“When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work.” — George Bernard Shaw
I love quotes about failure because they make me feel better when I’m totally down. I’m a generally positive and optimistic person, but nobody likes to fail.
I’m so competitive that I get upset when someone drinks a coffee faster than me so you can imagine how awful I feel when I fail at something I really tried at.
I was going to start off with a story about failure but I couldn’t pick just one. So let me tell you about a few years of failure throughout this article. In 2013, I moved back home while my condo was being built. I decided to embrace adventure by getting into BJJ, pro wrestling, online dating, growing my online business, and random trips.
I can’t even remember how many times I woke up in the morning feeling like an absolute reject!
Before we get going, I’m not going to glorify failure. I want you to experience failure quickly so that you get it out of your system and so that you don’t cry like a little bitch when you do have a colossal failure.
If you want to be a hustler/entrepreneur/trendsetter, you have to get into the habit of experiencing failure. You’re going to fail all of the time. It sucks. It never gets better. You just become more resilient or you become so busy that you don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself.
- Your partner will leave you because you spend too much time on your hustles.
- Your product launch will be a complete failure because nobody cares about what you’re selling.
- Your business idea will get rejected by everyone.
- Nobody will want to read the draft of your book.
- You’re going to blow money that you may not even have.
- You’ll struggle to get sales and even your closest friends won’t show any interest in what you’re doing.
You get the point. It’s a lonely road to success and sometimes you won’t even get there because your definition of success will change so many times.
What are quick ways you can experience failure to get out of your system?
Launch something
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” — J.K. Rowling
“I had zero sales.”
I felt like a complete loser when I had to respond to a friend about my eBook launch. They were so excited to hear about the results. I was excited to get rich off my first digital product. I had zero sales on the first day.
Your first launch will always be a miserable failure. There’s no way around this. The good news is that most people never get around to ever launching anything off the ground. If you launch, you’re already ahead of most folks. You may not feel happy in the moment, but months down the road you should feel better.
Nobody’s first launch is Facebook. Don’t expect to take over the world with your first product. Don’t even expect to quit your job for a long time.
As a hustler, you’re going to be launching religiously. You should just be happy to launch because this means that you’re officially in the game. You can always fix things as you go.
[Check out how Gabby Wallace grew her YouTube business because it’s an awesome episode!]
Ask out someone attractive.
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” — Vincent van Gogh
You ever ask out someone out of your league? It’s sort of exciting! If it works, you’re on top of the world. If you fail, well, you never expected to succeed in the first place.
Here’s the thing: do you know how stupid you look and how awful you feel when someone refuses to even look at you or speak to you?
It sucks.
Yes, I know that most people these days will hide behind dating apps. While they do offer convenience, they take away the risk that comes along with failing in person.
I wish that I only had one specific story here. These days most failures in this area involve a female just not responding aka ghosting.
As a hustler, you’re going to be rejected constantly! Get used to it and learn to laugh it off because that’s all you’re going to be able to do.
Try something you have no chance of being good at.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” — Paulo Coelho
“What do you mean I’m on the show?”
That was my only question when I found out that I was on the wrestling show. I joined a pro wrestling gym for fun. I wanted to see what the training was like and I needed an excuse to get into shape. Little did I know that I would actually be on a show in front of a live crowd.
I wasn’t ready for that. Nor were my nerves.
As you grow a business, you’re going to put yourself on the line more than your nerves will be able to handle. You just eventually stop thinking about the stress because you’re too caught up in doing the work.
Take a dance class.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
I recently went to Cali, Colombia to try salsa for a few days. I did group classes and private lessons. When I went out to the club on Saturday night, I couldn’t feel the beat. I was completely lost without my instructor counting steps for me.
I have two left feet and I hate it. I only dance after a few drinks.
Have you ever tried a new dance? There’s nothing more humbling than seeing someone older than you tear it up on the dance floor while you count steps. Go attend a local dance class and watch while everyone else blows it away.
This also applies to any new hobby. At my first BJJ class I was submitted by guys way lighter than me in seconds. My ego was so bruised, I had to tell myself a million excuses just so that I would return to the next class.
As an entrepreneur, you’re going to find yourself in many uncomfortable situations. All you can do is smile and enjoy the ride.
Try learning a new language.
“Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.” — Charlie Chaplin
This is another epic fail.
I’ve been speaking Polish since I was a kid and I was even humbled when I went to visit Poland in 2011. There are parts of the country where you just can’t understand the dialect. I survived.
Then in 2013, I figured it was time to learn Spanish. Four years later, I can say with confidence that I can order a vodka soda in Colombia.
I’ve been trying to learn Spanish. I do my daily lessons on Duolingo and I listen to the language on my iPod. I just can’t figure it out though. I’m too embarrassed to practice more often. Every time I fully immerse myself in the culture, I get lost. On my recent trip to Colombia, I couldn’t have any conversations with the native speakers. It was a struggle that made me feel like giving up 20 times a day.
There will be many occasions where you don’t know what the hell is going on around you. I can’t say that it’s fun, but you get used to it.
Don’t spend your life on the sideline while your friends do cool shit. Experience failure and laugh it off.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” — Steve Jobs
