Today, I simply wanted to call attention to this extremely inspiring and thought-provoking article by Morgan Housel titled, “Experts From A World That No Longer Exists.”
And, given that it’s 6pm on a Friday night here in NZ when I’m writing this, I’m going to go ahead and apologise for two things:
That I just used the adverb “extremely” because, as I so dutifully noted, it’s Friday evening and my brain is fast encroaching the point of being a mushy grey puddle, and…
This particular post is nothing short of a TL;DR (“Too long; Didn’t read.” for those of you missing the acronym)
Basically, throw away your list of failed experiments, the projects that didn’t get off the ground, the books or screenplays that failed to sell. Keep the lessons you’ve learned in mind, but take comfort in accepting that the conditions at the time and what you had ready might not have been optimal for success — your idea may still have legs if you come back to it.
Or, in another manner of speaking, just because you failed to fly today doesn't mean you'll fail to fly tomorrow.
… and I mean that literally. Hop in the way-back machine to watch the Wright Brothers in 1903. The wind conditions were just right on one particular day and as a result, they gave the world its first controlled, sustained flight despite having failed time and time again the days before.
Consider: What systems, processes, approaches, or workplace/societal cultures are in place today that may be hampering that next great idea? That idea that never seems to die, yet is always just out of reach?
Shoot for that.
Keep shooting.
Try again.
Try something new.
Tweak it.
Twist it.
Bring in someone else to review.
Then bring in someone else.
Listen to feedback.
Test it out.
Wait a year and see how the conditions change.
Take a page from Steve Krug’s actual book (Rocket Surgery Made Easy) and “try the same tweak again, only ‘louder’”.
Rinse. Repeat. And then maybe one day that idea will fly too.