not as scary as giving up. if you fail but try again and give it your best all over, knowing damn well it might not work out, than that is better than succeeding. cause you my friend just succeeded at being persistent, hard working, and strong headed. and that's a win. eventually you'll learn from your fails and they'll turn into wins. you cant fail the same thing twice. the more you fail the more you succeed in return. so don't give up ane keep failing!!!
Stillthebrighteststar
November 25th, 2020 1:49am
Because the best things in life never come easy. If you want to master some form of art, you have to practice. The thing is, you may think you're failing even though you're trying your hardest, just because you're surrounded by other people trying the same thing, but just getting the hang of it a lot easier than you are. Remember, everyone learns differently, and so system is perfect because humans as per nature are vastly different and unique individuals. The US government wasn't created to be the perfect solution, but the best of what was offered. So think about that.
DarkPiT23
November 27th, 2020 2:49pm
A lack of persistence is a great obstacle to success. There are so many incredibly talented and gifted people who fail time and time again because they rely too much on their talents. They are not willing to persist until they've completely mastered what they're doing. Instead, they quit when the going gets tough.. Because people tend to fail than succeed. So if your success rate is 10%, which means every 100 things you do , you succeed 10 things. However, if you do TOO FEW, like you only try 5 things, then chances are you cant gain any success. So you always find failure , it's just becasue your doing are not enough in number
Rocktathan1
December 3rd, 2020 1:52am
Failure is a part of life that no matter where you are and how hard you try, you will experience it at some point. Trying hard doesn't lead to success but it leads to making things better. The phrase of "Practice makes perfect" is false because practice doesn't make you perfect but it makes progress. You are working so hard to improve and become better but sometimes it just isn't enough and that's just the way life is. Its okay to fail though, learn from that failure. Maybe you though too hard about the issue when the solution was surface level or maybe that thing just wasn't meant to be.
Anonymous
December 9th, 2020 7:13pm
Sometimes failing is a good thing. You learn from your mistakes and do better next time. There are high bars for a reason. When you think you can't do something, try to tell yourself that you can do it or take a break. Take a walk outside, drink some water, do something that makes you feel happy. It's good to try your hardest on things, but you get tired and worn out after a while. You can also reach out to your peers and ask them for help. Getting support from others can boost your confidence and push yourself to your highest limits. 💖
John07050810
December 9th, 2020 10:50pm
We are human and sometimes we overthink or think on the negative results. Life comes with mistakes and that is on us to choose our path and better ourselves. You can't put yourself down for a negative results. Stuff happens and that is a part of life. You will be amazing in every way. Continue to work hard and build your path with your future. I believe in you! You'll do great things in life and we may have some times where we fail or feel like we are not doing enough, But we are taking life step by step.
Saimahab
January 8th, 2021 11:38pm
You never fail. We either win or learn. Each experience (bad or good) is helping us know ourself better. This cannot be regarded as failure. Therefore, keep trying because you’re learning a new thing Everytime you try. No matter what the results are, keep trying and be open to experience. This will help you gain a better understanding of who you are and one day, you will realize how much this entire process of trying and learning has helped you become a better version of who you were earlier. It will make you stronger and wiser. So never be afraid to try again.
TheChozen1
January 23rd, 2021 7:59am
I believe people fail even when they try their hardest because they are afraid.Fear can cause you to be defeated. One way to overcome come this is believing in your self and conquering your fears. Do positive self talks and build your confidence.set Goals also some hurting your own feelings be consistent, vulnerable and positivity remember everyone fails sometimes. Learn from your experiences Success is scary but keep the faith and keep showing up.Everyday you will get a new opportunity to show up first for your self then for others.My wish for you is that you will take every chance you are given no matter how small .
YouRNotUrMistakes
March 14th, 2021 1:05am
Because in life failure leads us to the success. We learn more through the failures than we do through successful first attempts. Mistakes never define who you are it's what you do after those failures and mistakes that define who you are. Struggles are part life and no matter what happens giving up is never the right answer. Striving to do better is the only way to continue to truly learn from the mistakes that were made. Forgiveness is the key to letting go of the failure that was made. Forgiveness for your mistakes and giving yourself power to trust yourself again.
SimontheWayfarer
March 19th, 2021 3:13pm
mhmm...I guess when I try, and especially when I try my hardest, it must be something that's really worth doing - otherwise why do I try so hard? It must be something that is really hard for me that I try my hardest...and of course if it's really hard, then there is a greater chance to fail. I feel this is the case for me in social interactions, where I had a lot of struggles, but have been improving greatly. It can still be really challenging when I have to speak in front of others unprepared in school, discussions, or events. In these cases, I feel like I've tried really hard but still fails, as in making mistakes in speaking or being kind of awkward... which would make me feel quite rejected. Also, the feeling of being rejected is really strong - and it would make an impression on me. So when I look back, I remember a lot of instances where this occurred. More generally, failure always hurts and we remember a lot of instances of trying really hard and failing.
gentleSun78
March 20th, 2021 12:20pm
It can be due to many reasons. Is your knowledge of the topic enough for you to be successfull in it? If not, you can consider working on improving your knowledge. Also some mental health issues can cause that you fail even when you try your hardest. ADHD for example makes person hard to focus on tasks and such they can fail despite they try their hardest. Also people with intellectual disability can fail even when they try their hardest as they can have their own struggles. People with learning disabilities such as dyslexia can fail in some situations where accomodations aren't possible or aren't allowed. Also some physical disabilities or illnesses can cause that you will always fail even when you will try your hardest. If you are completely deaf for example, you will fail understanding a voice mail even though you try your hardest.
Damla7cups
April 2nd, 2021 3:16pm
Thank you for reaching out! I can really hear you feel disappointed and disheartened when you put in your best effort and that consistently leads to the outcome of failure. Failing at something is one of those things that can be difficult to accept. With failing at things we can be encouraged to learn more and try again, rethinking our strategy. Reflection is key to answering your own question. What is essential for your view of failure and how do you interpret failure? Failures can be linked to knowledge. Knowledge has no limit. Take your failure as new knowledge you have acquired. What emotions do you feel when you are unsuccessful at accomplishing something? You may also want to reflect on a time when you did not meet or fulfill a requirement and how you bounced back. Was there any technique that worked better when studying for an exam? Do you understand why you failed? With failure comes a drive to be a better version of yourself although you have consistently tried your best. You are welcome to communicate with one of our listeners on our site or one of our therapists for further support. This is a safe and supportive environment to open up.
Sodiumforsaltytimes
April 7th, 2021 7:41pm
Because you're not perfect. Nobody is. Sometimes you try as hard as you can but all you're doing is pushing against a mountain of issues and you feel like your effort is futile and you can't handle it. You have to accept that sometimes you fail EVEN when you try your very hardest. And sometimes you fail when you know you could have done better and didn't try your hardest. In that case you have to be compassionate towards yourself like you'd be to a friend and actually practice self-compassion because you're blaming yourself. People are too dang good at beating themselves over the head repeatedly when they're not perfect because they're not taught self compassion. So acknowledge the failure. Acknowledge you could've done better and then cut yourself some slack and forgive yourself for everything you did and didn't do. But what if it's the scenario where you try your hardest and you fail anyway? You have to know that in life you're not actually entitled to any outcomes, you're only entitled to your actions. Essentially your actions don't give you entitlement for a better or worse outcome. Isn't that funky? It definitely is. When you try your best and you don't succeed, you have to understand that there are some factors that made it so that you couldn't succeed because it wasn't meant to be yours in the first place. What you actually have to do then is stop trying. The reason you get exhausted when pushing against a wall isn't because you're not strong enough, it's because they wall is cemented into the floor and you're trying to do something that's impossible. So let go of trying. You don't have to try pushing against the wall, you can just choose to walk away and stop pushing if something isn't working out and you know you have all you have, it's done and you have to admit and acknowledge that there are some things you can't fix and can't change. The solution to someone giving 20% when you give 60% isn't to start giving 80%, and then when their % decreases to give more, it's to stop giving because it's all one-sided. I hope that all made sense in any way—
Anonymous
April 22nd, 2021 1:20pm
not everything can be solved the same way with trying your hardest. sometimes it comes with failure and unsuccessfulness. this still teaches us a great lesson, even though it is a tough one to learn. i understand that not everything can be solved with succeeding, and we learn from our mistakes. we can’t change our mistakes or go back in time to fix things, but we can learn from them. even when we try our hardest, we will still fail. it’s inevitable, and that’s one of the ways we learn in this world. failure is okay, and it’s okay to learn from that.
circusmirror123
April 25th, 2021 7:44pm
I think the thing you need to focus on more is your definition of "failing". If you try your hardest every time then you're definately not failing, trying your hardest and giving 100% effort is a success and something you should be proud of. It sounds like you could be putting a lot of pressure on yourself and giving high expectations, and thinking of yourself as failing, is a really harsh way to think of yourself. I guarantee you have so many achievements and things to be really proud of. And if you really aren't meeting your goals but you're putting in all your effort, then its not you thats the problem, its the way you're doing it - ask someone for feedback, or try a new method. You got this!
JanetAtDrexel
May 15th, 2021 11:11am
It may seem like you always fail and, I bet if you tried, you could come up with a list of failed endeavors. But always? Always? Never succeeded once? It can be easy to slip into this mindset when things go wrong. The negatives in life seem to have more impact than the positives. But it is a cognitive distortion - an unrealistic view of your life. As easily as you can make a list of failures, you can make a list of successes. Literally. Write down five positive things that happened in the last week. They don't have to be monumental, just meaningful. Did you support a friend who needed it? Did you make a healthy meal? Start your list with the fact that you reached out for help. Finally, failing means you tried. You were brave. You put yourself out there. Now, it's time to get back up, dust yourself off and try again.
Anonymous
June 24th, 2021 6:32am
Failure is a natural thing, happens to everyone sometime or the other - but not everyone knows about it. Try to understand what didn't work in your favor - maybe someone else ruined it for you, was the task too hard for anyone to win, or maybe your efforts were not upto the mark. Try to work on what you find out if you can. Sometimes you phone boots with the normal procedure and sometimes it doesn't, this doesn't mean something is wrong with you. Hope you feel better and try again harder than you did now, life is full of challenges and that is what makes it so beautiful.
AvrilGraceofGale
June 25th, 2021 5:32am
it may be very bad now. and it seems that it won't change. but know, sooner or later, everything will be fine. please live happily) life is not eternally gray and without negativity happiness will never be conceived, just as without night, morning will never come. So any difficulty is just something that will allow us to become stronger and experience beauty even more clearly. Never lose hope and faith in the best, because after the blackest night there is always a bright day and even after the strongest downpour the sun shines brightly.
Iunderstand18
July 24th, 2021 5:00am
You are the one who decides if you “fail” if you do your best and give it your all, you never truly fail. We all feel like we have failed in certain areas of our life… But it is our mentality that decides if we succeed or fail. I know it’s easy to think we’ve “failed” when that’s all we are focused on. But even though it’s so commonly said we really do have to think more positive about any situation that goes on. If we can’t control it why obsess over the idea if it? Life has many obstacles in life and sometimes we have to able to think open mindly.
considerateOrange2567
July 24th, 2021 5:05am
It depends on what you mean by failing. I think that if you try your best effort on something, even if you don't meet your expectations in terms of results, you will still learn what what you accomplished. For example, if you enter into a competition but you didn't win an award, you still accomplished and learned a lot in the process of competing! In my opinion, if you learned something in the process and put in your best effort, that should always be counted as a success, not a failure.
FarmWriter
August 26th, 2021 3:38am
First, is it true you always fail? Sometimes it may feel that way, but when we take a good look, we discover we've done many things right, too. So give yourself some credit! Then take a hard look at your mistakes. Why did they happen? Were you less prepared than you thought? Were you too anxious to perform your best? Were aspects of your personal life distracting you? Once you identify the reason for the poor performance, you can take action to change it. Don't waste energy belittling yourself for past mistakes. Instead, channel it into making changes that will increase your chances of success.
Reemkindsmile
September 10th, 2021 12:13am
Firstly, the word 'fail' is subjective. What does it mean to fail? With this question, the opposite comes naturally. What does it mean to succeed? Society has largely defined success very narrowly, when in reality, real success is when someone gives it their all and tries their hardest, pushing themselves to their maximum potential. The truth is that you aren't failing at all when you're trying your hardest, but succeeding honorably and greatly. Find what you're good at and do that. Remember this quote... “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” - Albert Einstein.
Anonymous
November 15th, 2021 2:07pm
I feel as though we grow and learn from failure. If we never failed, we would never grow because making mistakes teaches us so much more than always doing things perfectly. The more you fail, the more you learn and I believe this is something very important to keep in mind. As long as you give it your best shot and try your hardest every time, that is all that matters. The worst thing you can do is give up. Giving up and no longer trying is what failing wants you to do. It wants you to feel stuck. But we must learn from our failures and continue to grow.
cryptoCrisis
December 16th, 2021 10:22pm
There is nothing wrong with failure. In fact it is only the surest way to success. Everyone fails. It's all part of the learning process. Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he succeeded. Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps. The fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate. The only real failure is giving up. As any successful professional or entrepreneur. Persistence always wins out in the end.
Vithleem
January 15th, 2022 10:41pm
Perhaps using the word "fail" isn't much helpful. We might try to achieve something specific in our life and not get the result that we originally had in our mind, but this is certainly not a failure. On the contrary, we can always try again and learn something new about ourselves and the world around us. Isn't that a win? Remember, as long as you try for a goal, you will always learn and this is actually the way to grow! There is always room from improvement, as long as you don't give up trying! If you see what you call "failure" as an opportunity, you will become able to see clearly how to improve yourself.
naturalhelper6843
January 19th, 2022 12:39pm
One thing you should know that No-one ever fails. we set our own personal standards so high that we are never likely to reach them. the answer to the question goes here: Because we give up on our dreams, we don't find where we're falling and why? Failing is a normal part of human nature. Even the most successful people have failed many times before succeeding. Practice strategy, concentration, planning, hard-working, and determination are a few words to describe what you might need to succeed. Success is not easy. but if you really want it then you will find a way. It might take time and you might even make more mistakes. Sometimes you even need to find new paths, be open-minded and creative about decision making. When you put your mind into "survival mode"(meaning trying your best) then you are able to be much more effective in how you do anything. Success might require a lot of skills and maybe a few really well skill. Try to find out what you're skilled at and want to be skilled at and what you enjoy. Many people are skilled very well at the things they enjoy the most because it makes it much more easier for them to do so. But even then it can get very hard and you might want to quit. Just remember, as long as you try in life, you no longer will be worried even when you failed something. Because you will still have the other chance to succeed. If your chance to succeed is even 0.00000001% then you can still succeed. It takes a focus and commitment to be a successful person.
Anonymous
January 22nd, 2022 4:00pm
You never fail unless you quit. If you want to find answer, you can try self introspection. Ask yourself questions like 1. The efforts you have put... Are they enough to achieve something? 2. Do you really enjoying the process of achieving something?.. Or is it that you only care about the result? If you enjoy the process of learning, then you never fail. Because you have learnt so many things, you get lessons to improve yourself further. Just look back before starting something and at the end, you may not be the winner, but you will surely be the better version of yourself. Keep learning, there will be the day you will get what you deserve. All the best!
Anonymous
January 22nd, 2022 9:56pm
Our brains tend to focus on our failures. I was in a class once that talked about how our brains are programmed to remember embarrassing moments much longer than we remember good memories in which we felt good about ourselves. The same thing can be said with failure. We remember all of the things that we have done wrong way longer than the things we accomplish. There are so many more amazing accomplishments that we succeed at everyday that you may not even recognize. Did you wake up today? You didn't fail at that. Did you get out of bed today? You didn't fail at that. Did you try your hardest to be the best version of yourself? You didn't fail at that. Allow yourself to celebrate the little victories and you might find that you don't always fail at the level that you think you do.
HayleyIsNice
March 9th, 2022 8:31am
I understand it must be hard for you to keep trying when you're constantly failing, but you're failing actually means you're trying and learning. If you never had failed that would mean you never tried. Maybe each time analyse and try doing something different. This way you will also know what things are working and what are not working for you. And it's better to get 1% better each time you fail than never trying and never failing. You can also talk to someone who has more experience in same field, or look up to them. Life is about learning.
Sofia2323
May 6th, 2022 7:13pm
Failing does not have to be a negative thing. I feel that many people find it hard to find the understanding of failing and succeeding. Trying your hardest and not giving up on things is what truly matters. Sometimes, things can take several tries and a lot of effort. You should be very proud for going after things that take several attempts or a lot of work, because it takes real drive and determination to do so. Just keep pushing hard and don't be afraid to try new methods and continue being flexible and optimistic during this process. I hope you get to your end goal!