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And the Winner is ...


What if the prize goes to the participant who fails the most? What would that look like? It might look a lot like the stories of success around us because many times, that’s exactly how it works.

Fear of failure is often what keeps us from chasing a goal or a dream. The embarrassment of a bad idea is often what scares us away from trying to come up with good ones. Unfortunately, these outcomes are knit together intimately. The only way to create any significant achievement is to build it upon a mound of failures. Good ideas only present themselves after sifting through many bad ones.

Out of the five players responsible for missing the most shots in NBA history, four of them are currently in the Hall of Fame. And the only one of the five who isn’t in the Hall of Fame holds the top spot with nearly fifteen thousand failed attempts. His name is Kobe Bryant.

Reggie Jackson owns the MLB record for most career strikeouts by a batter. He is also in the Hall of Fame and nicknamed “Mr. October” due to his penchant for outstanding play when it mattered the most: during multiple World Series Championships.

Brett Favre has thrown more interceptions than any other quarterback in NFL history, but until a few years ago, he also owned the records for most completions, passing yards and touchdowns.

Thomas Edison had over ten thousand “failed” attempts before the light bulb finally came on (see what I did there). Elvis Presley was originally cut from back-yard quartets and told he should stick to driving trucks. JK Rowling was a single mother on welfare when she began the Harry Potter series because no one would publish her writing.

I could go on, but I think you are can see the point. It’s a strange dichotomy, but you can only succeed if you are willing to fail. If you react to it properly, failure is how you hone, shape and fine-tune your progress. Failure and success are not opposites, they are a package deal. 

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