Fail
I saw a quote from Tony Robbins on Twitter that went something like: “People may fail many times, but they become failures only when they begin to blame someone else”. That’s pretty good advice in a general sense – if you don’t cop your own failings on the chin and run around thinking that you’re god’s gift – you’re in for heartbreak somewhere down the track.
But hang on just a tick.
There’s a real undercurrent of ‘contrarian’ advice saying to fail is a Good Thing ™. Now I’ll admit I’ve said before that mistakes you make are a good way to learn. I’m not trying to redact those words – but change the sentiment around failing.
Don’t let yourself become too proud of failure.
There’s different kinds of failure. If you never have a go at things in the first place because you’re trying not to fail that becomes a real problem – epic fail – as the internet might say. If you’re taking risks by trying to be the best, that’s good. But don’t believe that by taking risks and failing you’re doing well and you’re on your way to glory:
You need to study what actually has gone wrong.
If you only know which paths not to take, you’re merely working out things not to do, rather than building on your successes. It’s time to understand what brings success and work out what you have done to get there. This is definitely harder to do – it’s a lot easier to pass judgement or comment on why something didn’t work than appreciate the subtleties of success (which are often hard work and dedication – not easy).
Don’t ignore mistakes, they are a key way to learn. But don’t encourage failure so that you can learn a thing or two. Work on success first, then if it all falls apart
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#1 by Bamboo Forest - PunIntended on July 29, 2009 - 5:19 am
I enjoyed this post.
You write, “You need to study what actually has gone wrong.”
I think you’re hitting on something important with this post. Sometimes, what has gone wrong is as simple as we didn’t put in the requisite effort to succeed! Yes, that is often the case.
And sometimes, trial and error has much to do with failing, then trying harder, failing again, then trying harder, and then because the requisite effort was made: succeeding.
Of course, sometimes our strategy needs a good revamp too, which I think you touch on here.
#2 by Tristan Rayner on August 2, 2009 - 12:23 pm
Thanks for your thoughts Bamboo Forest. Interesting point about requisite effort. I find usually effort is proportional to passion or motivation – if you’re not really keen to do something, you’ll never put effort in.
Cheers mate, keep up the good work over on PI.