Why You Should Forget Success And Pursue Failure

Failure is the currency with which success is purchased. Focus on acquiring this currency, and you will achieve endless success.

Today’s the day you will finally understand the key to success. You’ve heard it before, but today you will start implementing it. It’s not something to just simply be aware of, it’s something everyone must take action on. It’s more important than intelligence, networking, and hard work combined.

The Misconception:

“Every path to success is wrought with failure.”

It’s a nice motif, certainly true, and might provide comfort to those currently grieving over a recent loss or setback. It might also provide a little boost of encouragement to those considering a new undertaking but fearing the outcome. However, failure isn’t just some obstacle to deal with. To look at it this way is to completely miss the whole point.

Presenting failure in this manner doesn’t do enough to show its true nature as the ultimate key to success. This type of description only leads to the concept of failure as an obstacle that must be overcome. It serves only to inform people that there will be failure. That’s no more useful than telling people there will be gravity.

The Answer:

“Failure is not part of the journey — failure is the journey.”

“Failure is the great arbiter of fortune. It will seek out and punish those who try to escape it, and reward those who stand before it frequently and with eagerness.”

“Endeavor to make your days a constant and unrelenting stream of failure in every pursuit, and enjoy the life of wild success that will inevitably come from it.”

As explained in the form of these 3 maxims, the key to success appears in a different light than the usual presentation. It should now be much more clear what must be done. If you feel that you fully understand and are ready to take action, feel free to skip to maxim 3 where I describe what that action looks like. However, if you’d like to dive deeper, continue reading as I explain each maxim in greater depth.

“Losers quit when they fail. Winners fail until they succeed.” — Robert Kiyosaki

Maxim 1: The Journey

“Failure is not part of the journey — failure is the journey.”

If failure itself is the journey to success, then in order to make progress, one must seek it out. Each failure is another step along that journey, and there exists no other way to advance. In the world of physical fitness, it is known that the only way to grow strength is to repeatedly attempt feats of strength until you fail. It is the only way to make progress. You can successfully lift the same weights or run the same mile day after day, but you won’t move forward this way. Is it your destiny to stay in one place until you meet your end?

The key here is to go for that tenth repetition, or that second mile, not just with the knowledge that you will fail, but because of it.

Implementation:

Whatever it is that you know you are going to fail at, go forth eagerly and achieve that failure, and celebrate another step made along your journey.

Maxim 2: The Arbiter

“Failure is the great arbiter of fortune. It will seek out and punish those who try to escape it, and reward those who stand before it frequently and with eagerness.”

Treat failure as an unstoppable force of nature. Like gravity, it is wise to embrace and utilize it, and be grateful that without it we would all perish. You can attempt to escape or resist gravity, but it will find a way to bring you down, often with much pain and suffering. Resisting failure is no different.

Failure is the equalizer. None of us can escape its judgement. Our greatness is decided by how often we experience, embrace, and overcome failure. It offers gifts of guidance, knowledge, and strength that can be obtained no other way. Those who live with very little failure receive none of its rewards.

Implementation:

Worship failure and welcome it into your life, and its influence will sustain and guide you. Turn your back on failure and it will seek vengeance, and crush you under its mighty wrath when you are at your weakest.

Maxim 3: The Way of Life

“Endeavor to make your days a constant and unrelenting stream of failure in every pursuit, and enjoy the life of wild success that will inevitably come from it.”

Now that we understand failure is the journey, and that we must find it before it finds us, all that’s left is to take action. If each experience of failure is one step along the journey, let’s start taking as many of those steps as we can. Think of failure as a kind of currency that you can exchange for success. Make it your mission to earn a great deal of this currency if you want to afford all the success you dream of. This requires considerable action on your part, so I’m going to provide a few examples of what this action looks like in practice. I hope this will drive you to new avenues of achieving failure in your daily life, or encourage you to persist in what you are already doing.

The key to achieving failure is to set a baseline goal, and keep advancing that goal until you fail. The following three lists will present each example in the context of three levels. In reality, the levels are unlimited. It’s important when choosing a baseline goal to pick something you think will be very difficult but not impossible. There should be about a 50/50 chance of success. If you do succeed, then advance to the next level and repeat until failure. Once failure is achieved, attempt again and again until you succeed, and celebrate the growth this process has provided you with.

Level One (Baseline)

• Teach yourself something new in a subject such as mathematics, science, history, philosophy, or the arts.
• Go to sleep and wake up an hour earlier than your normal times, and experiment with ways to use that hour in the morning.
• Perform an unpleasant task every day for 7 days, such as going to the gym, taking a cold shower, or abstaining from alcohol or your favorite food.

Level Two

• Achieve above-average skill in a new subject such as mathematics, science, history, philosophy, or the arts.
• Go to sleep and wake up two hours earlier than your normal times, and use those hours to get important tasks done in the morning.
• Perform an unpleasant task every day for 30 days, such as going to the gym, taking a cold shower, or abstaining from alcohol or your favorite food.

Level Three

• Achieve above-average skill in the subject you have always struggled with the most.
• Go to sleep and wake up three hours earlier than your normal times, and use those hours for important tasks and studying.
• Perform an unpleasant or difficult task every day for 6 months, such as going to the gym, taking a cold shower, or abstaining from alcohol or your favorite food.

This process of establishing a baseline and advancing until failure is a tried and true method of obtaining success, and is the only way to guarantee you’ll get there. If you’re having trouble establishing your own baselines, try enlisting someone’s help in setting one for you, especially if that someone knows you well.

Implementation:

The amount of success you are going to receive in your life is proportionate to the number of steps you choose to take on that journey. Commit yourself to the daily task of chasing and achieving failure, and you will advance towards success in leaps and bounds.

Call To Action:

On a mission to redesign your life? Crafting your mindset? Let’s touch base in your inbox once a week. Join the Side Effects Readers Club for free, and take one important step towards becoming the best possible version of yourself.

Join Now: www.SideEffectsClub.com