FAIL EARLY, FAIL OFTEN – SUCCESS WILL ARRIVE
Monday, July 13, 2020
Ignoring risk is a risky business.
Ask any risk manager, and they’ll be happy, using worst-case scenarios for anything you ever imagined, to detail the folly in everything. Risk is a calculation, expressed in money or percentages, of fear. De-risking is smart. Calculating is important.
But you cannot measure a dream or handicap an idea.
Beyond the risk to capital, reputation, and life itself – there is a scary risk. Around every corner. Better stay home. Hideout, hideaway, or hide under your bed. There will always be a boogie-man of risk in everything.
Beware the butter knife. Beware the butter. Beware the bread you spread it on. Get the picture?
Every great idea, adventure, and breakthrough can slither down the sewer drain for a thousand reasons, many of which you control, and many more that you don’t. Best to stay home, stay out of the game, ride the bench, view from afar …
Perhaps you’ve heard that old question: “What would you do if you were certain you would not fail?”
Lately, I’ve been seeing a divide between people who are still frozen/paralyzed by the shutdown, hunkered away to weather the storm vis-à-vis those who are working away without regard to any obstacles in their path. They aren’t stupid people, and they aren’t reckless either – they just don’t care to let fear, fearing, and fearfulness stop their drive.
If we didn’t know there was trouble right now, prudent people would be on the lookout for the unseen threat coming from out of the blue – that’s rational preparedness for all things. As well, most people who succeed are continually scanning the horizon for the next great opportunity, because they show up out of the blue too.
Be the next great new thing.
Be the best idea.
Be you, be doing what you would do if you were confident you could not fail. You might fail, but you might fall into a thousand other things that won’t collapse while you are failing at one thing …
Maybe, instead of success schools, we should promote failure courses: where trying and failing are celebrated – not for the failures, but for the attempts.
Reader feedback:
Freedom is the ultimate goal, to live transparently is the key, AG, Cancun, Mex.
Absent a deity or trusted confidante, write it down, toss it in the campfire, RH, Calgary, AB
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