An article I posted on to LinkedIn today after receiving an email asking me what advice I would give my 22 year old self.
#IfIWere22 – If I were 22, and somehow I could get a message to myself from the future, the only thing I would tell myself is that it is OK to fail. This sounds terrible, but in reality, it’s NOT!
We get so caught up in failure being such a bad thing, but the truth is, we can’t achieve failure until we have tried, and trust me when I say, trying is the best part of life. Finding what we love to do, what we want to do and what we are great at, is all part of the Try, Fail, Try Again, Fail, Try Again, Fail… and so on, that ultimately leads to Try, SUCCESS!
The pressure I put myself under years ago to try and succeed at EVERYTHING was crazy, and ultimately it probably set me back by at least 3 or 4 years in finding what it was I was great at and what it was I wanted to do every day.
So how do we accept failure, that my friend is the real question, especially at 22, where ultimately to fail is embarrassing and soul crushing. The notion of failing and the notion of having to start again, in any walk of life, seems like the sun will will never rise again.
It does rise! Tomorrow morning in fact, and once you have succeeded in failing, you can wake up in the morning and see the sunrise with new eyes, that ultimately allow you to appreciate the beauty of the world so much more.
Take it from me 22 year old Chris. It’s OK to fail, in fact, I encourage you to fail bigger and better every time, because ultimately, that will help you achieve even greater success down the line.
Keep your chin up, keep smiling and remember, it’s never as bad as it seems and you can always try again tomorrow, and the day after, and the one after that. Go enjoy what the world has to offer, try, try and try again. It’s the journey that’s fun!
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy
