Mon, 24 November 2008  Who doesn't love the film Rocky or hearing about how J.K. Rowling lived near destitute while her Harry Potter manuscript got rejected by scores of publishers right before hitting it richer than the Queen of England? A lot of our view of failure in popular American culture is romanticized. The fact is, while you are failing, it feels really awful and does not become the enlightened lesson that you share until you have ten years perspective between you and the excruciating experience. Author and speaker Barry Moltz addresses this topic in his most recent book called Bounce: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success. He shares a lot of great insight into things like:
In the podcast, I referenced the tremendous new e-book by my friend Jonathan Fields called The Firefly Manifesto. This gives some great insight and tools for those folks who may have just been laid off, or who are working in unstable industries (which would be just about everyone these days!). Comments[2] |
This post and interview is so timely for me right now - for me, this year seems to be the year of learning by failure.
It takes alot of GUTS to own the outcome and keep going out there and to say "This is what happened, I take full responsibility for what has happened, and I sincerely apologise".
I some cases there hasn't even been a remedial action I could offer.
It takes real guts to put yourself through that humbling process (and not hide, as you mentioned in the interview!) and then keep going.
I can only say that in the long run I will be a smarter stronger person for owning the outcomes and keeping on going - and learning alot of important things the hard way.
I also really appreciate working amongst a group of people who can tolerate a team member who is doing his best and ~will get there~ ... but is learning as he goes.
I always have to say that what really kept me going in the last couple of months was all of the friends and colleagues who know me, love me, believe in me, think I rock at what I do, and really want to work with me.
Finally this whole experience is summed up in a great quote I heard from Joel Osteen a few weeks back: "It's not happening 'to' you, it's happening 'for' you".
I believe this tough period of my career is happening for a reason and that I should embrace the experience.
As Americans we often get stuck in nauseating cheerleader mode. I loved this interview because it supports some of my own new found beliefs that, the scientific mindset can get us so much further in life. I know I find myself happier and moving forward more effectively when I detach myself from failure or success as a personal reflection of inward value, and take a more scientific approach of learning by cause and effect.
I first learned discovered some of the same principles that Moltz addresses from teaching art to preschoolers. I was taught again and again that I should never give qualitative comments regarding young children’s art. Such as, “Oh, how pretty!” I had to completely change gears and learn how to make quantitative comments such as, “Look you colored two blue circles.” And the RESIST all urges to follow it with, “I like that!” At first it felt totally unnatural and almost cruel to with hold my praise of approval. Then it clicked, as I observed the children take in the nonjudgmental information and move forward with greater expression and artistic freedom. Even after years of trying to implement this method of thought I still have a hard time applying it to my own life.
Not to get to cliché, but life is truly like a canvas waiting to be painted on. I am trying to recognize my life events as strokes on that canvas. When I can view the events in my life as the “two blue circles” rather than success vs. failure that is when I start to CREATE.
