5 Reasons Why Failure Is The Only Option!
BUT, before that…
Failure is not an option
A few years ago, I found myself listening to a Keynote by an amazing speaker. The gentleman in question was named Gene Kranz. Kranz has become known for giving some pretty amazing motivational speeches and commonly referencing the phrase
Failure is not an option
In fact, he took a liking to it so much after the movie Apollo 13 came out that he titled his autobiography with that same phrase. Now, I appreciate the context and the content of his speech very much — so nothing that follows in my writing should be construed as taking anything away from how I feel about the amazing story that Gene tells of the real life Apollo 13 mission and what he and his team went through. But I digress…
“Failure is not an option” — sounds pretty compelling right. Until you realize that it’s a virus. No, you aren’t going to get the flu from this virus. It’s not going to inspire a global pandemic and it’s not going to cause the World Health Organization to send out investigators hunting down everyone who uses this turn of phrase.
Failure is not an option
Read it again and ask yourself what it means to you? Myself, like I said before, I’m going to claim that it’s a virus.
I’ve heard this phrase used in countless situations to try to motivate and then in an additional less desirable set of situations to show a hard attitude toward those who fail — implying that those who fail aren’t good enough. In fact, I’ve seen it go well beyond it’s original intention and meaning in the movie, Apollo 13 —moreover— it has gone well past it’s origin in the true phrasing from a gentleman by the name of Bill Broyles, stated as:
“when bad things happened, we just calmly laid out all the options, and failure was not one of them”
So —why do I call this a virus? Failureisnotanoptionus is a virus because it has taken on a life of it’s own — it’s an idea virus. This idea virus has circled the globe in the form of fear of failure. It has become a slogan for those who think that perfection is attainable/necessary. We have to STOP this virus from spreading further. So I’d like to introduce a new idea virus.
FAILURE IS THE ONLY OPTION!
And now for the:
5 Reasons Why Failure Is The Only Option!
- You can’t be a successful entrepreneur without failing…
- You can’t learn something new without making mistakes…
- You can’t explore the world without taking risks…
- You can’t learn to cook without breaking some eggs…
- You can’t climb up without falling down…
5 simple thoughts but each one says the same thing — you can’t succeed without failure — Failure is the only option…
