What if you truly could never lose? What if every failure wasn’t the end but the beginning? What if you truly are invincible? What if you actually believed that?
I recently took our four-year old daughter, Aracelli, to the park for a daddy-daughter date afternoon. It was unseasonably cold, so we had the place to ourselves, except for a few brief moments when another family showed up. That was when the little girl Aracelli was playing with taught me a powerful lesson.
Make up the Rules as You Go
Somehow, I managed to be “it.” “It” of course means that I am the designated chaser. No adult ever chooses to be “it” or ever knows why he or she is “it.” It remains to this day one of the greatest mysteries of humankind: the origin of the “it.” But I digress…
As the “it,” I was charged with chasing two little girls around the park. Up and down ladders, over the bridge, down the slides, until, at last, I caught my daughter and tagged her. As I triumphantly celebrated my massive accomplishment and announced the passing of “it” status to Aracelli, Eleanor announced something remarkable:
“You have to catch us twice,” she yelled. She was making the rules up as she went.
She can always win.
She can never be defeated.
What if we reacted that way when we fail?, I thought. What if I could truly never lose? What if I actually am invincible?
“I’m never defeated.”
“I can just change the rules.”
“Let’s try again.”
That is the attitude of a child. It’s the attitude of someone who never gives up. It’s the attitude of someone who doesn’t let failure define her or stop her.
It’s the attitude we should all have.
That attitude that says we can always win.
What if you Couldn’t Lose?
Imagine applying this to life. What would it look like if you failed at your business, but changed the rules?
You didn’t really fail. You just learned how not to do it. What if you had to go bankrupt twice…or nearly three times as the average millionaire does…before you quit?
What would you be capable of if you couldn’t lose?
I read once that many venture capitalists won’t hire a CEO for a startup that hasn’t already failed at business. That goes against everything we’re taught as children. We’re taught the key to success is success. We’re told to pick the most successful people to build a team.
But venture capital firms are looking for people with real experience who have learned from their mistakes. They’re looking for people who failed before and aren’t afraid to get back in the saddle. They’re looking for people willing to make up new rules.
Act Invincible
Maybe you’ve failed at something recently. Maybe you thought that was the end of your dream. Maybe you’re ready to give up on your business, your non-profit, your degree, or whatever it is.
But what if this isn’t the end? What if you just change the rules? What if you are truly invincible?
Like that little girl at the playground, it’s time to act invincible. Keep playing the game, never give up, and always remember that if things don’t go your way, you can always make up new rules.
What would you be doing if you knew you couldn’t fail?
Questions?
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After 25 years of working as a nurse and nurturing others, I would love to have the time to nurture my own family! Interestingly enough, I have climbed the ladder and worked as an administrator just to find out that I prefer to be creative from home instead. The chance to do that would be a dream come true for me! Right now though, my family relies on my income.
Heather, I work with people all the time in the exact same situation. They have a dream and a vision for their life but don’t know how to get there. It’s not as though you don’t know what you WANT to do or WHY you want to do it. You do.
So…what are the next steps? First, start doing it on the side. Commit to even 3 hours each week to building something that you could do full time from home. Then grow it from there.
The great thing is that you don’t have to make a ton of money doing it part-time. Think of it this way…let’s say you make $40,000 a year now (net, after taxes) and it takes $35,000 to live off of (just using nice round math here). That means you only have $5,000 for investing, fun, saving, etc. Your instincts tell you that you’d have to make at least $35,000 in the new job to go full-time but that isn’t true.
If you make an average of even $15,000 per year part-time, all of that money can go into savings. Suddenly, after 3 years you have $45,000 in the bank (more than a year’s expenses) and you know that if you go full-time, that $15,000 will turn into $25,000 or more quickly. So making the leap isn’t what it seems if you start slow and small.
I hope that helps!
Great words of encouragement! Now that a seed has been planted, I will water it and watch it grow! Thanks so much!
Heather, what I’ve seen some people in your situation do is transition from FT to a four-day workweek or job sharing. That way you’re still earning a steady (albeit, reduced) income, yet have more time to build your dream business.
And it goes without saying perhaps that what you “lose” in income you make up for in additional time for other things that save money (like cooking at home more, less healthcare costs due to stress, etc.)