If there’s one thing I’ve learned when trying something new that you’re passionate about is the fact that undeniably – you WILL fail. There’s no escaping it. This is especially so in the beginning.
I say it again, You WILL fail… and failing is something that’s absolutely essential in order to become good at your craft. Without failure, without resilience, the first failure is also the last because it’s final, and it’s a lesson that you move on from.
The people that I know that are excellent at their craft have learned to comfortably co-exist with failure. These people are comfortable at failing more often than the mediocre
These people experiment more. They get outside of their comfort zone. They make more attempts. They are more aggressive. A wise person once said that “Mastery lives quietly atop a mountain of mistakes”.
The exceptional musician throws away hundreds of songs and even more song ideas. The exceptional artist will throw away hundreds of drawings. The exceptional investor puts money into losing ventures.
There is no reward without risk, and if every risk you take pays off, then you probably aren’t actually taking risks at all.
Don’t get me wrong, recklessness and foolishness are not taking risks, as there is a significant difference in risk and “a bad decision”. Understand that those who have built true excellence in their careers are always fighting to the very edge of what they’re capable of and their ability.
What distinguishes the exceptional from the unexceptional?
A willingness to fail, and an exceptional ability to learn from every failure.
