Failing towards Success
[this 30 second clip completely captures the essence of this post so I couldn’t resist]
I am a type “A” personality. What does that mean besides the fact that I can be a pain in the ass?
I like setting big hairy audacious goals (BHAGs) for myself but I absolutely hate failing. In fact, I sometimes wonder whether my fear of failure is greater than my will to set BHAGs. The simple solution is to set small measly goals (SMGs) that you are sure you will attain. This is one way to eliminate the risk of failing. Just imagine – never having to deal with failure…
What separates the dreamers locked in their world of imagination from the rock stars, Olympic medalists, bestselling authors, astronauts, and Nobel peace prize winners that find ways to materialize their dreams? Skill is involved but there are hundreds of millions of talented people in the world and very few that attain stardom. I think the difference is in the courage, and longevity to try and try and try again while maintaining the optimism that at some point there will be enough luck to ride you through to success. And when that success happens it will dwarf all failures.
Just do it!
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While wandering about this, I realized how many BHAG and great ideas I pushed aside over the years due to fear of failure. Some could have been fabulous success…
Don’t you think they are like lost love?
As lifetime entrepreneur, i would have to totally agree. Failure is a friend, because it teaches you valuable lessons, and forces you to do better the next time around. It’s like a slap in the face which only gets you worked up and focused better, so you can throw even a stronger punch back and nail that …bastard (of a challenge)
Richard pointed me to J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, keynote address at Harvard. She does an amazing job of discussing the importance of failure. It is worth watching. Thanks Richard.
http://harvardmagazine.com/go/jkrowling.html
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