Issue 10 — You gotta try!
If you grew up anything like me, failure tends to feel like the end of the world. Every mistep seems guaranteed to be lethal, almost as if you’re forever walking on the edge of a tall mountain with no harness. But that is not how life is; the only guaranteed way to fall off a mountain is to stay in place. If we never climb, the mountain forever looms above us, all while the ground beneath slowly crumbles over time.
“Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.”
— Lucy Maud Montgomery
Metaphors aside, what would happen if you were to try and fail? You probably don’t have to go far into your memories to realise how it has never been fatal. I mean, you’re reading this right now. You’re alive; no mistake has killed you.
What about the times you wanted something but never tried to get it? Those examples are probably flooding your memories. There is something to be noted in how easily you were able to recall the examples of regret, as opposed to the moments of having tried and failed. Humans tend to have a bias towards recalling negative moments easily, and regret rings louder than failure.
Whether you believe you can try and succeed or believe you're doomed to fail, you are right. In reality, you can’t fail if you never stop trying. Failure only comes when we stop. Mistakes are simply feedback on what not to try or which approach needs adjusting. If you’re wondering if you should try something, there’s only a single wise decision. You gotta try!
Now go try something 👋🏽
Further reading
- A film about Kamaru Usman’s last title defence: Anatomy of UFC 278 Finale - The Moment Before & After The Madness
- The top 5 regrets of the dying as observed by Bronnie Ware: Regrets of the dying
- A list of YC companies that dared believe they could change the world: The YC Startup Directory | Y Combinator
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