Would You Rather... - Monday Inspiration (2-Minute Read)

Would You Rather a Clean Record or One Tainted with Failings?

Would you rather have a clean record than one “tainted” with a few failures? I saw this quote the other day and it bears sharing:

 Some people have a clean record that they have never failed at anything before, this is because they have never tried anything worth failing.

The question today is what is more important to you? A clean record or one tainted with failings? I will assume that we all like to have a clean record of A’s, a clean record of success in everything we set out to do - and that is great. The truth, however, is that there is no such thing as a clean record for folks who are pursuing real stuff.

Real success comes by learning. Learning happens when we go through what I call the learning loop. You outline a strategy and execute, sometimes it turns out well, otherwise not so perfect, you take the lessons into the next cycle and build upon the prior cycle. Often these lessons are drawn from failing to achieve the set outcomes. Often there are spin-off ideas from the learning and in many cases, spin-off ideas have gone on to become the real deal.

Thomas Edison failed so many times at getting the light bulb right. He was reported to have said 

I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

The 10,000 ways that won’t work paved the way for the 1 way that did work.

Progress must not always be evidenced by visible, tangible results. Sometimes all we need to do is simply get to work and at least eliminate the methods that won’t work so we can quickly happen upon the method that does work. In sales, we know that a NO is sometimes better than nothing as it often leads to a YES down the line or at least eliminates the prospect from the call list; saving future efforts that would have otherwise been expended unwisely.

Imagine a scenario where the prospect of failure was totally eliminated: what would you be able to achieve? Take this mindset into whatever it is you are doing.

To your success!