A hard truth
You cannot succeed if you refuse to fail
Hey, Runners!
Have you ever been to the doctor’s and at some point during the visit, the words “lifestyle change” come up?
No?
Well… good for you… I guess.
But most of us, at one time or another, be it in a doctor’s office or somewhere around the first of January, have had those words suggested to us.
Lifestyle change.
Ugh.
And I’m sorry to be the one to deliver this news but… that’s how you need to think about your writing.
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Failure is part of success
A lifestyle change isn’t something you can just do. It’s not about suddenly switching everything up and BOOM, now you suddenly have the time and energy to write.
Like all lifestyle changes, be they diet and exercise or fitting writing into a life that is already full to the brim with Shit To Do, this is something you need to do slowly, and you need to expect that your progress will falter from time to time.
In other words, the lifestyle change that gets you writing regularly will go a lot like a teenager learning to drive a stick shift.
Today’s Comments Assignment:
What is the most valuable failure you’ve ever experienced?
Also, redefine failure
The number one mindset that will hold you back with any goal is a fear of failure.
Right now, between this day and when you start the challenge, I want you to embrace failure as much as possible. Stop thinking of failure as a bad thing, and start thinking of it as a paver on the path to success.
Because that’s actually what it is.
My first HR Manger job, I was 27. I shared an assistant with the CEO (it was a small company). The assistant was my age, we had a ton in common, and we hit it off immediately. For the next three years I couldn’t get her to do a damn thing she didn’t want to do because she wouldn’t take me seriously as her boss. We are still friends. It was more than 15 years before I became friends with someone I supervised again, and that was a slow process. That first failure taught me the importance of boundaries at work.
I'm not certain about valuable, but I can point to the failure which has had the most impact on my life: I failed my audition to Juilliard's drama program. If I'd been accepted, I would have headed from Texas to New York. Because I didn't, I went into the work force and saved to move west, heading for Los Angeles. It really was a case of "turn right, turn left." (I considered RADA, but while my parents were willing to help with Juilliard, they took one look at the international student fees, plus the cost of sending me living in London and said no.)