Describe a time when you tried to do something and you weren’t very successful

When was it?

What did you try?

Why was it not very successful?

How did you feel about it?

Introduction 1

This happened many years ago. I am not even sure about the exact time. It was a

hilarious experience of trying something and failing at it. I was with my friend and

he/she had brought his/her brother’s bike to school. The scooter got punctured and

my friend was very scared of being scolded at home.

We tried removing the wheel and getting the puncture repaired. And this is what

we were unsuccessful at. We could not manage to do it because of many reasons.

We had never removed the wheel of the scooter and had no idea and zero

experience. Above all we were in a hurry and were also nervous.

It took us time to figure out how to do it but we still could not do it. We felt lost and

disappointed at first and then we were feeling angry on each other. We were angry

because we expected each other to know the skill. After sometime we laughed and

accepted the fact that we will not be able to do it.

It was such a memorable and funny experience and we still laugh and remember

about it sometimes. Our clothes were soiled and hands were greasy. But today I

know how to change the wheel of a scooter and I am happy that I have finally learnt

1. The experience of unsuccessful at it taught me how to do it.

Introduction 2

Being an innovative person, I try to take part in new activities. Sometimes I gain success, and sometimes failure.

When it was? and What you tried? 

Last year on my friend’s birthday I tried to give a public performance as a singer. There I failed miserably.

Why it was not very successful?

Although I have been singing since my childhood, I always shy away from public performance. Due to this reason, I developed a fear in myself.

On many occasions, I had got chance to exhibit my singing talent, but every time I said no.

 However, on the occasion of my friend’s birthday, I said yes because my friend insisted on me.

I didn’t want him to feel sad on this birthday. Hence, I said yes, but deep inside, I was not feeling confident.

 My start was good, but in the middle of the song, I went blank and forgot the lyrics. Although I had the write-up of the lyrics with me, I didn’t have the confidence to carry on.

The crowd gave me a big round of applause to cheer me, but continuing with the performance was impossible for me.

Seeing my plight, one of my friends had come to my rescue and started singing from the point I left.

Later on, I joined him, and somehow we finished the performance.

When the music stopped, I had a sigh of relief.

And how you felt about it?

Initially, I felt embarrassed, but later on, I felt light.No doubt I gave a terrible performance but at least I had tried.

Introduction 3

Being a busy person, I usually do not try my hand at new activities.

When it was? and What you tried? 

Last year there was a lockdown in my city due to the corona pandemic. During that period, I tried my hand at cooking.

Since sitting at home was too boring I tried to kill the monotony of my life by inviting my neighbours for dinner.

I had ordered the food from the restaurant but due to some unforeseen contingency, the restaurant didn’t deliver the food.

Hence I did not have any option but to cook the food myself.

I took the help from Youtube videos and tried to cook three mouth-watering delicacies.

The food items I cooked were looking good, but when I asked about the taste, my guests said “TERRIBLE” in unison.

Why it was not very successful?

The preponderant reason for my failure was my lack of experience. 

Cooking is a skill that requires tremendous experience. While watching videos and reading recipes, it seems easy. However, when you try your hand at it, the task becomes daunting.

 I tried hard by following every step prescribed in the video however I failed miserably. 

Another cause of my failure was my poor knowledge of spices and herbs

And how you felt about it?

I felt embarrassed in front of my guests. I realized that day that overconfidence is not good in life and experience is the best teacher. 

Moreover, I realized that cooking is a must-have skill, and everyone should learn it and master it. It saves not only your time but also money.

Introduction 4

It is a gospel truth that we often strive hard to be successful in life. However, success is a combination of hard work and luck. Sometimes luck favours, and sometimes things go sideways.

Recently I tried my hand at a new task, but I was not successful.

When it was? , and What you tried?

Being a student, I always have a cash shortage., 

To come out of the financial crunch, I started a small business last year. 

Why it was not very successful?

There were too many reasons for my failure. The first one was a lack of domain expertise. Whenever you try your hand at a new business, you should have basic knowledge of it. However, I jumped on the bandwagon without hands-on experience.

The second one was that I hired a team consisting of my friends and relatives. That was a collosol mistake from my side. Because there is no denying this conviction that as a businessman you should never mix your emotions with your profession. My team never used to take me seriously. And, due to this, I was unable to service my clients.

The result was complaints started piling up, and finally, I had to close the operations.

And how you felt about it?

Initially, I had a nervous breakdown. I went into a state of depression. But as time passed, I had accepted my defeat and realized that this defeat brought me closer to the realities of life.

Although I had failed miserably, I learned some valuable life lessons. And these learnings would help to handle the conflicts adroitly not only in my personal life but also in my professional life.

Introduction 5

I do many activities in my day to day to life. In which sometimes I get success and sometimes not. Last Monday my family was out of the station and I was alone at home. During the afternoon I was feeling hungry, so I decided to make rice pudding because it was my favourite. Before it, I had never cooked. I watched a video on youtube on “how to make saffron rice pudding”. I collect all the ingredients like rice, sugar, saffron, almonds, and milk. According to the process mentioned in the video, I tried the same. After half an hour when I took it off from the flame and served. I was eager to taste it. Its taste was not good because it was overcooked At that time I got disappointed. Because all my efforts faded away. After that, I ordered some online food to quenched my hunger. When my mother came in the evening time. She also tastes the rice pudding which I prepared. She appreciated me and told me it is just overcooked but overall it very sweet and delightful. So this was the time when I tried to do something but not were very successful

Introduction: and When it was?

• It was my sister’s birthday on 26th May.
• I am not very good at choosing presents, so I play it safe.
• She loves chocolate cake and so I order it for her every year.
• It is kind of a tradition in our house, that I will get a cake.
• No one even thinks about it or even asks me.
• However, this year due to the lockdown, all the bakery shops were closed.
• There is a famous home baker in my city, who bakes on order.
• So, next, I tried that, but unfortunately, she was swamped with orders.
• She told me she could not deliver the cake by the birthday.
• Now, I was in a real pickle.
• The only option was to bake a cake myself.

What you tried? and Why it was not very successful?

• And honestly, I am a horrible cook and I had never even done any sort of baking.
• But desperate times call for desperate measures.
• So, I opened YouTube and opened the beginner basics video for making a chocolate cake.
• I checked the ingredients and we had all of them at home except cream.
• I thought I could use milk instead.
• And needless to say, that was my first mistake.
• Nothing went right from that point on.
• My cake dough was runny instead of semi-solid like the video suggested.
• My icing tasted awful, probably because of the milk.
• I didn’t even dare put it on.
• I spent nearly five hours in the kitchen, made a huge mess with flour, cocoa powder on all the shelves and the floor.
• The end result was a hard dense awfully tasting something.
• My mom told me that I should have asked her for help.

And how you felt about it?

• I felt bad that I couldn’t deliver but my family members just couldn’t stop laughing.
• I think my embarrassment and the kitchen’s condition made it even more amusing to them
• It is now a running joke in our house.
• In the middle of any conversation, my parents or my sister randomly bring up the incident and start laughing.
• I think they are going to tease me for the rest of my life.

Introduction 6

Participating in competitions is really wonderful. The enjoyment doubles if one can win in the competitions but sometimes failures are the way to get success in everyone’s life. Here I would like to talk about a time when I made many efforts to complete my task, but I failed.

I vividly remember this was the time when I was in 10th standard, and there was a science competition in my school and I got participated and I was so excited. My teachers and my parents had huge expectations from me.

I tried to make a handmade project I took so many things like a pan, a small quantity of rice, some spices, water, a card box, glass sheet. This competition time was 2 hours. First of all, I made a box with a glass sheet and I covered this box from all sides.

I opened the top of the box, so the rays of the sun can pass from all sides. In that box, I put a pan and kept rice. After that, I add the required species. It was a very natural process. Due to nervousness, I did a huge mistake at that time, I forgot to add water. When the processing time was completed, I opened the box and I saw all the rice was burnt and my all efforts gone waste. I was in great distress because I did a lot of practice for this project.

I was quite embarrassed just because of my one mistake, I lose the competition and could not meet the expectations of my teachers and parents as it was a complete failure. All in all, it was an awful experience.

Follow up Questions

1. Why do you thing that people fail at doing things?

There could be various reasons why people fail. The most important reason

according to me is lack of confidence. Sometimes we have the knowledge P

and experience but if we do not have the confidence then we may fail.

Another reason may be lack of knowledge experience. One may also fail

when one does not plan well.

2. In your opinion what should we do if we fail at something?

The first thing we should do is to accept the fact. However, we should not be

disappointed. We should introspect what went wrong, what was the mistake

and how we can now improve. We should keep trying and make lots of

efforts. Failure is not final and one day we can overcome it for sure.

3. How would you encourage someone if he/she is not successful at doing

something?

We should not laugh at someone who has failed. We must make the person

feel confident and give him/her strength, hope and support. If we can help

or guide or contribute to that person in some way then we should do that.

Encouragement is extremely important for anyone who has failed.

4. How do you define success?

Success is when we achieve our goal. It can be a huge thing like losing a lot

of kilos or even a minor thing like being able to wake up early in the morning.

In my opinion success cannot always be defined in financial terms. There are

a lot of ways to measure success. Failure is a part of success. It is how fast

we jump back to action after failing which decides our progress. Also, we

need to balance most aspects of life and not a single one to call ourselves

successful.

5. Are intelligent people always successful?

Not really. IQ is just one aspect of being successful. I have come across a lot

of people with high IQ and they are not successful. In my opinion success

comes with maturity and experience and with a combination of high IQ, EQ

and SQ. Success is a matter of hard work and perseverance as well.

Describe a time when you tried to do something and you weren’t very successful Describe a time when you tried to do something and you weren’t very successful Describe a time when you tried to do something and you weren’t very successful Describe a time when you tried to do something and you weren’t very successful Describe a time when you tried to do something and you weren’t very successful