If you’ve been on this planet longer than a few minutes, then you know how to actively fail. A baby learning that he can control that thing on the end of his arm and scratching his forehead open with those paper thin fingernails. The teenager who rebels against her parents, just to regret it later when she has her own children. The guy in the suit that honks his horn at a car for not going on a green light, just to see a fire truck blast through the intersection. Failing is easy.
However, you can also fail by not doing anything at all. That comes from Fear, and its cousin, Procrastination. A great book waiting to be written by the guy that just dreams about it all day without picking up a pencil or keyboard. Or “One day, I’ll write that piece of software to make lives easier.” Uh-huh. If you don’t do something for long enough, eventually you run out of time.
Sometimes, the consequences of failing are negative. Regret. Anxiety. Shame.
But failing can also be positive. Learning. Iterating. Strengthening. Character Building. (Notice the -ing; these kinds of people are failing a lot, but that’s OK to them).
Here is where I enter the story. I never blogged before because I thought my random spouting of words wouldn’t be received as important or noteworthy. I’d just be another random guy wanting his 15 minutes of fame. I failed in my head without even trying to succeed. And maybe I am a random guy and maybe my words don’t make any sense to you. But maybe you, over there in the corner, got something that resonates with you.
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
So, here I am, playing a part in my company’s blog battle to get my ideas out. It was the kick in the seat of the pants I needed at the right time. Maybe, I can be the kick you need to get up and do something.
“Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it. So, make it a good one.”
– Dr. Emmett L. Brown
