Do you consider yourself a failure?

[Johnny]

Another poll I reconsidered at the request of another forum member and am offering on perceived failure.

Yes, there were times that I considered myself a failure. My family had decided I was supposed to be academically dovoted, uncompromising, and brilliant...but I was destined to be none of those things. Academics and the academic world, rather, beat me incessantly into a permanent crying fetal position. :lol:

Luckily, I found an escape route, took it, and consider myself quite fortunate that I am who I am today. Not boasting, mind you, just very appreciative that the whole world is still much larger than the academic world and I am able to thrive with personally perceived success outside of that smaller (though no less important!) world.

So I don't consider myself a personal failure now, but there were times when I have and perhaps may at some point in the future and looking for new solutions again.

But where do we stand as an INTP community on personal failure? :sombrero:

[shaytana]

I can not say that I am a failure because I have not tried yet. The fear of failure is strong in me, prehaps we can call my inability thus far to fight that fear as a failure, but for now I voted Not enough information.

[Avengardh]

Right now I don't think I am one...but before I did...perhaps what I thought was somewhat naive compared to other things that other people might have thought...it was more academic failure than anything...but it was mostly just getting better grades.
I beat myself up for a lot of things, so I kinda stopped doing that a while ago, now I am more happy with myself.

~*Aven*~

[Sam172]

Oh I still think i'm a faliure of sorts. Therefore I voted for "yes".

The reason being that I feel I could do so so much more with my life......yet i'm too timid to go out there and do something :-(
I used to be frequently depressed because of that. I was succeeding at school....doing very well there. My life was fine as it was, I had no trouble...just I wasn't and still am not getting anywhere really.

I'm failing to get on with my life. Therefore i'm a failure.
As you can guess i'm rather pessemistic :(, but i'm working on being an optimist.....

[jimkopelli]

I'm not dead, I'm not in debt, and no one is out to get me (that I know of). I figure that I'm ahead of the game.

[Crazy]

I don't consider myself failure on the whole, mostly because I haven't given up. I may put things off for a while, but I haven't given up. I believe I have achieved all of the personal goals I had for myself so far, so I don't think I'm a failure.

[Johnny]

INTP'ers are notoriously hard on themselves and others (but mostly on themselves), and though it's not one of the INTP'ers best traits emotionally, it is an impetus for achievement.

I think that it may be in part due to the inferior feeling function and the INTP'ers deeply hidden values. We don't know when to say "this is enough, it's time to move forward". But this is very much speculation on my part. :nerd:

[Jkrs]

Not enough info, ask me again in 20 years. Better yet, ask me after I'm dead (if there's anything left to ask), that way I can't change the set of 'accomplishments' next week.

[Metimbo]

Yea, I am a failure. I am kind of happy about it tho. I feel relieved to some extent not having the pressures ofsucceeding to worry about anymore.

I have, at the ripe age of 29, done what I told myself my whole life I would never do....settle...to roll over and just be "content" with "who I am".....I have settled for mediocracy at best, fatuitis at worst. I live in a teetering world between knowing more than most and being placated by all.

/rant off

~Tim

[Salad]

i consider myself very successful. but i'm only 21.

my current path and high level of ambition could very well lead to my thinking i'm a failure. even if i don't achive what i plan though, i don't think i'll view myself so poorly.

[libertarianjim]

I consider myself a failure at present:

I used to be happily married. Now I am neither happy nor married.

I used to be a college professor. Now I'm unemployed and almost broke.

I used to be on my way to a Ph.D. My divorce derailed me and I don't feel close to ready for my first round of comprehensive exams next week.

I don't see what other conclusion I can draw with that evidence at this point in time.

[MacGuffin]

Yea, I am a failure. I am kind of happy about it tho. I feel relieved to some extent not having the pressures ofsucceeding to worry about anymore.

I have, at the ripe age of 29, done what I told myself my whole life I would never do....settle...to roll over and just be "content" with "who I am".....I have settled for mediocracy at best, fatuitis at worst.


I consider myself a failure at present:

I used to be happily married. Now I am neither happy nor married.

My divorce derailed me....

Like Metimbo I am 29 and consider myself a failure. I am too comfortable with it I think. My life is okay, but not great.

Like libertarianjim my current situation was caused by woman troubles. Though we did not get divorced, we reconciled, but I am just now getting my life back on track to what I thought it would be 4 years later.

[cloakable]

No. I do not consider myself a failure. I used to, but now my life has taken an upswing (back where I feel I belong - college), and my outlook has improved accordingly.

[Utopmk]

I can not say that I am a failure because I have not tried yet. The fear of failure is strong in me, prehaps we can call my inability thus far to fight that fear as a failure, but for now I voted Not enough information.

I agree. You can't lose in a game you've never played. I'm sure if I tried I would succeed...
but for now I'm just going to sit back, relax, and enjoy myself, without even considering the possibility that I might be a failure. I have dreams, and I'm not about to dilute them with action.

[ohnoaninfp]

I don't know. Ask me when I am dead. Lol. I wouldn't know if my life was a failure until it is over. I am doing the best I can. I am working and going to college, so I am not a failure in that aspect. I could just stay home and sleep all day, but I choose to make something of my self. However I have doubts about my future and the fear of making the wrong decisions. Sometimes I do feel like a failure, exspecially after drawing class.

[flan2dave]

Wha? Why would I think that? I guess it's not a suitable question to ask a 21 year old. Should it ever be suitable?

Well, I feel I got much to say about this, but this subject just makes my mind foggy.

[int]

Ask me when my life cycle ends. :mellow:

[Strephonade]

Ask me again in 500 years.

[Vagabond]

Not enough info. Ask me the moment before I die, and then I will be able to give an answer I will be sure of. I have screwed up my life so far, true, but I don't intend to make assumptions about what I will make of the rest of it.

[Johnny]

Well, I must admit that it is quite nice that 80% so far are either remaining open to the future or at least do not consider themselves failures at the moment. For the 20% of you who do consider yourselves failures, please consider the future of possibilities and change as you evaluate your current situation! For the rest of us who consider ourselves successes, don't let the blinders keep you from taking care of your laundry! :sombrero:

[Birdsnest]

B)

[Avengardh]

Thankfully I deactivated the "J" in myself, or I would feel like a failure. I have little or no J any more, because he used to sit there and shout negative comments constantly, and tell me what I could or could not do. I got disgusted and knocked that sucker off his high horse, because J does nothing but mock you through life.

You see, you can be a successful bum and happy person just sitting on a park bench, it all depends on your outlook, and what makes YOU happy. You can't be a failure if you are doing what you like doing. I think I've pushed myself academically, just a C or B student. Life is about learning, and its ok to be in 2nd or 3rd or last place, the position means nothing. I never feel I need to be first or best. Sometimes I think I may be a failure as a mother, or in the social areas, but thats not really true, its just a perception. You just can't compare yourself to others. Life throws a lot of hard knocks, just employ will & perseverance, and be who you are, that is the most successful position you can be in.


Wow, I am half-asleep and reading this just made me love myself a little more...thank you ^_^

[SensEye]

I voted not enough information. No one here seems to have made a run at defining success so it is hard to say who is a failure. I would think that to determine what constitutes a successful life would entail first knowing the meaning of life, if there is one, and I doubt anyone has that pinned down. If life has no meaning, it's impossible to fail at it. ;)

Reading the posts though, there seems to be a disturbing tendency amoung those leaning towards "failure" to judge themselves by what I consider SJ standards, that is, amount of accomplishment. Even with those who don't consider themselves failures, it seems to be because they are young and still have lots of time left (again, presumably to accomplish something).

Accomplishment seems highly over rated. If accomplishing things makes you happy, then by all means, knock yourself out. But if not, I hardly think a life of hard work and accomplishment makes you a success. Especially if you make yourself miserable in the process.

I assume because most of you are young, you are determining success by your parents standards. Hey, it's their job to preach hard work and accomplishment. You don't think they want to get stuck supporting you all their lives do you? :hello:

I figure if you can live independently (i.e. take care of yourself) and are generally happy, you are a success. Not really all that hard. If you happen to win a Nobel Peace prize along the way, well, bully for you. If not, heh, join the crowd.

[Jkrs]

Reading the posts though, there seems to be a disturbing tendency amoung those leaning towards "failure" to judge themselves by what I consider SJ standards, that is, amount of accomplishment. Even with those who don't consider themselves failures, it seems to be because they are young and still have lots of time left (again, presumably to accomplish something).
It also depends on how you define 'accomplishment'. Depending on ones' situation, their being alive tomorrow could be counted as an accomplishment. Gathering information, constructing theories, and paying off the mortgage on ones' house could be considered valid and laudable to one person, and entirely worthless to another.

[Johnny]

You see, you can be a successful bum and happy person just sitting on a park bench, it all depends on your outlook, and what makes YOU happy... Life throws a lot of hard knocks, just employ will & perseverance, and be who you are, that is the most successful position you can be in.

I agree wholeheartedly, and with the majority of us here being INTP, you're "preaching to the choir"! :cheers:

[Phreon]

I've certainly felt like a failure. Losing your job, home, going bankrupt, taking a horrible manufacturing position and moving back in with the parents will do that to a person. However, I start a new job in my field tomorrow, so things are looking up. I rose once and I'll do it again.

However, a nagging feeling of impending doom because at any moment my peers will find out that I'm full of shit, a fraud and have been faking it this whole time hovers nearby at all times. Fear of being found out as a fraud is a classic NTP trait and I'm no exception.

"They'll find out I'm really a dumbass who doesn't know his head from his a$$",

Phreon

Edited to add Even now, I feel as though the members of this board will see right through me as a complete fake. Will my near 50/50 E-I preference cause a problem? Will they harp on my "un-INTP" grammatical and puncuation errors?

[Laeskis]

A direct question of that sort (Do you think you are a failure?) is a question without a possible definitive answer. The answer to this question will always be volatile, dependant on time. In fact, the answer is completely subjective to time. Consider; at this one moment I can offer the opinion that I am a failure, given that I have always failed at my endeavors. However, next week, I may negate this statement by achieving something of substance. In other words, the option of changing possibilities will directly change the answer to the question, and changing possibilities are governed by time. Therefore, no one will ever be able to answer the question with any degree of competence until the moment their life is over and there are no more possibilities. (At which time they will be unable to answer the question anyway.) To answer this question now is somewhat illogical, being that the question would have to be answered by inductive reasoning, which is inherently flawed and is a tool exploited by idiots, charlatans and sophists. All this to say, that an answer to this question must not, cannot, and will not be assertive.
Yes. At this moment, I do think I am a failure. I went to a prestigious preparatory high school for g/t people...then I went to college. I started college about 10 years ago. The system chafed me terribly, classes are dull and monotonous, and I felt that I learned very little. I quit; went back; tried many times to be "self-made" out of college.....
Now I'm 27, I am going back to school now, and I put toilet paper on the shelves at a department store with a smiley face as it's spokesperson....I've no prospects for a romantic life (though I'm considered very good looking by most other people...I'm just waaay too wierd....Some people have honestly believed that I was MUTE!) I objectively view myself as a current failure, but I've absolutely no care about it. As I said before, the thought of myself as being a failure has no weight; it is irrational and affects me very little. If you think you are a failure and feel bad about it, check your reasoning. Don't feel bad about it until you're dead.
Aside from that, I can't be a failure because I know the true answers to both the chicken/egg and tree-falls-in-the-woods problems.

[GraviTass]

[quote="SensEye"] I would think that to determine what constitutes a successful life would entail first knowing the meaning of life, if there is one, and I doubt anyone has that pinned down. If life has no meaning, it's impossible to fail at it. ;)


I sat down and thought about this question the other day . I figured out that the meaning of ones life IS one's life ; in other words a successful life should be judged by your own standard of what has meaning for you . If in life you are constantly being misdirected and sidetracked into meaningless alleyways , then you should be able to conclude - jeeze I'm not having any success here ; I am failing to live a meaningful life .

[Laeskis]

The meaning-of-life theory is interesting, but only applicable to those who believe life has or should have a meaning.

[ohnoaninfp]

Right now I consider my self a failure as an artist, because of those damn drawing classe I had and have to take. Everything I draw wants to bo abstract. I worked my ass off in drawing 1 +2 and For both semesters I got a C.

[GraviTass]

Laeskis you wrote : The meaning-of-life theory is interesting, but only applicable to those who believe life has or should have a meaning.


I suppose we need to define success and failure . And surely these are ultimately understood subjectively . So who can say whether the other person is successful or not ...

However if the individual judges that a life without meaning is a meaninfgful life , might they not still be able to judge theitr life thus far ?

[GraviTass]

Addendum : I mean , if someone is experiencing the meaningless life in the way they always wanted to - they may conclude that they are successful!

[Mnemosyne]

Success is definitely relative. We aren't all the same person, and we can't all live up to the same set of expectations. I have trouble remembering this sometimes. I have a tendency to undermine my successes because I think I should be doing so much more. I need to be more like other people my age. I need to have a job, and a car, and endless social engagements. And I don't, so there's something wrong with me.

That's not true, of course. I just feel like it is. I know I'm not a failure because of the way I lived the first 16 years of my life. If I were, then my life would be an awfully short one.

[Metimbo]

I've certainly felt like a failure. Losing your job, home, going bankrupt, taking a horrible manufacturing position and moving back in with the parents will do that to a person. However, I start a new job in my field tomorrow, so things are looking up. I rose once and I'll do it again.

However, a nagging feeling of impending doom because at any moment my peers will find out that I'm full of shit, a fraud and have been faking it this whole time hovers nearby at all times. Fear of being found out as a fraud is a classic NTP trait and I'm no exception.

"They'll find out I'm really a dumbass who doesn't know his head from his a$$",

Phreon

Edited to add Even now, I feel as though the members of this board will see right through me as a complete fake. Will my near 50/50 E-I preference cause a problem? Will they harp on my "un-INTP" grammatical and puncuation errors?

Very well said my friend. I can relate....

~Tim

[Bluehaze]

I voted not enough information. No one here seems to have made a run at defining success so it is hard to say who is a failure. I would think that to determine what constitutes a successful life would entail first knowing the meaning of life, if there is one, and I doubt anyone has that pinned down. If life has no meaning, it's impossible to fail at it. ;)

Reading the posts though, there seems to be a disturbing tendency amoung those leaning towards "failure" to judge themselves by what I consider SJ standards, that is, amount of accomplishment. Even with those who don't consider themselves failures, it seems to be because they are young and still have lots of time left (again, presumably to accomplish something).

Accomplishment seems highly over rated. If accomplishing things makes you happy, then by all means, knock yourself out. But if not, I hardly think a life of hard work and accomplishment makes you a success. Especially if you make yourself miserable in the process.

I assume because most of you are young, you are determining success by your parents standards. Hey, it's their job to preach hard work and accomplishment. You don't think they want to get stuck supporting you all their lives do you? :hello:

I figure if you can live independently (i.e. take care of yourself) and are generally happy, you are a success. Not really all that hard. If you happen to win a Nobel Peace prize along the way, well, bully for you. If not, heh, join the crowd.

Mostly what Senseye and others along his or her line thought said; give or take a few small points.

[SheepDog]

I've also been steadily dropping the judging type of thinking that proposes ideas like success vs. failure. It was driven into me as a child, but the knots are unraveling.

[Zero Angel]

I can say that I feel like a failure at the present. I recieved a grant to go to college, and decided to move in with my sister to share living expenses, half ways in my dad gets arrested for aggr. assault (he has a good heart, but got into the wrong business), my sister runs up my phone bill w/collect calls to my dad from jail, she loses her income and I get stuck with all the bills and no way to pay them all. Next thing I know, instead of getting a job I used an escape mechanism and end up being unable to control my sleeping habits, missing school and flunking out. One of my uncle assured me that i'll never get a chance like that again (thanks!).

Also, I left a good job where I was able to inititate big projects and the managers actually listened to me for a boring job that pays a mere 2 dollars an hour more and with an apathetic manager who 'appreciates' me but doesnt show it through action (like any of the upgrading proposals I wrote).

I made naive mistakes, trusted the wrong people (in retrospect, my N told me that they couldnt be trusted), still have trouble regulating my sleep, and am stuck with little money and barely any self-respect.

Sometimes I wish I could get all of my J qualities back, and maybe I will once I get out of this rut i'm in. So yeah, i'm a failure at the present, but I still have my whole life ahead of me and i'm doing my best to get on with it.

[Witticism]

I consider myself a failure right now because I'm doing badly in school and will probably really fuck up my Junior Cert.
Sigh.

[FallenAngel]

I do.. but it's mostly about me being hard on myself because I hate for anyone else to think I am a failure and my own personal standards are set well above anyone elses so that I can successfully pull that off...

[mgb]

I've also been steadily dropping the judging type of thinking that proposes ideas like success vs. failure. It was driven into me as a child, but the knots are unraveling.

I am going through that right now too. If I had voted a month or two ago I would have said failure. I was working at jobs I hated because I had bosses that were retarded, I have a degree that got me nowhere, and very limited contact with my family or none is some cases. In a "Guardian" world I wasn't doing so well.

The more I learned about INTPs I kind of realized that as far as society is concerned we are pretty much doomed to be failures. In a way that is a success. I'd rather not spend four years at a job before I got a promotion. I would rather go to school for 10 years and learn a lot of stuff and eventually pass that stuff onto other people. Will I be a failure if I can't do that? No, it just means that I changed paths and that is ok too.

[SheepDog]

You added a good point, mgbradsh. Applying external criteria to yourself is sure to make you feel like a failure.

[MacGuffin]

Come on now, success/failure isn't just a SJ thing.

Taken to the other extreme, if you are the only one that can judge success/failure without any input from society, you could be an illiterate homeless junkie and call yourself a success.

[nariya]

I have failed in some things in life, but does that make me a failure? I don't think so. A friend once gave me a card when I was jobhunting:

"We can fly as high as the dreams we aspire to - unless we are a chicken."

I'm still aspiring, and will continue to do so until I'm dead :)

[mgb]

Come on now, success/failure isn't just a SJ thing.

Taken to the other extreme, if you are the only one that can judge success/failure without any input from society, you could be an illiterate homeless junkie and call yourself a success.

I just meant that when you apply SJ ideals of success and failure to an NT the NT might seem like they are a failure.

I think Nariya's bird/chicken quote aptly applies to that.

[indie]

Interesting Q.

After I finished my MBA, I thought for sure I'd feel like a success because school got to be extremely difficult toward the end. Once upon a time, finishing school was my only definintion of success. Then, on graduation day, (in the middle of the ceremony, nonetheless) I found out that my Dad had passed away the night before. That changed my definition of success

While I don't consider myself a "success" today, I don't think I'm a failure either. Well, maybe a failure at finding a job (I don't do interviews well and am still unemployed), but I don't care -- I'm pretty happy in other areas of life.

[cjs55]

I consider myself a failure at the moment because I'm not particularly happy or satisified with my life at all. Part of this has to do with standards I have of myself that I am not doing a good job upholding. I have basically detatched myself from the world and try to cope with it by playing video games and paying attention to sports and watching TV (ignoring reality). I find myself pathetic right now. Most of it has to do with the general lack of connection I feel with mankind and my utter inability to make any friends (and then obviously, a girlfriend). That stuff might not matter to other people here, but its painful for me.

[mgb]

Its funny because university (as it was explained to me) is supposed to be some sort of solves-all as far as life and career goes. It wasn't. Things actually got harder when I left. I just started talking to a counsellor about everything and that is really taking a bite out me lately as far as energy and time goes.

This has also resulted in me all but rejecting my entire family. This after my dad sued me during his divorce to my mom and my mom not doing much to help.

Since I have been hating all the jobs I have had lately I have been looking at the sort of careers INTPs would like for some sort of guidence. The problem is all the INTP careers need another 4 years of school and I just don't have the money for that. Plus I feel like I need to be in some sort of rush to accomplish something soon and I just don't see it happening.

[HeyBooU]

I honestly cannot even imagine being a "failure." Ultimate failure to me would ending up not being happy with my life. I will not let this happen. The fact that I am so hard on myself keeps me from making mistakes helps most of the time but when I actually do something wrong then I try my best to learn from it and not make it again.

[Werdna]

I consider myself a failure at the moment because I'm not particularly happy or satisified with my life at all. Part of this has to do with standards I have of myself that I am not doing a good job upholding. I have basically detatched myself from the world and try to cope with it by playing video games and paying attention to sports and watching TV (ignoring reality). I find myself pathetic right now. Most of it has to do with the general lack of connection I feel with mankind and my utter inability to make any friends (and then obviously, a girlfriend). That stuff might not matter to other people here, but its painful for me.
Hmm. I relate to that.
Fear of failure is something I feel often, but I'm aware of it and can make it go away when I try. I tell myself that there's always another chance or something else to occupy my time and whatever I failed at wasn't that important anyway. I often set high standards for myself, then blame myself when I can't live up to them. I also tend to withdraw from reality when that happens, mostly by playing old computer games.

[last_caress]

A feeling of powerlessness and insignificance washes over me when I contemplate the spatial magnitude of the known universe, the scope of time and death.
Even the most wealthy, famous and renowned and their most lasting achievments are destined for dust.
This renders material achievement beyond basic subsistence near worthless to me.
This lack of motivation and purpose condemns me to mediocrity.
And personally mediocrity = failure.

[PsiKik]

An Idea:
We start to think of not being successful when we are unhappy.
I have been happiest when I have been doing things, mainly thinking, about whatever has interested me at the time - I am happiest when using my mind for something that has engaged my attention. I suspect many others(INTP) will identify with this.
I have felt badly depressed and feeling like a failure at times when I was unemployed or mentally idle, but even then if I could start thinking about something I would feel great and not even think about the success thing.

So I think that if you're feeling a failure, you probably are not
currently mentally engaged in something.

[mgb]

PsiKik gave me an idea.

Since we are all pretty much the same type here, I wonder if we couldn't build some sort of a consensus on what a success is to an INTP. A really rough one though, I understand that as different as we all are success will vary from person to person. Kind of like the moral, immoral, amoral thread.

The idea of mentally idle is a great place to start.

For me, I can't say that I am mentally idle right now, quite the opposite, but I can't help but feel like a bit of a drain on society. I am not sure why though. I suppose still dealing with societies idea of success and failure. As an INTP how bound to those ideas are we?

[Dman]

I'm not sure I could ever definitively categorize myself as a failure, at least until I was in my "golden years". There is always time to start something new, or try again. Of course, I don't always feel that way!

I agree that the "mentally idle" times are difficult. I've found that in order to stay positive, and hence successful, I always need to be striving for some future goal. Either a degree, a certification, a promotion, a new job, career, etc. Always something on the 1 to 2 year horizon.

To me, as an INTP, I think success is being able to get through life by always challenging yourself like this, even if there are failures along the way. I know, sounds corny, but seriously - the sense of accomplishment feels so good, as well as the constant stream of new information, new ideas, new paths to take.

[s]

I am not a failure, but instead a slacker. I was "blessed" with many natural talents, high intelligence, and the attention span of a butterfly. I have done fairly well in life, but I know I am capable of so much more. I believe it is rarely too late to become a success. Now, if I can only focus...

[Zero Angel]

People say things like 'people are blessed with (insert talent here)', but really that is just a function of hard work. High intelligence can be the result of high inquisitiveness (something that requires effort), something that a lot of ESFJs lack. Other talents (such as music) I think are controlled by thinking styles as well as practice.

How far you get is a function of effort in doing, intellegence is a matter of effort in thinking. If you didnt think much, then I guess you wouldnt be intellegent.

I'd rather be an autonomous, content, free-thinker who provides knowledge for the greater good, then to have a lot of money and lots of cars.

[s]

Hard work? Some people pick up things easily and with minimal effort, where as others have to work hard. SOME work maybe, but I never bother to work HARD at anything.

I knew someone would take the "blessed" bait.

;)

[gypseymothlee]

I think I would have to finish something before I could consider it to be sucessful or a failure. So I have no idea, I'm not finished yet.

[Zero Angel]

Hard work? Some people pick up things easily and with minimal effort, where as others have to work hard. SOME work maybe, but I never bother to work HARD at anything.

I knew someone would take the "blessed" bait.

;)
Aha, so that was the trick... Son of a... why I outta...

[SheepDog]

An Idea:
We start to think of not being successful when we are unhappy.
I have been happiest when I have been doing things, mainly thinking, about whatever has interested me at the time - I am happiest when using my mind for something that has engaged my attention. I suspect many others(INTP) will identify with this.
I have felt badly depressed and feeling like a failure at times when I was unemployed or mentally idle, but even then if I could start thinking about something I would feel great and not even think about the success thing.

So I think that if you're feeling a failure, you probably are not
currently mentally engaged in something.
You nailed it on the head. This is exactly what I experience in myself.

[bmw318tiChic]

At times I have considered myself a failure. Last year I got pretty down and I just reached a point where I hated living like that, so now I force myself to be happy and tell myself that I'm awesome and can do whatever I want (that sounds pathetic), and things are good for the most part.

[nBT]

An Idea:
We start to think of not being successful when we are unhappy.
I have been happiest when I have been doing things, mainly thinking, about whatever has interested me at the time - I am happiest when using my mind for something that has engaged my attention. I suspect many others(INTP) will identify with this.
I have felt badly depressed and feeling like a failure at times when I was unemployed or mentally idle, but even then if I could start thinking about something I would feel great and not even think about the success thing.

So I think that if you're feeling a failure, you probably are not
currently mentally engaged in something.

true that.
how about keeping something of yourself in the process. or is all that matters the hapiness of others by your skills?

[lexiphanic]

Considering yourself a failure doesn't mean that you are down.

I am a failure until I achieve what I believe that I want. Until then, I am a poser. A show-off. Somebody that just says: "look at me, Look at me", but is nothing more than a big fish in a small pond.

So, I plan on failing until I stop. Then I will be successful.

[garak]

I feel pretty good about life right now actually. I can picture myself feeling less optimistic about life in the future if bad things happen, but I don't ever think I'd see myself as a failure. Failure seems very "final" to me, and I think it's never too late to improve things.

[Biff_Loman]

Failure? No. No, and tack a hell no onto that. I don't even believe in failure.

The feeling of failure is no more valid than any other feeling. In reality, failure doesn't exist: there are only more challenges to face and different problems to solve. There are only undesirable outcomes.

Aeonsfx: so you won't get into the math dept. this quarter. You have a lousy track record when it comes to time management. You doubt it will improve; you think you'll just fail again. I don't have that much to say to that, except for: dreamer, do.

[lexiphanic]

Failure? No. No, and tack a hell no onto that. I don't even believe in failure.

The feeling of failure is no more valid than any other feeling. In reality, failure doesn't exist: there are only more challenges to face and different problems to solve. There are only undesirable outcomes.

Aeonsfx: so you won't get into the math dept. this quarter. You have a lousy track record when it comes to time management. You doubt it will improve; you think you'll just fail again. I don't have that much to say to that, except for: dreamer, do.

I use the idea of failure as a construct to push myself in life. It useful to me in that regard.

[Phenylethylene]

I don't see myself as a failure. I do see myself as ill-adapted to cope with and thrive in current societies. I think society probably sees me as a failure because I do not share their values. That does cause me to feel guilt, particularly in the work place where I have a difficult time motivating myself. If I could find a job where someone wanted to pay me to ferociously pursue my ever changing whims, that would change.

[Miss Anthropic]

Right now I consider my self a failure as an artist, because of those damn drawing classe I had and have to take. Everything I draw wants to bo abstract. I worked my ass off in drawing 1 +2 and For both semesters I got a C.
Stop judging yourself by the teacher's criteria. That only counts for a grade. I consider myself a good artist in some different mediums, but when I took a graphic arts class for fun in college I worked my ass off and got a C. All the projects I loved I got Cs and a couple Bs. The project I despised the most and spent little time on the instructor thought was brilliant and he gave me an A! Go figure.

[Anathematized1]

I definately feel like a failure. Unemployed 29 year old who finally graduated from college in 2003 (working full time, study abroad program which left me broke, and personal issues sort of slowed things down a bit), still living with relatives because I got a degree in Computer Science and cannot seem to find a job to save my life. I feel as if I have a lot of wasted potential. It's not like I have thoughts of being the next Einstein, I just want to do something "important". I have a job interview on Wednesday and I KNOW I won't get it which means I will have even MORE feelings of failure at the end of the week.

It's hard keeping a positive attitude though. I am very hard on myself and feel like I am some kind of "poser" going in to interview for positions in my field. So, I think it affects my ability to communicate effectively. Either that or I smell. (I don't tend to get jobs where they actually SEE me...and I would currently prefer to think it was not because of my height, lol.)

Ok, I'm being whiny. Shutting up now.