When observing human behavior, one may discover that we are obsessed with success! It is a dire craving, an endless addiction, carrying people to their graves even at the cost of meaningless ends. And as it turns out, humans are also terrified of screwing up (especially in front of others). It threatens our image of success which we work so hard to protect and keep unchanged.
To be creative, which is a natural aspect of being humanly born, requires us to get supremely good at making mistakes and failing repeatedly. We do not learn how to walk by agonizing over clumsy misteps. Children try tirelessly until they are able to walk and then they work at running…their parents crazy. Children are masters of creative progress.
Thomas Edison provides the hallmark example of failing a thousand times before inventing the light bulb. At the time, many people were working on the light bulb problem, but Edison’s experimental tactics and ruthless learning approach gave him the lead in the vision of realizing the electricity industry.
The notion of a “mistake” or “failure” is based on the honorable motive to get better at something. What hinders progress is not the act of failing, but the fear that it may ruin us. This fear runs counter to discovery and progress but it can be used as a sign that we are on to something!
The idea to simply keep working is at the root of any real success. In order to get passed the fear of “not getting it right,” we need to be aligned with our passion so quitting is not an option, and develop a bias toward action and continuous learning so progress is made regardless of false perceptions. The goal is to learn, not to fixate on outcomes.
What are you looking forward to this week? Appreciate the opportunity, commit to learning something, and move on.