Let’s get right to the punch line. If you truly want to succeed at something then it is necessary to take on the attitude: “Failure is not an option.”
If a deadline can be pushed, then it will be pushed.
If there is wiggle room, then wiggle is likely.
If failure is an option, then failure is on the table as a possibility for consideration.
The moment failure is not an option then you are caught in the grip of needing to succeed at all costs.That is basically it. That’s the story. The alpha and the omega. The rest is just filling in between the lines.
If you reading this hoping to find a method for making your life better, a trick that will enable you to break free from a failure cycle… don’t hold your breath. Read on (for a little bit longer at least) I’m not saying that it is hopeless. Rather I’m saying don’t hold your breath.
Holding your breath is a huff-and-puff show of effort. You know — and everyone else knows — that eventually you will take a breath, or your will pass out and the body will start to breath on its own. So holding your breath is only a show — a piece of theater — designed to get someone to have pity on you and grant you a boon (boon: a thing that is helpful or beneficial).
Looking for pity in this case is pitiful. Why? Because no matter how much someone else might pity you, no matter how much another wishes to help you, they can’t. “Failure is not an option” is an attitude. It can not be granted to another by tapping them on the forehead with a sparkly magic wand. This is something you must possess. It does not come from outside.
Can you learn this? I don’t think so. But wait… do not despair. While I do not believe it is possible to find this attitude where there is none, I do believe it is possible to locate within one’s self this attitude and apply it to other circumstances.
Picture the following: a small child has just fallen into a swimming pool and is drowning. When it comes to getting that child out of the water is failure an option?
- “Oh no, I ate less than 30 minutes ago. I shouldn’t go into the water.”
- “I haven’t finished my life saving course.”
- “I don’t know how to swim.”
- “I just had my hair permed, I can’t get it wet for 24 hours.”
Would any of the above stop you from doing whatever was required to get that small child to safety? If the answer is yes, then go ahead and despair. The answer for most is “failure is not an option.” Of course you will rescue the child from the pool — somehow, someway.
Why is failure not an option in this case, but it is most definitely an option in so many parts of your life? That’s easy. There is zero uncertainty about the importance of success. You know absolutely that it must be done — there is no option to fail.
So we know that you do in fact have this attitude lucking about inside you somewhere. It just doesn’t apply in all situations — nor should it. This attitude is a very powerful tool — a little like a sledge hammer. You should learn to use it when appropriate, and learn to use it properly. This will come from practice, practice, practice.
There is more to this story. For the moment just let the possibility of this type of attitude sledge hammer percolate through.