@Peter
It proofs that everything is a matter of perspective. The one who never tries something will never be able to get that far. Not even to find out what doesn’t work.

@Rusty
That is a very motivating story. Hopefully we’re all on a similar path.

I love it that you introduce time into the equation. I graduated college in 1992 and have worked at a bunch of jobs I hated while trying to work for myself (mlm, selling things on Ebay, weird IM scams, etc).

On March 6th, 2009 I walked out of my job a free man. I finally found something that worked. I now get to spend my days working full-time online on my fitness site. I earn a full-time income doing something that doesn’t feel like work.

It took me 17 years…I’m glad I didn’t give up after 10.

Cheers,

Rusty

You made a great point here. A failure is a failure because we give meaning to it. I also observe this collective blindness for success. People tend more often to concentrate on the failures they had than their successes.

I have to admit that I’m not always a exception on this either. When I came home last night I had this kind of Eureka moment, when I suddenly realized that the money I worry about these days was nothing more than shoe-money a while back. In other words: I gave no attention to it when I was used to have it and miss it now it’s gone. So instead of mourning I decided to concentrate on the past success and stopped for a moment to think on what I did different in the past.

But of course this is not just about money, though money is a big issue for everyone lately.

You can even extent ‘What would you do if you knew that failure doesn’t exists?’
Ask yourself: ‘What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?’

It’s the fear for this temporary failure that let people stop to follow their dreams.

The guy who invented the light bulb (Edison?) was asked in an interview how it felt to fail that often until it finally worked.
He answered that he just proved himself 700+ times how it doesn’t work.

See it like this and it’s much easier to go forward. Life is all about growing, not about standing still.

I could go ahead for hours, but it’s too late!

Thank you for this motivating article.
Mario

@Razor
Very true. When you do finally get that move, try not to celebrate too much. I have found some people get a little annoyed and try to kill you afterwards

@David
That is an excellent idea. I wish I thought of it myself. Thank you for adding the link.

@Nathalie
Thanks. And I agree, Trial and error may be old school, but it works.

Oh, and yes, failure is a great way to figure out what doesn’t work and find what works.

Keep up the great work!
-D