We’ve all had a time in our lives when we knew what the right thing to do was, but for whatever reason were just unable to make ourselves do it. If you can relate to this experience, this post is for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0Ri0ifQx68
A large contributing factor to the success of any endeavor is the willingness to repeatedly fail. It’s impossible to produce remarkable results without failing. If it was possible everyone would be doing it, and thus it wouldn’t be remarkable.
The problem most people have with failing, however, is that when they fail they see themselves as failures. That’s wrong. The only person who is a failure is the one unwilling to fail in the first place.
Theory Versus Practice
Look, it’s easy to read feel good material (which in this case is completely true and effective) like the previous few paragraphs and feel motivated to take on the world. I know because I’ve been reading the same feel good stuff for years. In the past I’ve thought, “Well if I do this and I fail I’m not a failure. As long as I try I’m not a failure. I’m NOT A FAILURE!!!!”
Of course, it’s easy to think that before you fail. It’s easy to say I’m gonna talk to this girl, and no matter what her reaction is I’ll be proud of myself for having the courage to talk to her. It’s easy to say I’m going to spend 20 hours compiling a comprehensive guide to the top blogs in the personal development niche, spend several more hours writing personalized emails to everyone on the list, and be completely happy with myself for providing value regardless of how many people visit my blog to read it. It’s easy to say I’m going to try my best, and regardless of the outcome be satisfied knowing I gave it my all.
It’s a lot harder to actually live like that. In reality I think we’ve all had times where we’ve given it everything we’ve got, failed, and didn’t live up to our promises to be satisfied we tried our best. I know I have.
Maybe you’ve tried being the best boyfriend a man could possibly be, and still had the love of your life break up with you, violently crushing you in the process. Maybe you’ve had a project at work where you gave it your all, and they still said you weren’t good enough.
Maybe after these failures you’ve fallen into a dark place where it appears that it’s you that is the failure, and not your efforts. Maybe you’ve entered the vicious cycle of self-loathing and questioned whether trying to make changes in your life was even worth it. Maybe you’ve thought that you were simply an unfixable failure.
I know I have. And I still encounter these thoughts at times, but the difference now is that I see the truth for what it really is. When I fail, it is my effort that was a failure, not me.
Sometimes the voices still seduce me into doubt, and uncertainty, but this one truth is the consistent anchor that brings me back to reality and perpetuates my willingness to fail.
Ultimately, this is why I will succeed.
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Was going through one of those times where the thoughts of doubt and uncertainty began to enter my head during the time I wrote this. This post was an emotional one to write and manifested itself a little on the dark side, but I really like how my writing is completely congruent to the mood I was in at the time.
I hope this post was able to touch you on somewhat of an emotional level, and if you want to hear more of the theoretical side of being willing to fail check out this post’s accompanying video. I’m signing out now. Peace!
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