Why You Should Be Enthusiastic About Failing

I like writing because it allows me to step out of the frame and view myself through a more objective lens. It gives me the opportunity to check myself against the good ideas I know to be true and right. No matter how great you are, there will always be a need to check that you are operating optimally and that you are still heading in the direction of your goal. If you are not, corrections must be made. 

I’ve been thinking about the last 5 years of my life and what held me back from pursuing my dream goal. My dream, for as long as I can remember, has been to become a pilot. The thought of being able to fly an airplane stirs up passion from deepest parts of my soul. So, why did I ever hold back from pursuing my dream? For the same reason that most people hold back from pursuing theirs. 

What’s Your Excuse?

My excuse for not pursuing my goal, with every fibre of my being, wasn’t even an original excuse. I simply borrowed it. The excuse that gave me comfort, by stripping me of my rightful responsibility was, “I can’t afford it”. 

I used that excuse to explain away making zero progress over the years. After all, I didn’t have parents who could remortgage the family house to pay for flight school.

The Danger Of Factual Excuses

On one level, my excuse was a true fact. This meant that I could go about my everyday life feeling justified in my self-deception. Ultimately, that excuse was total and utter bullshit. 

Just recently, I had a flashback to what was the pivotal moment that led me to single-mindedly pursuing my dream of becoming a pilot. It was a conversation I had with an old college friend, Ellis, right after the funeral of one of our teachers. 

Filled will the sadness of tragedy, we discussed the power of potential. I told Ellis about my dream, explaining that the lack of money was the main reason why I couldn’t achieve it.

Ellis peered straight into my eyes and said, “I don’t believe that money is your issue”. In a few words, he destroyed the excuse that I had hidden behind, and comforted myself with for years. It didn’t fully manifest until 2 months later, but in that very moment, there was a shift in my mindset.

The Greatest Challenge To Achieving Your Dreams

What is the greatest challenge to achieving your dreams? Is it money, access to the right people or the state of the economy? Is it the colour of your skin? 

A lot of people are impressed and even inspired by the journey I am on. (Click here to learn more about me.) I am humbled and grateful for that, but I am not impressed with myself. That’s because, from the way I see it, I am making up for lost time.

You can have all the money, the necessary network and the opportunities in a booming economy, as well as having from the ‘right’ ethnic background, and still make zero progress towards your dream-goal. Why? Two words. Limiting beliefs. 

What is a Limiting Belief?

A limiting belief is a story you tell yourself, over and over again, about what you can’t do and why you can’t do it. That story limits how hard you work, your ability to spot opportunities to progress and consequently, how far you will advance despite your passion, vision or dream.

This is why even though I could have comfortably afforded 3 flying lessons every month, at one point, I did not do anything about it. Those limiting beliefs result in possibility blindness.

The Question Is: What Are You Becoming?

Here is one of the greatest questions I learned from the late Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker who remains a positive influence on many even beyond the grave: What are you becoming? He explains that most important thing to ask in any endeavour is not, “what am I doing?” It is, “what am I becoming?”

Your dream-goal flows out of the depths of your soul. It has the power to infuse you with the kind of energy and focus that every-day, mundane tasks simply fail to do. If you do not pursue your dream-goal with everything you have, despite how unlikely it might seem, you will definitely not achieve it. But more importantly, what will you become? In not giving your whole self to the most worthy cause you can think of, what will you become?

Conversely, if you choose to accept and embrace the high probability of failure, presented to you by your circumstances, there is nothing left to hold you back. Why? Why embrace the fear? Why embrace the probability of failure? The answer is no secret. 

Choose What You’ll Become

It is in failure that we learn. It is in failure that we grow. It is in failure that we develop the necessary knowledge, skills and ability to achieve that which we hope to achieve. It is in the willingness to withstand the full force of failure, that we become worthy of that which we desire. 

Don’t take my word for it. Take only that which resonates with you as being true. Fail fast. Fail often. Fail forward. An ‘L’ is never a loss, if you learn from it. Anything that is worth having, will come at a price and is worth sacrificing for. Pursue your dream-goal, despite the potential and possibility for failure. Do it, not least, for what it will make of you.

As far as I can see, it will make you strong, courageous, inspirational and more likely to achieve your dream-goal and sustain the challenges that come with living your dreams. At worst, the passionate pursuit of your dream-goal will develop you into the kind of person who is better able to achieve any other goal set before them.

Choose what you will be come by the actions you take in every moment of every day. Approach failure with great enthusiasm for what it will make of you to learn from it.

Thank you for your time.