Fear of Failure

So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality.

Jim Carrey

Boy oh boy did that resonate with me. The responsibilities of adulthood force us to be more practical. For many of us, these same responsibilities rob us of our dreams. But why? Is it because our dreams really aren’t practical? Or is it because fear of failure is preventing us from going after what we really want?

Most of us take the safe route because we don’t believe what we really want is within our realm of capability. We rather not try at all then to try and not succeed. The truth is we can fail at anything – even the safe route. How many people have gotten laid off from their “safe job?” I’ve personally worked for a company that shut down entirely within 6 months of hiring me, but that’s another story.

You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.

Jim carrey

Fear never goes away, however we get to decide how significant (or insignificant) it is in our lives. No one has accomplished anything great without failing. Perhaps if we truly realized this, fear of failure would no longer be a thing.

• Steve Jobs was fired from his own company in 1985 only to return in 1997 and transform multiple industries. If you haven’t read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, I encourage you to do so. Apple is now the most valuable company in the world.
• J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected by 12 different publishing houses before Bloomsbury Publishing offered her a contract. Harry Potter is a $25B business.
• Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school at the University of Southern California 3x. He is one of the most recognizable directors of our time with over 200 award winning films including 3 Oscars.
• Tyler Perry’s first musical, I Know I’ve Been Changed, ran for one weekend with only 30 people in attendance. He went on to create “Madea” and is now one of the richest actors and producers in the world.
• Theodore Seuss Geisel’s first manuscript was rejected 28 times before Random House/Vanguard Press decided to publish it. Dr. Seuss is one of the most recognizable children’s book authors with over 60 books totaling more than 700M in sales.
• Sarah Blakely was turned down by multiple manufactures before one of the mill managers that rejected her phoned and said my daughters believe I should give you a chance. Blakely then made her first big deal with Neiman Marcus. Spanx made $4M in revenue the first year. In 2012, Blakely became the youngest self-made billionaire at 41.*

*The founder of Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd, just broke Blakely’s record at 31.

If the size of your failures isn’t growing, you’re not going to be inventing at a size that can actually move the needle.

Jeff Bezos

First, we need to believe that we can have anything our mind can conceive. Then we need to be prepared to walk through the door when it opens. And, if the door closes in your face, it’s okay. More doors will open, some of them just for you! In the words of Rick Rubin, “Failure is just the information you need to get where you’re going.”