Fail Faster by Opensourceway, Flickr
So I got the email from Tiff today that she let her followers know about the niche research freebie I’m giving away. I thought I would be really nervous but I’m just not. Really, the biggest concern I have is disappointing Tiffany and even that doesn’t make me as nervous as I thought it would. But that’s because I know she would rather see me step out there and fail than not step out there at all.
And that’s why I’m not nervous. I would rather fail fast so that I know to move forward with my next idea than waste any valuable time wondering whether something’s going to work out. I just don’t have that kind of patience, and I certainly don’t have that kind of time!
This is why being stuck in my icky job with so little time to even complete an idea gets me so frustrated!
I have a ton of ideas and directions I’d love to go but not much time to follow thru on many of them. And as I started realizing that on this whole online journey, I began focusing on the ideas that might work within my limited schedule first. That way I can start eliminating the ones that just aren’t gonna work for me NOW. Thru the process of elimination, I expect to find what will work well enough right now to get me out of my job so I can start on more time-intensive projects I want to pursue.
It’s funny as I think thru the process though. I’ve always been this way… not caring if something I try out is going to work or not. After all, how else am I gonna know it doesn’t work if I don’t give it a shot?! And yet so many of my friends and family just aren’t that way. They let the idea of failing keep them from ever doing things that could have definite potential.
Do you know folks like that? Are you one of them? It’s ok if you are you know. But if you want things to change in your life you’re definitely gonna have to work on overcoming that whole fear of failing thing. Chances are it won’t happen overnight. But awareness is the first step towards making a change.
Wow… I can just imagine what it’s gonna be like as I learn which ideas WON’T fail! Time to go give a few more ideas a shot. Good luck to you as well on that whole getting comfortable with failing… let me know how it works for you!
Later…
So nice of Tiff to share your freebie, but also very good of you to seize the opportunity! Your mindset is really great! Wish I could say I felt the same, but I always fear things going wrong. It’s part of my personality but fortunately I can push against it and do things against my will that usually end up fine anyway. But it can slow things down sometimes!
I think most of us are programmed that way because as kids when we do something “wrong” there’s consequences (and rarely have a seen a parent who takes their kid to get ice cream for doing something wrong!) 🙂
What’s cool as adults is you can work to change it. I started stepping out slow at first and paid attention to the fact that when something goes wrong, typically people don’t die. 😉 Then you start rewarding yourself for failing… not because it failed, but because you were willing to step out there regardless!
And I’ve been watching you since last year. You step out there regularly in spite of your fears so kudos!!