“I hate the word failure and wish it never existed,” I stated as strongly as I could as we reflected on some past experiences.
I shared that the problem with failure is its opposite seems to be pass.
The problem with pass is it has a strong mental connection to school or uni, where you pass or fail.
If you didn’t pass.
You failed.
You were a failure.
Nowadays, particularly in start-ups, ‘failing often’ or ‘failing fast’ is seen as a badge of honour. Because you can learn so much from failure.
Which is why I love how schools are trying their hardest to re-frame the word failure.
My friend who I was sharing all this with said that each Friday, his daughter is asked at her primary school, “What have you learnt from the gift of failure this week?”
Isn’t that a great question! Take another look.
What have you learnt from the gift of failure this week?
∴
I realised in that conversation that I need to intentionally re-frame the word ‘failure’. To stop hating on it.
It should no longer be linked to pass or fail. Rather it should be linked to all the successes I have had as a result of learning from my failure.
Failure can be a gift.
If you learn from it.
What have you learnt from the gift of failure this week?
[pause]
[reflect]
Have you learnt anything?
Because if you haven’t, maybe your stuck in your comfort zone again.
“You don’t understand,” I said partly in jest, “It has nothing to do with their fear of change. It’s ALL my own insecurities.” As soon as I heard the words leave my mouth, even though I was meaning them to bring humour, I knew they were true.
Around our house we have duties that everyone has to do each week on rotation as a part of being in the family. Then there are the tasks like mowing the lawns which I can do for free, or the kids can do for money.
One of the first computer games I ever developed in my teens was a very simplistic helicopter game, where you would hunt out submarines and bomb them. It was simplistic for two reasons, the first of which I was learning to code, and the second because all games were clunky back then, which is what you would expect from home computers that you plugged into your TV screen.
If you have kids who play sports I’m sure you’ve experienced the challenges of finding a park close to the ground. On Saturday after finally parking ‘miles’ away from the fields, I was walking to watch the game and came across this street name.
I don’t understand how a person can be so broken, so full of hate, that they walk into a club and murder 49 people.
We were chatting with a friend last night who is doing a course in Distribution of all things. I say this purely because you wouldn’t have expected it. She was telling us how she is learning to drive a forklift and strap down a truck. She has also had to do numeracy & literacy assessments, that cause her to reach deep into the cobweb covered archives of her brain, and reignite her stored knowledge. And as she talks there is excitement in her voice. She is excited to be learning something new. Something outside her comfort zone.
I got grumpy with a Customer Service guy on the phone at Trustpower yesterday. I wanted someone to take ownership and they wouldn’t so I got annoyed at him. I wasn’t abusive, just frustrated and CEO type direct.
With the exception of primary school, the first book I ever read cover to cover was when I was 27 years old. It was a Tom Clancy novel. The first business book I ever read was in my early 30’s, ‘The One Minute Manager’.
As arrogant as it sounds, if you ask me for help, I’ll most likely say No. I often don’t even give a reason it’s just, No.