Fear of Failure

If there is one thing that gets me riled up it is the talk of failure. It seems that no matter who I talk to the mention of failure seems to scare people into a frenzy. I can't stand it when people speak as if failure is bad. It is my estimation that very little in the world would get done if people stopped at the thought of failing.

Talk of biting off more than you can chew, or not being ready, or "lets play this safe" - it is all just talk of people who have lost the will to succeed. JFK once stood in front of the world and said, and I am paraphrasing, "We choose to go to the moon. Not because it is easy but because it is hard." The biggest and best things in life happen because someone saw the impossible and made it possible.

I put a quote by Nelson Mandela at the bottom of my email, and have had it there for months, because I think it is my single greatest value. The quote reads, "It always seems impossible until it is done." It is true to the Nth degree.

I hold nothing against the people who play it safe and who heed advice, play the odds, and wait for the stars to align. It isn't for me though and if there is one piece of advice I could give anyone it would be to just go for it. Jump with both feet in and chase a dream. Call it the Maverick mentality (always love to throw in a Top Gun reference), bull headed, or even living with reckless abandon, but I can't wait to fail. Failure for me just represents a stepping stone in the right direction - and it also represents the creation of a path for the next person to succeed. For every success was built on the failure of many before.

If I fail in life it will be because I went for it and it didn't quite work out, it wont be because I just didn't try. That would be real failure. Dreams are meant to be achieved and whoever tells you they can't be is just someone who has been caught up in the trap of mediocrity. I wont go there, I wont join them. I will embrace my failures and enjoy them. The next time you hear someone tell you it can't be done, or it is impossible, tell them, "so what? I guess we should have given up on going to the moon too." Failure is the last thing that should be feared.

New Years Resolutions

This will quite likely be my last post of the year. I would like to thank all of you who read this blog and provide your feedback - while I try to inspire people it is you who inspire me. It has been a busy few weeks in my life, even though I am on holidays. I will have a few things to announce in the new year which I am rather excited about, and I will try to post my Davos video before too long. I just have to figure out how to put it on video and post it to here and to Youtube.

This year brought many exciting changes in my life, and just a few things I wish I could have done differently. I think that is the case for most everyone, and the few who wouldn't change a thing can count themselves extremely lucky. Life has many ups a downs but I try to remember that with out the downs the ups just wouldn't exist. As we approach the new year I think everyone should think about a resolution. It is a goal for the next year of your life and the carrot at the end of the stick.

This year think about telling people your resolution. Write it down and put it on your bathroom mirror. Make it a solid goal - not just something you are thinking about and can easily forget about or let go - force yourself to make it real. Put yourself in a position to succeed and don't just create a resolution for the sake of having one.

We all have dreams, some of us over the years have been let down when we don't achieve our dreams, or feel scared to attempt accomplishing our dreams, and we are all conditioned to believe that dreams can never be reality. It is just not true - none of it. As the old saying goes, "If you believe then you will succeed" (or something like that). Dreams are not made to be broken, they are made to be accomplished. Failure to attempt is where real failure happens. If you try and it doesn't work then that is just a lesson on how you should try again next. Check out this video and get a taste of just what can happen when you dream.


My new years resolution is simple. Change the world little by little. I want to get my Ideal World book project up and running (which I will talk about in the new year), I want to graduate from International Project Management and get out into the field, I want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, I want to lose some weight (preferably a lot of weight haha) and I want to write blog posts more frequently. Scratch that - I will accomplish all these things. I dream big and I won't settle for anything less than my dreams. Anything in life is possible, we just need to dream it first and then go out and do it. As Nelson Mandela said, "It always seems impossible until it is done."

Madiba

I went to see a screening of the Nelson Mandela documentary last night at the Ryerson Theatre. What a fascinating person. I have been attracted to Mr. Mandela's persona for some time now, as the myth is certainly grand. There were many things I did not know about the man before seeing this film and I am glad I had the opportunity to see it. I have found Madiba, the name he is known for throughout South Africa and much of the world, to be the perfect example of a leader who was able to use his skill to make a difference in the world. I truly believe that apathy is the deadliest disease our world faces and the best cure is great leadership. We need more leaders to stand up and speak out. We need more leaders who are not afraid to speak up about what they believe in. We lack role models in this world because while many want to be seen they don't want to be noticed. If you believe in something, like Mandela believed in peace and reconcilliation, and one man one vote, then make it known. Write it down or say it out loud, just do something. If you let apathy take a hold of you, if we all allow apathy to take hold then we are certain to face many unscalable obstacles in the future. Lets break free of our metaphorical shackles just like Mandela broke free of his real shackles. Lets make it happen!

To learn more about the Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund and how you can help click on the link