Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Go Forth and Fail!
Well, it's been a while since I have blogged and looking at this I would say never on this forum but here's the first:
I have been working with some folks on getting started in writing and podcasting and it would seem we can come up with a million reasons not to start. All the excuses as to why we don't start have to do with failure. We often times fear we will fail and when we try it once and don't create the "most-bestest-greatest-ever" the first time out the gate we then fold up our tent and don't try again. Reasons abound but most of these stem from us comparing our beginnings of our attempts to someones honed craft. Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, put forth the notion that it takes about 10,000 hours to hone competence, which can be over whelming!
Looked at another way is if we do not start we never get that first hour in toward our 10,000 hours. It's like getting on a bicycle for the first time, falling off and never getting back on. Yes, it is uncomfortable and painful, but with out continued effort and going through the failure, we never get to success. One of the strike-out kings in baseball was Babe Ruth. What would the game look like if he quit after the first failure.
We will fail. That is something that cannot be avoided. But I have often found myself richer for my failures. A great deal can be learned and from that personal growth comes success. Confidence also comes from failing and, here's the important part, getting back in the game! For it is only through overcoming failure that we get true confidence and as such real self esteem. Not that stuff we get when everyone gets a trophy for having a pulse.
And, fact is we may not need to put in 10,000 hours! It may only take 9999!
I have been working with some folks on getting started in writing and podcasting and it would seem we can come up with a million reasons not to start. All the excuses as to why we don't start have to do with failure. We often times fear we will fail and when we try it once and don't create the "most-bestest-greatest-ever" the first time out the gate we then fold up our tent and don't try again. Reasons abound but most of these stem from us comparing our beginnings of our attempts to someones honed craft. Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, put forth the notion that it takes about 10,000 hours to hone competence, which can be over whelming!
Looked at another way is if we do not start we never get that first hour in toward our 10,000 hours. It's like getting on a bicycle for the first time, falling off and never getting back on. Yes, it is uncomfortable and painful, but with out continued effort and going through the failure, we never get to success. One of the strike-out kings in baseball was Babe Ruth. What would the game look like if he quit after the first failure.
We will fail. That is something that cannot be avoided. But I have often found myself richer for my failures. A great deal can be learned and from that personal growth comes success. Confidence also comes from failing and, here's the important part, getting back in the game! For it is only through overcoming failure that we get true confidence and as such real self esteem. Not that stuff we get when everyone gets a trophy for having a pulse.
And, fact is we may not need to put in 10,000 hours! It may only take 9999!
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