Opinion
The failure in the room
Success advice is common. It is all over the web and often you don't even have to go looking for it. It finds you.
The world, it seems, will not allow you to fail. It won't even allow you to contemplate the possibility of failure. It will have you thinking about nothing but winning, succeeding, and conquering every obstacle in your path.
But the fact remains that failure is far more common than success. It is the foundation of every triumph. It is a vast locked library of wisdom that we don't see the inside of because few ever talk about it. People focus on their wins, brag about it, teach about it, and we all sort of doze off and dream of endless winning.
The trouble with it of course is that in all this talk of hard work and merit and replicable recipes for victory, we lose sight of all that can and does get in the way. We lose sight of social conditions, youthful inexperience, debt and poverty, family pressures, gender and wage disparities. We lose sight of life itself.
Dreams don't always collapse because of lack of motivation and "hard work". Sometimes, we fail for no fault of our own. We shouldn't think of every "winner" as a genius who did what our laziness won't let us do.
It is important to talk of failure because everyone fails.
Vimoh
Links
Cam Wolfe on books he wrote that failed
This happens all the time BTW. More failures exist than successes. Wolfe never finished the series and eventually withdrew the books so no one would be able to buy a series he had no intention of finishing.
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Patreon CEO shares his greatest failures
From lack of planning to overspending to bad decisions. It's all part of life and it all is about as normal as anything else. Everyone fails.
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Austin McConnell on making a movie and failing at it
This is one of my favourites. A great look by someone at their own failure and what it made them feel. In our culture of "winning", we often turn failures into "learnings", but I think there is value in just feeling what comes with failure.
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A documentary about being a flop
Elanor Nadorff talks about wanting to be someone and failing at it and what that does to the one who aspires. And perhaps a way out.
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Too old for success?
The internet is full of bitter people who will tell you you are too old for success. Someone like that sent a comment to Mary Spender, who is a singer-songwriter. Her response is mature and worth listening to.
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