“If you’re an entrepreneur, you have a kind of delusion. You’re willing to do something that’s kind of ridiculous, which is probably gonna fail 99% of the time, because the adventure of doing the thing itself – the journey – is so enjoyable that you don’t give a crap about the end.” – Feross Aboukhadijeh, creator of YouTube Instant
I was thinking yesterday about how glad I am now that I didn’t get into grad school on my first two tries. I have been so incredibly blessed by the results of NOT being accepted that I know that, though disappointing in the moment, my “failure” was actually a gift in disguise. I have learned so much about myself through this process and over the past two years. What was “supposed” to happen, definitely happened.
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” – Helen Keller
The New York Times recently published an incredibly insightful article by Paul Tough entitled “What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?” I posted it on my FB page yesterday. But for anyone that didn’t happen to see it, here are some of the highlights that I LOVED…
Click HERE for the full article.
“People who accomplished great things… often combined a passion for a single mission with an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission, whatever the obstacles and however long it might take. She decided she needed to name this quality, and she chose the word “grit.””
“...He identified a set of strengths that were, according to his research, especially likely to predict life satisfaction and high achievement. After a few small adjustments (Levin and Randolph opted to drop love in favor of curiosity), they settled on a final list: zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism and curiosity.”
“...We all know — on some level, at least — that what kids need more than anything is a little hardship: some challenge, some deprivation that they can overcome, even if just to prove to themselves that they can.”
“Randolph wants his students to succeed, of course — it’s just that he believes that in order to do so, they first need to learn how to fail.”
So, next time you suffer what feels like a crushing defeat… find the hidden gift. It may simply be the strength of character and learned confidence derived from surviving failure.
Mmmm... Failure. Feeeeeels sooooo goooood! LOL!
FAIL BIG, PEOPLE!!!
Wishing you all zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism and curiosity!
Hugs,
V
“Nothin’ happens to anyone… that isn’t a gift in disguise.” – Mike Dooley, Tut’s Universe
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