CNN posted an article from oprah.com titled "How to Fail Your Way to Success." It's a good, motivational and brief read.
"Success is as dangerous as failure," said Lao-tzu, and any life coach knows this is true. I can't count the number of times people have told me, "I hate the job I'm doing, but I'm good at it. To do what I want, I'd have to start at zero and I might fail."
Dwelling on failure can make us miserable, but dwelling on success can turn us into galley slaves, bound to our wretched benches solely by the thought, I hate this, but at least I'm good at it.
This is especially ironic because researchers report that satisfaction thrives on challenge. Think about it: A computer game you can always win is boring; one you can win sometimes, and with considerable effort, is fun.
With time-killing games, where the stakes are very low, pretty much everyone's willing to risk failure. But when it comes to things we think really matter, like creating a career or raising children, we hunker down, tighten up, and absolutely refuse to fail. Anyway, that's the theory. The reality is, we are going to fail. Then we make things worse by refusing to accept this.
Man, that's one of the best articles I've ever read. I try to approach failure as a learning tool, but it never feels good. I've never been able to say "Oh well...", though. How insightful - thanks for sharing that!
Posted by: Heather Duey | January 02, 2008 at 01:31 PM