Defined by Failure more than Success

What I have learned – vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness

I have failed at almost everything more than perhaps anyone I know (or at least is willing to admit).? I am exceedingly thankful and lucky, for these failures have taught me so much, personally and professionally, more than any amount of “success” could. I would not exchange my failures for anything; they are responsible for the one percent where I excel and provide the wisdom of when to seek help and often where to.

Indeed, when I look back at my life, it’s the moments of failing and trying to put things right that I remember the most and with the fondest of memories.? As painful as they were then, these are some memories I hold onto with the strongest grip. Even with most of my achievements (life can not only be about failure), when I look back, I still think they are just limited failures, for things could have been done differently and better.? That is the gift of hindsight and the foundation of wisdom.?

I hear so much about the importance of turning failure into success.? But the only success of failure is the lessons we learn from it, which sometimes take decades or a lifetime.? Where I have failed has provided the keys to my success; the number of failures has given me a bigger key chain.? When I look back, the clouds were often so dense at the time that they hid the peaks my failures would lead to.? But with each failure, the clouds cleared just a bit for me to move the base camp up a notch and continue to aim for higher peaks…. But life is no mountain; for as long as we are learning, we will never reach the top. There are more peaks to climb, lessons to learn, and failures to embrace.

Some of the lessons I have learned:

• Make sure to steer far from those who shout the loudest and are the most confident, are sure that they are right, and are quick to judge. They are weak and they can be contagious. Strength comes from listening and compromise, taking the best of everyone’s ideas, and leaving judgment locked securely behind understanding.
• People that are damaged emotionally are damaged professionally.? Get them help or get them out. Protect yourself and your team from damaged people and the toxicity they spread.? No amount of professional coaching can help solve trauma.
• Choose when to fight and when to walk away.? Walking away from an unfulfilling job is usually the best solution.? It doesn’t matter how it looks on a resume if it is destroying your soul.
• Freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and the freedom to criticize is a superpower … get out of an organization or an environment that doesn’t recognize this.? Small-minded people are everywhere; learn to identify quickly and get out fast.
• A simple life is the best life.
• Making money should always come secondary.
• Investing in people (including ourselves) is always the priority.? We must always work to become better humans and future leaders.
• Action and discipline, GRIT, determines professional success.?
• Ethics, not etiquette, is essential and separates the cowards from the brave.