This month’s theme was about Fear of Failure, with the core message being ‘failure is normal and useful, not something to fear’. As Nastasia already described in the introduction blog of this month, failure is better for us than we often realise.

We wrote several blogs this month:

- Michelle wrote about games as a safe environment for failing and how video games can help you learn to fail

- Nastasia wrote about risk-factors for developing a fear of failure and the role played by modern social media

- Hanneke shared her CV of failures

In addition, several GEMH-lab members shared their failures weekly on twitter (#FailFridays). These failures included all kind of things, ranging from failing in front of others or having a personal fail (that others might not even have noticed), to academic/professional and ‘leisure time’ failures. However, all these failures show us that failing is normal and can even be beneficial. The failures of this month have taught us how to deal with failing, how to reappraise and reframe our failures, and to set new goals. We discovered new solutions to problems and new career paths, and developed courage and self-confidence to try out new things.

So, try out new things and fail! It will bring you new experiences and opportunities to grow.