Failure is not a limitation
Looking at Ikoyi — Lekki bridge this evening made me reflect on the great minds that came up with the idea of a bridge over water. You will agree with me that this innovation has solved a ton of problems on the planet. A great example is the London bridge, first built between 1176–1209 as a stone bridge. I was just wondering if the masterminds decided this was too impossible to achieve and gave up, your guess would be as good as mine.
Failure is a word that most people in the world do not want to be connected to. On hearing the word, most people tend to adjust lifestyles and mindsets, just so they don’t fail. The Dictionary defines failure as an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success. I want to define failure thus: failure means you have just not succeeded YET. The word “yet” simply means you can try once more. Just that additional trial might bring your desired success. There is no limit to trying again though.
At Seedstars Academy these few weeks, I have discovered that so many businesses (great ideas that would have impacted the world) die, not because they failed at some point, but because the founders gave up. If only they could realize that all they needed was just that one additional trial. The more you try out an idea that has failed, the more you learn from such failures. You have only learned one more way that will not work on your idea. Picking a que from Thomas Edison, he said:
I have not failed, I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work
I could only imagine what would have happened if Thomas Edison has given up after so much trials. This is what would have happened: Someone else would have learned from his trials and the light bulb would still be birthed but definitely not in the name of Thomas Edison.
I have tried out some of my own ideas and a lot of them failed. I gave up on some and persisted in some others. Of course I found so many ways that my ideas will not work. If only I had given much effort to try the ones I gave up on again and again, I believe they would have birthed something great. I have learned to push and keep testing until your idea works.
Have you failed in a venture? Try one more time and you just might jump for joy that you have birthed something great to transform the world. Great entrepreneurs are world changers.
