I AM A FAILURE

This one has been on my mind for a while. I haven't completely flushed through this thought but I needed to write it down since that always helps me have a better understanding of my brain. So hopefully by the end of this I'll have drawn some conclusion. We'll see.

As Tom Bilyeu says, "failure is the most data-rich information source you will ever encounter on this earth." But how do we define failure? Failure as I would define it for myself is: unavailing efforts made towards a predefined goal. The goal being one that is defined by us, of course. 

I'm going to try to break this down to paint a picture. There's ignorance, which comprises the bulk of who we are, there's knowledge, which is comprised of formal education and experience. So, your life is defined by your:

1. Ignorance
2. Knowledge
   • Formal Education
   • Experience (application of education)
   • Understanding? (Not going to include this one just yet)

Ignorance is of all the information that we don't know. It's like darkness. It reigns supreme (96% of our known universe is dark matter/energy, which does not emit light. We know this thanks to Noble-Prize winner, Adam Reiss). All knowledge was once ignorance. Opportunity, success, and failure all exist in ignorance.

Knowledge is defined as true justified beliefs. As we learn, we illuminate, via the acquisition of knowledge, more of the space that was previously dark. 

Education is that acquisition of knowledge and/or the lessening of ignorance through the exchange of information via formal education and/or experience. The two terms are interlinked and require one for there to be the other. To experience, means to apply whatever level of education we have to our life, to some happening, in some capacity. That experience in itself, via success or failure, leaves us less ignorant, more knowledgable. Formal education is gained via the sharing of knowledge in written or verbal form and revolves around concepts and theories. 

Confused? WELCOME TO MY BRAIN. Maybe this picture will help:

It's like a scary movie when it's pitch black and there's a monster hiding somewhere in the room. You need to get out but don't know where the door is. Nobody wants to see the monster, but, in order to to see the door to get out and survive, you have to shine the flashlight around the room and risk seeing the monster. It's better than just blindly running around the pitch black room. And maybe one of the other characters in the movie already made it out the door and can guide you by telling you where to go. That person is like your mentors, teachers, coaches, etc.

Let's get back to the point: Failure.

So what does this have to do with failure? Well, to apply knowledge means creating the opportunity/criteria for success AND/OR failure. You can't open the door for one and not the other. Failure lessens our ignorance, just as success does.

So, want to succeed? Go fail. To fail means to have tried. To have tried means to have lessened our ignorance. To have lessened our ignorance means to have acquired knowledge. This recipe seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way. We now put more time and energy into worrying about all the potential outcomes and play the 'what if' game out infinitely. We all accept the idea that nobody is perfect, yet we expect perfection from ourselves. To be afraid of failure is to be afraid of potential success and guaranteed education. The sooner you begin to apply knowledge, the more time you'll have to recover from the inevitable failures.

Accepting failure is step one to the successful pursuit of anything. I'm a proud failure. Keep shining that flashlight.

~ Bonde