It’s only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.
Joseph Conrad
You’re going to make mistakes. We all do. But that doesn’t mean that you should stop and let life pass you by because you’re afraid to try.
Don’t be afraid of mistakes. No one sets out to fail, but human nature is to stumble. The strong ones get back up.
And, something not working the first time doesn’t always mean you’ve made a mistake.
Consider:
- Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor who said he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
- Thomas Edison was believed by his teachers to be “too stupid to learn anything.” Of his light bulb which took him 1,000 tries he said, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”
- Abraham Lincoln ran for office six times and lost before becoming President.
- The Harry Potter books were rejected by twelve publishers before J.K. Rowling had her first success.
- The Affordable Health Care roll out…no…wait…bad example.
It’s simple. If you don’t try, you’ll never fail.
But, then again, you’ll also never meet your goal.
If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.
~ Woody Allen
Life is about a series of trying and failing. Rarely does someone become successful on the first try.
Then, there’s this prayer:
When we are wrong, make us willing to change. And when we are right, make us easy to live with.
– Peter Marshall