Were you ever taught how to fail successfully? I don't believe they had a course for that at school.
But if they did have a course on Failure 101, how would they grade you? Silly question, but we're bombarded by the 'helpful hints brigade' who advise us that 'Winning Is Everything,' 'How To Win And Never Lose,' and of course the silliest of all, 'There Are Winners And Losers.
' When you think about it, even the most successful people in the world aren't necessarily winners.
They may have failed a hundred times before finally enjoying success, or winning.
Failure is an option, fear is not.
And there's the rub.
If you fear failure, you'll simply stand in one spot for the rest of your life, too crippled to try anything new, different or challenging.
Try and fail, and you learn something.
Be afraid of failing, and you learn nothing - except that you're afraid! Perhaps you're a perfectionist, and you turn the first part of the sentence around.
'Failure is not an option.
' We hear that often.
Sounds grand, doesn't it? Some chap being sent off on a mission.
'Failure is not an option,' says his commander, as though the poor fellow's ambition was to fail in the first place.
So it's an idiotic statement.
And what's so bad about failing, anyway? 'Oh, I failed, so I may as well give up.
' Where would civilization be if that had been the mantra of the whole human race? Analyze your failure.
Why did you fail? Work that one out, then you can climb back on your horse, as it were, and try again.
But the main problem is the worrying.
You worry because if you fail, you'll be looked on as a failure for one thing, but perhaps if you worry enough about not failing, you'll succeed.
But why worry about failing? What's so catastrophic about it? You think people will see you as a failure, but that's almost certainly in your mind.
And if they do? At least you've tried.
What it boils down to is your fear of other people's perception of you.
That, and your self esteem.
One mistake I often think a lot of people make is attempting the wrong endeavour.
For instance, I remember meeting a few people in England who had this great ambition of owning a country pub.
They had this vision of a beautiful public house, white picket fence and roses around the door.
The husband as landlord standing on the doorstep at opening time, greeting all the people as they flocked into his establishment for a pint and some of his wife's excellent cooking.
Now, they'd probably spent a good many hours on the customers' side of the counter, but they'd never actually worked in a pub a day in their lives.
It requires great people skills, it's extremely hard work and do they know the first thing about looking after beer? Then they fail, because they went in the wrong direction
But if they did have a course on Failure 101, how would they grade you? Silly question, but we're bombarded by the 'helpful hints brigade' who advise us that 'Winning Is Everything,' 'How To Win And Never Lose,' and of course the silliest of all, 'There Are Winners And Losers.
' When you think about it, even the most successful people in the world aren't necessarily winners.
They may have failed a hundred times before finally enjoying success, or winning.
Failure is an option, fear is not.
And there's the rub.
If you fear failure, you'll simply stand in one spot for the rest of your life, too crippled to try anything new, different or challenging.
Try and fail, and you learn something.
Be afraid of failing, and you learn nothing - except that you're afraid! Perhaps you're a perfectionist, and you turn the first part of the sentence around.
'Failure is not an option.
' We hear that often.
Sounds grand, doesn't it? Some chap being sent off on a mission.
'Failure is not an option,' says his commander, as though the poor fellow's ambition was to fail in the first place.
So it's an idiotic statement.
And what's so bad about failing, anyway? 'Oh, I failed, so I may as well give up.
' Where would civilization be if that had been the mantra of the whole human race? Analyze your failure.
Why did you fail? Work that one out, then you can climb back on your horse, as it were, and try again.
But the main problem is the worrying.
You worry because if you fail, you'll be looked on as a failure for one thing, but perhaps if you worry enough about not failing, you'll succeed.
But why worry about failing? What's so catastrophic about it? You think people will see you as a failure, but that's almost certainly in your mind.
And if they do? At least you've tried.
What it boils down to is your fear of other people's perception of you.
That, and your self esteem.
One mistake I often think a lot of people make is attempting the wrong endeavour.
For instance, I remember meeting a few people in England who had this great ambition of owning a country pub.
They had this vision of a beautiful public house, white picket fence and roses around the door.
The husband as landlord standing on the doorstep at opening time, greeting all the people as they flocked into his establishment for a pint and some of his wife's excellent cooking.
Now, they'd probably spent a good many hours on the customers' side of the counter, but they'd never actually worked in a pub a day in their lives.
It requires great people skills, it's extremely hard work and do they know the first thing about looking after beer? Then they fail, because they went in the wrong direction
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