Day 1 – Think of It as a Lesson

You mustn’t fail this test or you won’t get a job when you grow up!

Ever heard that phrase before?

Failure.

Everyone’s afraid of it. You are, I am, everybody is. It is completely normal.

But have you ever wondered why is that? Why do we run away from our failures and try to remember only the times when we succeeded? It is as if failing at something automatically labels us as good-for-nothing losers who do nothing about their pathetic little lives.

Well, let me tell you something.

I have failed. A lot. I fail at something every single day. And do I think of myself as a loser? Absolutely not. In fact, I am thrilled when I fail at something.

Why is that, you ask? Why would anyone be thrilled when he or she has just failed at something important?

Because I just learned something new.

That’s right, I have learned something new and I’m thrilled about it. And it is not just that I have learned something, it is that I have learned something new by trying to do something, and failing at it.

If I had succeeded instead of failing, and faced the same problem some other time, I might have failed the next time even though I succeeded the first time. But when I fail at something once, I am never going to fail at it again.

And that, my friends, is why I am so thrilled about failing. I’m thrilled about trying things, I’m curious, I’m adventurous. I do not fear stepping out of my comfort zone, even if it will at first result with a failure. It only means that I need to try harder the second time.

That is why a failure is such a wrong word for it. I hereby rename it to something more appropriate. As of today, I replace the word failure with a much more appropriate word.

A lesson.

So I want to make a pledge, right here, right now.

This year, I’m going to do what is needed. Every day for the next 365 days I’m going to do something different. Every day I’m going to step out of my comfort zone and do something new. I will challenge myself. I will learn new things. I will do new stuff. I will enjoy life to the fullest. And I’ll probably fail a couple of times at first, but where’s the beauty of adventure without that?

Are you with me?

May the next 365 days leave an impact that will hold on for the rest of this amazing life!

Love,

V