Do I have to fail first?

Dan Miller —  February 4, 2013 — 5 Comments

Do I have to fail before I can succeed?

48 Days Podcast listener Josh Bulloc asks:  I have studied many entrepreneurs and successful people and most of them have gone through some sort of life trial which I correlate to becoming successful. I am concerned that I am not going to do well because I have not gone through that learning experience (yet). Your thoughts please.

We hear a lot about the failures of people who are ultimately very successful.  I’ve certainly talked openly Failure#1about my personal business flops on my way to where I am today.  Many of you are familiar with Dave Ramsey and his big crash in real estate that set the stage for him to help others avoid those same mistakes and in the process recapture and surpass his former wealth.

So should we be helping people avoid mistakes?  Are we preventing those people from experiencing their ultimate success?   Are we prolonging the inevitable?  Will their safe path now confine them to mediocrity rather than astounding success?

How do you view failure in your own life?  Do you avoid it at all costs?

One of the most important lessons I ever learned regarding failure was in an illustration from Robert Schuller that I heard many years ago.  He said to think about an athlete jumping a high bar.  As long as that athlete clears the bar we really don’t how good he/she is.  It is only when the bar is tripped (failure) that we have an accurate measurement of how good that athlete really is.

I want to know how high I can go.  So that opens the door wide open for potential risks and failure.  But if I fail I simply have a measurement of what I am capable of.  As long as I am always successful I fear I may have set the bar far too low. I would be mortified if I achieved every goal I set for this year.  Because I would wonder what I missed by not stretching more.  Failure lets me know I’m pushing the limits of what is possible for me.

And that seems to be the major difference between high achieving people and average people – their response to failure.

Josh, I would never suggest that you create your own failure – just to get it over with.  Trust me; if you are doing anything extraordinary, failure will find you.  But then don’t bury your head in the sand.  How we fail is at least as important as how we succeed.

I say push yourself; fail often.  Push yourself to the limits of your talents, abilities, dreams, endurance and common sense.  And then go one step further.  Your failures will release your creativity and innovation more than education and careful planning can ever do.

Are you failing enough to reach extraordinary success?

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“The one person to distrust is the one who never makes a mistake. Either he is a phony, or he stays with the safe, the tried, and the trivial.” — Peter Drucker

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  • http://www.howtohaveapositiveattitude.com/ Brad McCullouch

    Wow. That is a mind stretching concept. Really a mind blowing concept. I’m going to print this post out and put it in my bathroom, bedroom, and car!

  • Mark Scott

    Most people need failure to give them the mental focus and clarity to become successful. Failure motivates people to make the necessary changes to become successful. Very few people have the motivation and focus needed to become successful if things are just OK. OK is acceptable to mamy people and they will not try to change anything. If you are one of the few who can be motivated to change without the catalyst of failure then good for you, go for it! If you can succeed without needing the fire created by failure then by all means go make it happen.

  • http://www.mondayisgood.com/ Tom Dixon

    I had a stressful situation early in my career that seemed like the end of the word at the time, now I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything because it allows me to help others. I have been working on taking big risks this year, and am sure one or two failures are infront of me!

  • http://www.mattmcwilliams.com/ Matt McWilliams

    The only kind of failure that I try to avoid is fatal failure.

    Not just death, but whatever can kill my dream or goal.

    Even Dave talks about it. His real estate crash was not fatal. He lost all of his money, but that was it. He had his family, faith, and health.

    In business, I am taking some new risks in the past six months, but even total failure of those is not the end of the world. I still have my main clients that pay the bills and more. If my risky stuff succeeds, look out. If it fails, I try the next big thing.

    The thing that comforts me is that I rarely have had more than five bad ideas in a row :) I’m not that smart, it’s just that the odds are in my favor. So I figure that every failure is one step closer to success.

  • http://twitter.com/esggraphics Eric Gale

    One of my favorite Mike Tyson quotes is “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.” I think this is a perfect example of how failure can help see just what kind of a person you are.

    When all is fine and dandy, you can coast and not try. When you get your bell rung, you will stagger for a few moments. Then one of two things will happen, you will either go down or shake it off and dig deep.

    As a martial artist for years, I can tell you that it’s true in a fight. You don’t
    get hit in the mouth if you never get in the ring. But you also don’t have the
    opportunity to win.

    I came across this anonymous quote a while back, “We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.” I think that training includes pushing yourself to perfect what you know and to try new things.

    It’s true in martial arts and in life; you only grow when you push yourself to do more than you did yesterday. Your tomorrow depends on it.