Equation of FAILURE

Failure is the gap between Expectations & Achievements

For ages we have been taught to build benchmarks and goals in our life. These goals range from returns on our investments, children’s academic or co-curricular performances; never-ending support and love from relationships or objectives and ambitions such as increased wealth or happiness. All these standards that we define are our expectations coming out of our actions, efforts or instructions, from ourselves or from others in the presence of internal and external stimuli that are controllable and uncontrollable. These benchmarks and standards are nurtured and often poisoned with attachment and other emotions.

Once we define our goals, we strive towards attainment for the sake of our satisfaction. For instance, parents motivate, teach, monitor and instruct their children to study and score well in examinations; investments and share prices are tracked to avail best selling prices or premiums; relations are built by immense care, affection, attention, value, feelings and efforts over time to attain a certain status as promising or not promising etc; we people work upon ourselves with goals like bank balance targets, personality development, performance in meetings, level of charisma or confidence cultivation etc. These all form our expectations that are constructed in the presence of controllable as well as uncontrollable factors. Therefore, our default equation becomes:

Thus, FAILURE = EXPECTATIONS - ACHIEVEMENTS

Before we go on to decoding the equation, let us make a few postulates or assumptions.
1.Nothing in the process of life is constant or permanent.
2.Not everything is controllable.
3.Attachment is never positive.
4.All positives are absorbed by the Supreme in the process.
5.Emotions are both positive and negative.
6.Conditions lead to disappointment.

Now, when we all really want to achieve a particular goal, we attach energy, conditional or unconditional attachment for accomplishment. We also add emotions to targets and thus the equation of expectations becomes:

EXPECTATION= TARGET + EMOTIONS (Positive & Negative) + ATTACHMENT

Coming to the achievement aspect, we invest a lot of hope, effort, energy and sincerity.  Thus the achievement or result becomes:

ACHIEVEMENT= HOPE + EFFORT + ENERGY + SINCERITY

When absent, hope becomes hopelessness; effort becomes laziness; energy is conserved and sincerity is replaced by insincerity. Sincerity means dedication to the target whether Conditional or unconditional.

Now subtracting ACHIEVEMENT from EXPECTATION;

E - A = TARGET + EMOTIONS + ATTACHMENT – (HOPE + EFFORT + ENERGY + SINCERITY)

The result comes in the following manner:

1.To fulfill targets, effort and energy get used up to give some achievement because there is zero achievement without efforts and energy. 

2.Since, emotions are positive as well as negative and positive emotions are absorbed in the process, hope and sincerity get absorbed and what remains are negative emotions.

3.The negative emotions that remain like sediments are residue insincerity, disappointment, sorrow and attachment from expectations that combine together to form a misery house called failure.

Further, we can take failure in two different ways, positively or negatively. If we kick off negativity in the form of attachment and replace it with love for our work, child, self or money; we are in for positive dealing with failures. But, if we take failures to ego and then perform sourcing from a negative outcome towards a positive outcome, our achievement may not be iterated over time and be a one-time wonder. Thus we must take responsibility for failure and ensure that the components of our main equations are more positive than negative.

On a deeper note, our life depends a lot on how we deal with failures. Some people are persistent while some are escapists who end up failing consistently and end up trying in the long run leaving no space for success. Thus, to bring success, expectations must be replaced with targets, sincerity and hope but not attachment or emotions. Thus, 

SUCCESS= TARGETS + HOPE + SINCERITY + ENERGY + EFFORT

Now, hope and sincerity will be absorbed in the process and targets will be achieved with energy and effort. Also, success will be achieved only when targets are less or equivalent to energy and effort. If targets are greater than energy and effort failure will arise again!