Fail to Succeed.

Failure is not an option. It’s a certainty.

There seems to be a lot of chat about Failure, but not much ownership. This needs to be corrected.

I am a great Failure. I fail often, way more than I ever succeed.

In fact, I can genuinely say I’m an expert Failure. Olympic class. The Arch Deacon of Disaster. The Dauphin of Downfall. The Fakhir of Fiasco.

Having said that, it’s never stopped me. I ride on, vaingloriously charging at windmills.

And in the charging, I’ve achieved some remarkable success (even if, more often than not, those fleeting triumphs have been accidental).

Rudyard Kipling said it best; “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same”.

Triumph and Disaster. Impostors both. In his brilliant poem "If" (a must-read, here’s the link - https://poets.org/poem/if ), Kipling went further:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

???And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

???And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

???To serve your turn long after they are gone,??

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

???Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

?

At the end of his masterpiece, he lands it. Perfectly:

?

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,??

???And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

If ever I’ve heard a manifesto for entrepreneurs, ‘If’ is it.

Because what is an entrepreneur if not the tarot ‘Fool’, dancing where angels fear to tread? ?Full of hope. Willing to chance it. Living for the journey and not the destination. Paddling out to surf the gnarly, mega-sized waves of commerce, in constant jeopardy of being chewed up and spat out.

What is an entrepreneur if not a Champion of Failure?

And it’s this facet of Failure that I want to dig into: the anti-hero, dispelling the illusion that Failure is nothing more than an unwelcome interloper, mooching a ride on the coat-tails of Triumph.

Failure needs rewiring to its Siamese twin. Failure isn’t lurking just around the corner; Failure is the corner. Success is the track. Failure is a part of Success, not apart from it. ?

Just as there is no hot without cold, no left without right, no day without night, there is no Success without Failure.

And yet, at least in England, we still see Failure as taboo.

We don’t want to talk about it. We hide it when it happens. We pretend around it. We fear it. So much so, that we often arrive at the conclusion that it’s better not to risk it.

It’s high time to flip the telescope, look at Failure the other way around.

For me, every Failure is a Trophy. A Medal of Honour. It is a beautiful scar worn with warrior pride. (OK, I know that’s a little bit self-serving given that I’ve Failed so often and so very brilliantly... but hey! It’s my article. Fuck off and write your own!)

So here’s to Failure!

Life’s sharpener. The lime in the Margarita. The edge of the ordinary. The vertigo of ventures. The reboot button on life's keyboard. The laughter in the woods.

Here’s to the wide-eyed excitement at the heart of possibility that gives intelligence an erection. Stripping ‘Security’ of the emperor's new clothes.

Raise your glasses to the drop-in on the roller coaster, the rush, the rock bottom of the J-curve; sharp as a razor, shanked with danger, silent as an assassin’s smile, spiked as a barbed repartee, certain as a bet on the sunrise.

Here’s to Failure; the answer to every question we will soon forget.

Here’s to Failure; the ruffian groom completing Success.

My multiple, vainglorious, and utterly fabulous Failures, and the generous lessons they bestowed shifted the fear in me.

I have come to love it, embrace it, own it, track it, and befriend it. I’ve re-cognised Failure. Here are some of the useful pointers I’ve taken from the road:

• When (not if) you Fail, Fail quickly.
• Pay the school fees, learn the lessons, bury the body, be grateful.
• Failure tells us who our real friends are.
• Failure tells us what dogs won’t hunt.
• Failure is Truth’s mirror. Harsh but honest, reflecting back on where we can improve (top tip: Everywhere).
• Failure is a crash course in empathy and compassion (unless you’re a proper nut job). There is not a person on this planet who hasn’t felt ‘not good enough’ and vulnerable (except for the proper nut jobs).
• Failure reminds us to ask for help.
• It breeds creativity.
• Failure paints future decisions in technicolour.
• It’s the mRNA vaccine for business (conspiracy theories welcome).
• It will pass.
• It will happen again (and again).
• Success is a lousy teacher.?Success goes ‘to’ the head, never ‘into’ the head.
• Stay Humble.
• Failure is a gift.
• You can’t actually Fail.
• There is always Life after Death.

I wish you multiple, glorious, legendary Failures on your road to Success.

Too Bad You’re Gonna Die.

Footnote: For proof positive of ‘Life after Death’ and that you simply cannot Fail, join us to enjoy DEATH? Cigarettes reincarnating as a streetwear label: register now at www.deathcigarettes.com

? BJ Cunningham C/O DEATH? Cigarettes