Don't Let Failure Ruin Your Dreams When you start a company, launch a new product, or take on a new job, you, of course, hope to succeed. But that's not always the case. Next time you face failure, here's how to make the most of it: Acknowledge sadness. It's disappointing when your dreams don't come to fruition. Take time to grieve. If you sublimate the sadness, you risk losing your passion and getting stuck. Jettison shame. Failure shouldn't be a referendum on you. Pull shame out of the picture and label it as the waste that it is. Learn the right lesson. Experts say failure is the best teacher but you have to be more specific. Ask yourself: What valuable truth did I discover by failing? Adapted from "Put Failure in Its Place" by Whitney Johnson.