Failure. Let's Talk About It.

Failure.

In today’s world, people are criticized daily for failure. Failure in sports, education, politics, tech, finance, etc. We see criticism all across the news, social media, friends, and even family.

Why is failure such a negative thing? Don't be too hard on yourself if you give it your best shot.

Why don’t we focus on celebrating the individuals who try to achieve something difficult? Without failure, we wouldn’t have 99% of the inventions that exist today, life expectancy would be low, records would never be broken, and the world as it is today would not exist.

I’ve had my share of failures, especially these past few years. I would go as far as to say I’ve had more failures than successes. But most people only see my list of successes, accolades, promotions, etc. I’ve been rejected for jobs that I really wanted, pitched to, and rejected by countless potential customers and investors, and I have launched/shut down several startups. The list is endless. All of this led me to where I am at today. And I'm not done yet.

I have this page bookmarked and refer to it often. This is a list of all the defunct car manufacturers in the US since the 1890s. We all remember Henry Ford, but what about these founders? There were thousands of car manufacturers in the US. This list doesn't account for the other thousands of failed manufacturers across the globe. But yet, today, we have cars with amazing tech. Those early companies and their founders crawled, clawed, fought, and failed so we can have what we have today.

I think most people would benefit from getting out of their comfort zone. Doing something with a high probability of failure. It doesn't have to be starting a company. It could be applying for a program/school with a <2% acceptance rate, entering a global singing contest, switching careers after spending ten years in one industry, walking onto a college sports team, etc.

Failure is likely, but it’s worth the risk. Keep at it. Eventually, you’ll succeed.