Embrace Failure
I remember I used to go hiking a lot, where we were carrying about 40 pounds of gear and food on our backs. Sometimes we’d go “off trail” to get to a really good fishing spot, or to climb to the top of a peak.
And sometimes we’d get halfway there, only to realize we were on the wrong path. Which meant we had to backtrack a mile or so, and then start over.
Not a pleasant discovery when you’re carrying your home on your back!
When doing anything, it really, really sucks to find out you’ve been “doing it wrong,” and that you’ve got to “back up” and start over again.
Even if you go back to the beginning of a certain step (rather than the absolute beginning) it really sucks.
A common thing is to simply ignore the “mistakes” and keep forging forward.
Of course, from a purely objective standpoint, this only makes it worse. But when you’re deep in the mix, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees.
This is why it’s CRUCIAL to accept that the “two steps forward, one step back” idea is essential.
Now, we all have it programmed into our brains by well meaning adults (parents, teachers, coaches, etc) that failure is to be avoided at all costs.
But without failure, there’s really no learning.
Before we learned HOW to learn (meaning before we had any idea of school or anything) we NATURALLY learned by trial and “error.” By taking two steps forward, and LITERALLY falling on our faces.
This is how EVERYBODY learns to walk.
And if was fun.
Until we grow up and get that idea that “failure is bad” in our heads.
But the REAL CREATORS of society, those who build amazing machines, beautiful artwork, fantastic medical discoveries, they KNOW that failure is crucial.
They know that in order to double your success rate, all you’ve got to do is double your failure rate.
For example, many guys like to fancy themselves as “pick up artists,” able to sweet talk women into their beds.
They talk about how many “lays” they’ve got, or how many “number closes” they’ve got.
But the REAL question that REAL players ask, is, “How often have you been rejected?”
Now, this is not an easy thing to swallow. Most of us hold out to some imaginary magical system (wealth, girls, health, whatever) that will eliminate any failure, and give us instant success without much effort.
But the ONLY way to get better at ANYTHING is to fall on your face, pick yourself, and learn from what just happened.
If you’re only focused on the short term, this is pretty scary.
But if you’ve trained your brain to always look at the big picture, this is pretty easy. It can be just as fun as when you were a kid, learning to walk.