“What Would You Do If You Knew You Would Fail?”
Answer this and you find what you love
The quote comes from Seth Godin and his appearance on The Tim Ferris Show podcast. It is a twist of the original quote “What would you do if you knew you could not fail”
The original quote stems from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
This question is very often brought up as a great way to find out what you should do in life. But Godin’s twisted questions are even better.
“What would you do if you knew you would fail?” — Seth Godin
Answer the question and you find what you love to do.
To wake up every day and do something out of your enjoyment and not because you won’t fail is healthy.
What is even the point of answering the original question? (What would you do if you knew you could not fail?)
It must be because it allows you to go for your biggest dream without the risk of failure.
The problem with this is that it’s easy to answer with the intention of getting a lot of money or status. And that’s not what brings us happiness.
We have all at some point in our life thought that if we just get that new car, that result in competition or that level of money we will be complete or happy. But happiness is not created from outside materialistic achievements.
“Peace is happiness at rest; happiness is peace in motion.” — Naval Ravikant
If peace were the goal, which one of the two questions would you choose?
- “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”
- “What would you do if you knew you would fail?”
It sounds peaceful not to be worried about failing, but not worrying about failure does not bring ultimate peace.
I am at peace and my most happy when I do activities I truly love. For me, it would be to cross-country ski, read a great book or enjoy time with family and friends. That is happiness for me (peace in motion).
I would choose question number 2 any day of the week. If I do something I Love it is not that important to succeed.
Doing things I love is already a success for me.
Enjoying the journey
You have heard it before “enjoy the process”. It has become a bit of a cliche, but it’s true (cliches often are true).
When you find what you want to do on behalf of what you enjoy rather than something you just won’t fail at, you set yourself up for enjoying the process.
Consistency
By doing something you love you also up the chances for you to manage to stay consistent.
Consistent actions are the foundation of every achievement. Writing is no exception. Write and publish consistently for a year and you will have come a long way.
Find the things you love doing regardless of results or success. Because when you find and act on your true passions it will feel like true success to you.
It isn’t about finding the things we would do if we knew we wouldn’t fail it’s about finding the things we love regardless of the outcome.
