Do You Feel Destined to Fail? The Science of Losing

Photo by John T on Unsplash

Does life reward some people and not others? Yes, and it appears you can’t escape it as failure is hardwired.

Everyone loves a winner, including science.

There are hundreds of articles discussing the ingredients for success. Losing is attributed to poor life choices, a negative mindset or bad behavior. Those experiencing a string of failures find themselves further victimized by a competitive society hyper focused on success and intent on finding blame.

The message is clear. If you’re not succeeding, it’s your own fault.

But is it?

Winners win and losers just aren’t trying, right? Photo by David Goldsbury on Unsplash

It may come as no surprise that winners win. The question is why?

Swedish researchers Olof Rosenqvist and Oskar Nordstrom Skans analyzed professional golfers and compared those who successfully made the cut in one tournament to those who didn’t. The successful golfers went on to win more tournaments in the future against equally talented competitors, even when there was greater pressure.

This is where most discussion on the subject ends.