Failure Is Not An Option
Tony Morgan. Never heard of him until a few months ago. A LinkedIn network update led me to a top ten article.
To read the top ten reasons why you and I will most likely fail at anything, click here.
Tony Morgan’s list isn’t anything new. Heck, there’s hardly anything that’s ever really new. However, one of the great, underrated keys to success is repetition.
Let me say that again, repetition. Ya with me?
Yesterday I eloquently droned on about thinking like a failure, whatever that means, right?
Well guess what else? I’d like to drone on about what does yesterday’s post mean to you today? Because if it meant nothing to you, guess what?
Seriously, if I have to explain this (again) to you, you may not get it.
Hey, you do know I’m only talking to myself and none of this is meant to make you feel uncomfortable (yes it is). Having tough conversations with myself is the most effective way to push the limits of my abilities.
What do you do to push the limits of your abilities? You do push yourself, right?
Cybrarian. Never heard of this person, probably. No worries. I had never heard of it until this month.
Librarian. Everyone’s heard of this person, probably. The librarian is in charge of the library – the place where books are kept.
How many of you can see it coming? The day when books will be relics on display in museums. It may not happen in the next 10-20 years, but it will happen. And it may even happen sooner.
The music industry never saw it coming. They should have led the revolution, instead, they were victims of it.
Free music file sharing over the Internet. Preposterous! Exactly.
Cybrarians can see it coming. Amazon’s Kindle is the first ripple of the cybrarian tsunami.
Surf’s up, dude. Catch a (digital) wave.
LinkedIn profiles. How many have you read? I’ve read a ton.
Please forgive me for saying this, “Most of them bore me to tears”. They all say essentially the same thing about the author, “I’m so smart, I’m so smart, I’m so smart”.
The intent, noble. The result, boring. Why? Because they all sound the same. Without creativity, and without courage, we perform the status quo.
Who’s looking to hire status quo? In today’s tough market, I’m guessing no one.
What prompted this post? A couple days ago a LinkedIn connection said, “Yours is the best LinkedIn profile ever. Interesting yet informative”.
Ok, so it’s just one person’s opinion, but it sure feels good to know the intent and the result aligned.
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original”. — Sir Ken Robinson
Ok, just know this up front, this video is 19 minutes. And I guarantee if you are smart enough to watch it, you will thank me for finding it.
Click here to be enlightened and to laugh pretty hard too.
Stick your head in the sand? Ok, sounds good. Later.
Carpe diem, jungle jeff 
Why take a risk? Aren’t risks dangerous? “Yes, and”.
Risks can lead to breakthroughs. Risks can catapault a product or service into market domination – into brand recognition so great, it makes the product or service a household name. Risks can enhance your career. We can even argue that rewards are directly proportional to the risk involved. Not always, but mostly it’s so.
Why not take a risk? And the obvious, biggest reason? What if we fail? This makes it hard to be risky. What a paradox.
Risks can catapult us or destroy us.
Will this paradox frighten us or challenge us?
Will we act, or retreat?
Will we “walk the talk” or feel the guilt of hypocrisy?
Will we lead or follow?
These questions can only be answered by you and me, individually, in our own realities.
My personal reality is I’m insanely busy. Additionly, I don’t like to fail. Do you? It really makes me look bad in front of my boss, my boss’s boss, my peers, my Customers, my finance manager, etc.
Today, I promise to take risks. Whether they be small, medium or large, I vow to take them today. And tomorrow. And all week. All year even. How about, “until I die.”
Walt Disney was the consumate risk taker. My 35 years as a business professional have inspired me to ask, “What would Walt Disney do?”
As the Mastercard commercial catch phrase states, “What’s in your wallet?’
Make it a GREAT day! Because if you don’t who will?
Hey everyone, I’ve enjoyed having you read this. I hope you’ve enjoyed being had. Now that’s classic Jungle Cruise “humor”. Or not. Respectfully, jungle jeff