What is your relationship with Failure?
If you’re anything like me, the world you grew up in used to – and in many ways still does – look at failure as something to be avoided. Sometimes at all costs. You’ve probably heard that cheesiest of lines: “Failure is NOT an option!”
I’ll be right now, you can think of at least one story – typically it’s a movie – where someone says that line when, in fact, failure is a likely outcome. This is typically an Act 3 line.
Those stories have it wrong. Oh it makes for a bit of tension (In reality, the work the storyteller has done up until that point should have set the scene and clearly outlined the stakes, making that line unnecessary), but that line of thinking is crooked.
Failure is a good thing.
Let me say that again: Failure is Good
Failure is your friend. It’s your teacher. A mentor, even. Success…is the diploma. Failure is the classroom. Failure is a clear sign that you’re trying something new. You’re growing, expanding, Learning. Failure isn’t something to be feared, or avoided. It should be embraced.
Now there’s a lot of cultural baggage around that statement, but let me tell you: The most successful people out there – in any field – despite all of their myriad differences, if you asked them, probably have this one thing in common: They have a positive relationship with failure.
This is something I’m trying to cultivate in my life, because failure is out there. It’s coming for you , me, all of us at one point or another. And that’s a good thing, because it’s loaded with knowledge and experience.
So try something new. Fail spectacularly. See where it takes you.
Thanks for reading. Be safe out there. Be Excellent to Each other – and yourself.
I’ll see you on Thursday.
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