A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.

Failing is an event; deciding somebody else caused it is a position. The distinction matters for practical reasons more than moral ones, because as long as the cause sits outside you there is nothing left to work with. Blame can even be accurate and still leave you stranded, since a true account of who wronged you does not tell you what to do next.

After something goes badly, notice where your first sentence about it points. If it points outward every time, try a narrower question: what was mine here, however small a share. That share is the only part you can pick up and carry forward.