Do You Want to Succeed or Fail?

I would expect that you answered “succeed.” After all, 99%+ of all people in society get up each day in pursuit of something.  We are all looking to achieve something every day, and more often looking to achieve multiple things at once.  The desire to succeed is innate in our DNA, and a core trait in our human nature which has put us at the top of the evolutionary chart.  Whether spoken or unspoken, nearly everyone walking the earth is working towards something on a daily basis.  For thousands of years, society has applauded and idealized those who succeed the most.  Right or wrong, society has also always clearly defined what it deems both success and failure.  From a very early age, we are all encouraged to succeed.  Domestically, children quickly are indoctrinated into this culture in grade school, extracurricular activities and innocent games.  The notion that success is very important is ingrained in us even before our first memories are cemented.   

With such a strong emphasis placed on ‘success,’ failure is also strongly stigmatized.  The fear of failing, the embarrassment, the gut-wrenching pain that it can cause is often the last thing anyone wants to feel or be associated with.   So when any rational person is asked, “Do you want to succeed or fail?”, people will always answer with “succeed.” 

The untold reality is that the people with the most success in life are also the ones that fail the most. If you want to climb high and have applauded success, you are going to have to start by failing time and time again.  Persistence, hard work, taking risks, and durability are all key ingredients to eventual achievement. But most of all, tricking your mind into embracing the failures as part of the journey is the most critical.  Do not shy away from failing, embrace it. You will lose 20 times more than you will succeed. 

The question shouldn’t be: Do you want to succeed or fail? But rather Are you ok with failing time and time again if it eventually leads to a great win?

It is not a success or a failure.  It is a success and a failure.  You both win and lose in this marathon we partake in.  

I have been fortunate enough to enjoy what people deem as personal and business success - and it was not because I made the right choices every time. I have made thousands of right choices and hundreds of thousands wrong choices.   Putting my head down, persistently working hard, and not getting hung up too long on the discouraging results were all key ingredients to the few moments that later came that society applauded.  Years ago I learned to get comfortable with the worst case scenario. I face every endeavor and challenge with the knowledge that things could blow up in my face. And when things inevitably do blow up in my face (because it is definitely a when not an if), I do not panic or let it permanently put me down.  I pick myself up and keep going. I push through the failures until I have accumulated enough knowledge and experience to achieve success. 

That is the big secret. The most successful people in this world are not inherently smarter or better than anyone else, they are just comfortable with losing and keep persistently getting back up to march ahead.