It finally happened, I missed a day. Thanks for everyone who checked in - I’m doing fine, you’ll most likely see on Friday why the delay happened.
Out of respect for your time, let’s jump to today’s piece:
Two men are in a desert. They both have backpacks on. One of the men is dead. The guy who is alive has his backpack open; the guy who is dead has his backpack closed.
An answer, as usual, at the end.
Lateral thinking makes the world go ‘round. So forward this newsletter to a friend and tell them to subscribe by clicking here.
Failure vs. Falling
The comparison isn’t mine, I first heard it from Simon Sinek (which I hope most of you know by now).
It’s a fascinating concept - we’ve probably all heard about failing fast, how failure helps you grow and all the rhetoric about why failing is one of the most important things you can do in your life.
It’s perfectly true. However, there’s a fine print in that concept.
Failing is extreme. Failing means not doing something at all. It means totally missing the mark.
If I set out to write this newsletter, started working on it but never delivered anything, that’s a failure. I’d still learn something from it, but it’s definitely a failure overall.
If I miss a daily email (like I did yesterday), that’s falling. I tripped and I can decide to stay down or get back up and keep going. *Rocky theme intensifies*
Figure out if you’re failing or falling.
If you’re falling, that’s not a problem. Get up and move on.
If you’re failing, you might have to change your approach.
Answer: The two men are skydivers. The backpacks were the parachutes.
Reminder:
I’m thinking about organizing bi-monthly calls with people to brainstorm and approach subjects from a lateral perspective. It’s going to be small groups, so I have a question:
Would you pay a small fee ($10/month?) to be a part of such a group:
Simple yes or no - vote here. I’m not decided if I’ll do it yet, but your feedback will help me get to it faster (or not at all).