Failure is the Option

I like taking well known quotes and clichés and flipping my perspective of them. For the most part they’re all either true or relevant to some degree but many times there’s much more to them. It’s easy to see a good quote and only look at it from one perspective, which is usually guided by our own personal experiences, beliefs, and needs. But I think it’s fun to breathe different life into something we’ve all heard a thousand times. This is one of those times for me.

“FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!”

We’ve all heard it right? It’s almost like the universal motto of every fired up individual or team who finds themselves up against any number of challenges. I admit, it’s a great quote that inspires us to not take no for an answer and that we will give all we have to defeat this challenge. But how can we gain new perspective on this very familiar statement?

For me it’s by applying it to growth. Now like I said, it’s a great statement for competing and battling to win something but it doesn’t really apply to helping me grow every day. So let’s get back to that shift in perspective. What if we added a little bit more to it.

“FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION, ITS A REQUIREMENT!”

This thought jumped out at me last week and I think it’s an interesting twist on an old classic. As I’ve frequently talked about, I’m a firm believer in growth is gained through failure. Look at your own life and picture the amount of growth you’ve made when being successful compared to the times when you’ve failed. For me it’s not even close, my growth is always closely tied to some failure.

So yes, it is ok to fail. Because as long as we couple that failure with Humility each failure is the start of new growth. I don’t strive to constantly fail, in fact I hate failing (sometimes to a fault). I don’t want to fail but I do know that I would rather be pushing myself to a point that there’s a good chance I’ll fail than sit back in my comfort zone where I’ll be safe. Safe sounds nice but it doesn’t when it comes at the cost of never growing, never learning, and never becoming better.

Don’t be afraid to fail because if you’re pursuing growth, failure is required.

Stay Humble and Do Work!