Prepared to lose, ready to win

#68 - "no guts, no glory"

Hi there,

The past week has seen lots of organising: our school Careers Fair, a presentation by the school Technology Committee and a few days out with friends. School has been swimming along at a steady pace as we approach the last week of the half term.

Highlight of the week : watching the much-awaited Tamil blockbuster film ‘Thunivu’ (Netflix¹). An action-packed movie, mostly set within a single bank, with shedloads (literally) of ammunition bursting everywhere. I was amazed at just how developed and layered the plot was despite some parts not making sense (to which Mum said, don’t expect logic in these sorts of crowd-pleasing awe-inspiring films).

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I. So far this school year, I’ve taken on the role (created for me) of Sports Reporter, tasked with being “the focal point” of all match reports and me watching and reporting on a fixture every Wednesday afternoon.

This week, there were no home fixtures leaving me a choice to make. I could either spend the hour in the silent study space or pump some blood around my body and oxygen through my lungs with some Cross Country. I chose the latter: it wasn’t fun.

Running over 5km on a 3-lap course, despite the pleasant weather, was an uphill challenge (see what I did there?), given I hadn't done long-distance running in checks his cobwebbed Strava app 18 months.

Despite an aching journey home, the ‘good vibes’ of accomplishment were prolonged through the late afternoon (scientists may call them endorphins). Most importantly, I felt proud of myself for having a go and taking the better option, not letting of which position I end up in (I came last) or if it will hurt the next day to stop me, the one that future me would respect me for.

II. A couple of weeks ago, India got over the line in a tight cricket match against New Zealand. Analysing the NZ’s captain‘s decisions, one commentator said “After taking the safe options through the game, there comes a tipping point when you should be willing to lose to win the game“, throw the dice and take your chances for the win.

Both these examples show the need and potential reward in taking risks to yield success, especially going outside your comfort zone. The upside of a win necessarily carries a significant downside of the loss. It’s here where we need to decide to prepare for failure and make the bold move; else we can wallow in confusion and stagnation, settling for a less valuable outcome.

This ability to forget about the chance of failure and strive towards a goal head-on is what seems to separate extraordinary high achievers from average safety seekers. After all, “if it were easy, everyone would do it”.

This reminds me of an anecdote I heard about how Google’s best employees have a 60% success rate. They want their employees to set ambitious goals, not necessarily ones with a strong likelihood of success. This acceptance and encouragement of failure is definitely a key aspect of why Google is a hub of innovation² and is a pivotal ingredient in forming a growth mindset.

Here are a few quotes that supplement today’s idea:

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default (oof) - JK Rowling

From serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk

Turns out I’ve written about putting your neck on the line in the past. A lifelong memory is a prologue to a slightly different post.

Yes, have a go and fail at it.

The film I watched last night carried this tagline: No Guts, No Glory. Going against the grain, taking that uncomfortable step, pushing yourself a bit more - all these add up. The higher you reach, the more likely you are to miss. However, you might as well “aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star” (W Clement Stone) Besides, what if you do succeed? How incredible would that be? For that, you’ve got to choose to be brave and accept failure in order to have a chance at success.

Sorry about the number of quotes - just think they epitomise this important idea really well!

Book of the week 📖

And we’re back to square one, One Up On Wall Street has barely moved.

Podcast of the week🎙️

The Tim Ferriss Show - James Clear, Atomic Habits — Simple Strategies for Building (and Breaking) Habits, Questions for Personal Mastery and Growth, Tactics for Writing and Launching a Mega-Bestseller, Finding Leverage, and More (#648)

Just the conversation about habits I needed. Clear’s ideas and nuggets were just as good this time as they were during the summer. Also contains a truly fascinating explanation of the detailed processes involved in marketing and launching a book.

Article of the week 📰

De-Atomization is the Secret to Happiness

Absolutely love

Nat Eliason

's fresh perspective of segmenting life's actions into several separated activities, in the name of optimisation, efficiency and single-tasking.

Quote of the week 💬

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot. Michael Altshuler

Wishing you well on a week of making the tougher, higher risk and higher reward choices,

Adi

1. There are far too many streaming services these days that it’s hard to keep track of what show or film is showing on which app.

2. For those who’ve been up-to-date with the news, let’s pretend what happened this week didn’t happen…