Guest Post: How to fail more and Win

This is a guest post from Henri Junttila@WakeupCloud

Michael Jordan sucked at basketball, but he failed over and over again until he became one of the best. The problem is that we’ve been taught from an early age that failure is bad and that we should do our best to be perfect, because that’s how you should be, right?

When you look at successful people, all you see are their successes. What you don’t see is that they had to fail over and over again – and maybe eat beans and rice, while living on their friends couch – before they became superstars. Learning how to fail more and embracing the imperfect nature of humanity will catapult you to your goals.

Embrace the Unknown

So often we want to know exactly what the future holds, because the unknown sucks, yes? Well if you think about it, the unknown is pretty awesome. Imagine if you knew everything that would happen. It would be pretty boring.

If you’re living a life that is predictable, it’s a sign that your life might be broken. By embracing the unknown and not caring about how things are going to happen, you can allow yourself to take action and release your expectations.

Be Imperfect

Ah, perfection, can’t fail because people will laugh at you. This is usually remedied by reading and studying the topic at hand until your eyes bleed, because you want to know everything before you get started.

I can resonate with that, because I’ve been like that. However, by taking more action and being less perfect, I realized that I could progress at a much faster rate. Being imperfect is being human. The more you get out there and fail, the faster you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t.

Be Ridiculous

Being ridiculous really means being yourself. Inside we’re all ridiculous. Do you act differently with your best friend, compared to strangers? I do, but I’m working on it and it’s going pretty well. Letting go of expectations and just being yourself allows you to fail more.

If people don’t like you for who you are, you should be happy, because they weren’t a good match for you anyway. Imagine if you’d tried to be someone you’re not and had to hang around them for several years – the horror.

Face Your Fears

We all have fears. I probably had more fears than most just a few years ago, but it was a blessing in disguise, because it allows me to talk about how I got through them and how they improved my life. What fears are stopping you from doing what you want?

If you’re already doing what you want (good for you!), what’s stopping you from progressing faster? Did you know that your mind is good at scaring you? I think you do. But did you also know that you don’t have to listen to it if you don’t want to? Thoughts are thoughts, and your mind will often make things seem worse than they are.

Take Action

If there’s one thing I’d like you to remember from reading this post, it’s to take action as much as possible. I’m not saying don’t research and study. What I am saying is learn what you have to learn in order to take the next step. Nothing more, nothing less.

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