I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. – Thomas A. Edison
Often we feel a sense of disappointment, rejection, and ultimately failure when the ONE solution we have identified doesn’t come to fruition. We invest our time, energy, and emotion into ONE approach that we consider to be THE answer. And if it doesn’t go the way we envisioned, we label it as a failure.
But if you do any examination on inventions, inventors, architects, engineers, authors, designers, planners, builders, playwrights, and explorers, you will see a commonality. Successful people try numerous strategies, plans, and tactics before they ultimately land on the right combination. What makes these inventions and inventors eventually successful, is that every time they try, they are fully committed to the success of that current attempt. They may learn from past disappointments. But they never use “failures” of the past to justify less than 100% effort on the next attempt. Each iteration carries the same confidence, expectation, and optimism as the last.
Invent and Reinvent
Your professional pursuits of this week are analogous to invention. You didn’t wake up this morning striving to be mediocre. Instead, you are constantly searching for ways to be better, more efficient, more strategic, and more innovative! You are trying to find the right combination of resources that increase the standard of living for you, your loved ones, your colleagues, and your clients. To do that, you must be unwavering in your commitment EACH and EVERY time you invent, reinvent, or experiment.
We are actually better off than an inventor who finally lands on the ONE solution because once he does, he’s done! But we are empowered, after reaching success, to repeat that process over and over again, to be successful over and over again. Our potential is never-ending.
Society benefits when each of us is persistent and resolute that our well-intentioned inventions will be successful. Your personal investment is never wasted just because you haven’t yet reached your ultimate goal. Remember, you have 9,999 more ways to try!
Photo by Alexander Jawfox on Unsplash.