Living Without Failing is Failing to Live
Why Failure is Guaranteed and How to Face It
You cannot live a life without failures.
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default.”
— J.K. Rowling
No matter the field you choose to pursue, failure is inevitable.
You are not born with the talents required to excel in every field the moment you touch them. You must fail again and again to go through the trial and error necessary to achieve mastery.
But if failure is inevitable, how do you face it?
Treat Each Failure as a Data Point
Realize that, a failure isn’t a setback, it’s a moment of discovery.
It is the moment you realize what doesn’t work. And the more you discover things that don’t work, the more you peel back the layers to find what does. You must fail and fail spectacularly. It is the only path towards victory.
Take the invention of the light bulb for example,
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas Edison
Edison’s failures didn’t deter him; instead, they fueled his drive to succeed.
We are crippled by failure and rejection as they are a remnant from our cavemen days when the fear of being rejected by society helped us survive. Being ostracized meant access to fewer resources, food, and shelter which could eventually lead to death.
But today, this fear holds us back.
The Solution is So Simple
The fear of failure keeps us from taking action and discovering all that we’re capable of. Unfortunately, there is only one way to get over this fear.
The solution is simple, and powerful, yet counter-intuitive.
It is to fail. The moment you fail, you realize failure is not the end of the world. You realize, no one else cares about your failures. You could fail a thousand times, nobody would remember. It is only your successes that people will count.
So fail often and fail fast. That’s how you achieve success. The more you allow yourself to fail, the faster you’ll learn and adapt. Without failure, life is not lived, it’s watched. Don’t be the spectator of your life; be the creator.
Did you know? Only legends read till the end!
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