Failure’s Not the Problem — It’s the Fear of It
The True Power of Failure
All my life I’ve been shitlesly scared of failing, being a failure, a loser. I was a kid who was so afraid of failing that I never dared to participate in any of the sports, activities or any competitions even though I was good at a lot of those things.
Which I only realized later when I abandoned the cage of my fear and experienced the independence that came from only a single realization.
It was only after a severe amount of failures that I realized that those failures only advanced me to win. Either in the form of a lesson, motivation or inspiration. They pushed me to learn and progress to heights I wouldn’t have achieved even if I had won all the time.
I realized that my fears were false. No catastrophe ever occurred from me losing a speech competition or being stunned while giving a presentation. Nothing ever happened from me getting an F in a school test.
Only after I overcame the fear of failure did I see that failure too was a kind of win. Not for the world to see but only for me to devour. It was a win in its own way, a treasure that supplied for all the wins that came after it.
As a great author once put it:
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” — Paulo Coelho
Failure is an Investment
People who don’t fail don’t win. Fail a thousand times and you might win for a couple. This is not a prediction or called up facts, it’s just probability. Spin a coin thousand times and you might get three heads in a row.
But here’s the catch.
Failures are an investment. The more you fail, the more you win. The more you fail the better you get at winning.
Trading a thousand failures in exchange for a couple wins is not a bad deal at all because failure only pays off and multiplies the wins. The more failures you put in the more wins you’ll be able to get.
It’s just like compounding. Over time your winning ratio grows and precedes the failures. It can go from a thousand failures for one win to one failure for one win. Maybe after that it just reverses itself and becomes a thousand wins to one failure.
“The person who fails the most wins.” —Seth Godin
Fail Fail Fail — Winning is Overrated
Winning makes you blind. Failing makes you learn. It’s better, bold and practical. So our ultimate goal shouldn’t be of winning but of failing.
Aiming just for winning makes you so afraid of losing that it turns your state of mind into a ruin. But being comfortable with failure sets you free from the burden of your expectations.
The relief alone from accepting the inevitability of failure and believing in your efforts regardless of the outcome will be enough for you to not only win, but also keep your state of mind a heaven.
Failing is just like skydiving. It won’t necessarily kill you, but reward you with treasures beyond your imagination once you overcome its fear and embrace its holy existence.
So why be afraid of failing. Especially when it comes to something you love. Why be afraid of failing at writing, when you feel like the whole purpose of your existence is to put words together and make miracles.
Be comfortable with your failures. Embrace that power and be invincible.
Here’s something for my fellow writers reading this. Write the most terrible and shittiest pieces of writing that you can ever write. I dare you to. Just throw away that personality of a perfectionist. No one is, or can be perfect. So stop trying to be one. Be honest and pour who you really are on that paper. There’s no hiding. Even from yourself.
Then, when you’re done with the expedition you will behold the true beauty of writing. When you are free as a bird writing whatever the hell you want, feeling the liteness, like thunder, roaming around and growling out on your worst fears and caging them in a page.
So what are you waiting for? Get up and fail. You have more time than you think. Don’t try to win. Try to fail. Because that’s what we’re here for. To fail graciously and ferociously. With gratitude and perseverance. With style and respect. Fail to win. Fail hard, fail often, fail miserably, fail unapologetically.
Take pride in your failures. People are shitlessly scared of failing and you’ve got to show them what they’re missing out on. You gotta show them that their pathetic fear of failure is not yours to be afraid of. You gotta fail them at their beliefs. Fail like it’s a roller-coaster ride you’re enjoying. Because only then will you ever truly win.
Best of Luck!
Best of luck for your failures. Winning is too overrated. No one congratulates each other on their failures. No one wishes you luck for your failures. No one. But I hope you fail and I wish you heaps and heaps of luck for it. Thank you for reading. And if you failed to read it, well then you know what that means.
