Failing in Public

There's something about failure that freaks everyone out, including me. The natural thing is to prevent it as much as possible. But I can't stop but wonder, is failing that bad?

Hey there,

If your 12-year-old self saw you right now, what would he/she say?

Here’s something I’m excited about. I will be hosting a Live session by 4 pm today, the 15th, of October. It’s an open Q&A session for everyone who has been inspired by this Newsletter to help them take the next step in their journey.

I would also be attempting a design challenge, so you don’t want to miss that. See you there.

I have had a long and busy week and if you can relate to my struggle, I would love to hear your story. Maybe if we trade war stories, we might find ways to help each other be better, or, it could just end up being a cute gist session. All in all, it’s a win-win.

But in the midst of my week’s chaos, I came across a rather profound quote/post online and it read;

Thinking about doing the thing is not doing the thing,

Posting about doing the thing, is not doing the thing,

Thinking about how happy you would be when you do the thing, is not doing the thing,

Telling someone about how you would do the thing, is not doing the thing.

Taking courses on doing the thing, is not doing the thing,

Making plans to do the thing is not doing the thing.

Setting a reminder to do the thing, is not doing the thing.

The only thing that is doing the thing, is doing the thing.

I agree that there are way too many mentions of “the thing” in the post but that shouldn’t stop us from getting the central message of the post.

There is no substitution for taking action towards what we want to do. We just have to do it.

If you genuinely attempted to answer the question about what your 12-year-old self would think of you right now, the chances are that your current state and where you projected you would be by now are not the same and, in some cases, not even close.

According to 12-year-old me, I should have graduated from the university at least 3 years ago, I should be getting ready to plan out having my own family (LOL). I should be a land owner, car owner, home owner and all of that. But the reality is, I just graduated this year and do not have even 50% of the things listed above, so what’s the punchline here? Are the things you and I conceived as kids so unrealistic and impossible to get? Were we just delusional?

I don’t think so.

However, life's reality is much more merciless than our younger selves could conceive.

We have experienced more failures. We have been scared more. We have made more mistakes. We have been punished more. We have lived more, loved more and suffered more.

With all these head-on collisions with life, it’s impossible for something not to have changed, and I think I know what that is.

If we consider childhood and adulthood and compare the differences, we would realise that specific attributes exist.

• A child has fewer responsibilities.

• A child is more daring.

• A child has time to learn.

• A child is constrained by the rules set for him/her.

The opposite is true for adults in almost every statement mentioned above. One of the things that should help us survive adulthood is killed on our way to becoming adults and that is the curiosity of mind and our daring nature.

We are now consistently scared of failure. We are no longer daring. We are now highly conditioned to play things safe.

Maybe the reason why we are not at the stage our 12-year-old self thought we would be is because of the restraints we’ve conditioned ourselves to have or our indecision.

Every one of us has regrets stemming from a wrong or delayed decision. If there were no consequences to changing them, we just might.

I know this and that’s why if I don’t achieve anything else for the rest of the year, my short and simple goal is to take action on things and ideas I conceive.

I might not have as much time as I used to as a 12-year-old but I choose to be more daring. I choose to execute more of my ideas and I think you should too.

This newsletter started as an exercise for me to get better, more consistent and have more digital footprint, but over time, it has become so much more than that.

• An experiment to explore personal branding

• A way to connect with people.

• A way for me to improve my writing.

• And a reference for many people to take positive action towards their goals.

I have heard a number of people make heartwarming comments about how this newsletter helped them.

• Your newsletter inspired me to share my first post on Medium finally.

• I started taking a course.

• I finally found time to learn 3D.

• Thanks for this.

• I can relate to this.

And so on.

I’m just glad I started and now we are here.

I intend to grow this into an organism that is more effective in producing success for people, and the next step is taking action on a friend’s recommendation.

I got a call the other day from someone trying to get into tech, and the insights I provided in less than 10 minutes helped. A friend who witnessed the conversation recommended that I give more people the opportunity to get answers to questions about transitioning and career development, and that’s what this Live session is about—a medium for people to get a more direct answer to their questions and an opportunity for me to go one step further in achieving my goals.

See you at 4 pm.

And remember, if you haven't started, start now. It’s not about perfection. It’s about progress.

Cheers.

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In Summary

• You only lose time procrastinating. Your 12-year-old self needs you to come through. Do something about it.

• Let the things around you inspire you. Don’t be reluctant or scared to move forward or change. Don’t repel an opportunity to grow.

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Something Special for you

• Join the live session by 4 p.m. I would love to learn from you, too.

  

• Today's song is the “Work Song”.