I strongly believe that failure is our greatest teacher, motivator of the appreciation of success, and in many ways, the key to unlocking our greatest potential and achieving our dreams. Last month, as the year came to a close, I made promise to myself to simply do my best to use each day to be better than the last, to improve on the year that was 2015. This included besting my previous goal of reading at least 1 book a month (which I am happy to share that goal was achieved), and upping this to 1.5-2 books a month. Understanding the task ahead, I decided to give myself a head start and jump right in with a Christmas gift, a book by Fran Tarkenton (past Vikings QB and first known mobile QB) titled “The Power of Failure” (shout out to Rick Ross, a.k.a. Rick Brawner, a.k.a. my Father-in-law, for the assist with the great gift!). It is a very well written account of Fran’s personal journey and his successes and failures on the field and in business, and how he used his failures to learn how to succeed. Known as the first mobile (unconventional) quarterback, Fran’s story begins with the odds stacked against him. From his upbringing in a lower to middle-class working family and contributing to the “family bank” with his very first job as a pre-teen, to earning the starting QB job at the University of Georgia where he played college ball as an under-recruited back up, Fran most certainly earned a passing grade in a lesson of persistence, early on. This would set the stage for how he, as a pro QB and startup entrepreneur, would respond to his “failures”, and ultimately succeed. Failure… the thought alone can be a bit scary to most of us. Especially in a society where accomplishment, achievement, and success (whatever that means to you) are highly coveted. But why? Why do we allow failure to effectively cripple us and keep us from stepping out if even just to try the things we dream about each night? I admire those who have a positive perspective of failure, or have used failure to push them to be better. Take the great athletes like M.J. and Kobe who failed over and over and used it to motivate them to improve in the area of their weaknesses, conquer their fears, and achieve success. It was M.J. who famously said “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something, but I can’t accept not trying”, and it was the great Thomas Edison who shared in response to his perceived failure in creating the light bulb “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. Also, from one of my favorite artists, P. Reign, who is on the way to becoming a star in his own, spit in his song STFU, “Try and fail, but never fail to try, truest words”. Most of us probably don’t remember one of Kobe’s worst games, titled “Kobe Bryant Airball Party”, where during Game 5 of the 97’ NBA Playoffs he put up 4 shots that hit nothing at all. Forget that he was only 19 or 20 years old, just entering the league at that time. Forget that he was on the biggest stage in his field and of his career at the time. Forget that he was drafted by a franchise who previously had players such as the great Magic and Kareem, and could have carried the weight of being in their shadow. Forget how this could have broken him and taken him out of his game for the rest of whatever career he would have had left. Forget it all. Remember – 5 rings, 3rd leading scorer in NBA history (ahead of Michael Jordan who is 4th), and arguably the greatest Laker and 2nd greatest shooting guard in NBA history. Remember that. http://espn.go.com/nba/history/leaders This game, probably the most overlooked game of his career, where he air-balled 4 times as a young pro, was also probably THE most important game of his career. This failure (and I’m sure many others) drove him to the excellence he achieved. So, if it worked for Kobe, MJ, and Edison, why not us? Why can't we take this lesson in failure (and response) from the greats, approach each day with a slightly reckless abandon for what anyone else thinks or what the outcome may be, and give it a go without looking back!? So here’s to 2016. May we all find the courage to “fail fast”, learn from our failures, savor our successes, and become the best version of ourselves. Cheers to us getting out there, following our hearts, and achieving our dreams. Happy 2016! C.P.~
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