I Hope You Fail
In all honesty, I do hope that you fail.
My husband, CJ, is an electrician, has been in the field and around it since he was fresh out of diapers. His father has grown and built an electrical business, impressively by word of mouth alone, something almost unheard of in our time - great example of your work speaks for itself. To be a licensed electrician you have to take a test, like almost anything that gauges knowledge they must test you on it. Which is fair. You wouldn’t want me doing electrical - I have about the amount of patience of a two year old and untangling my hair dryer wire is about as extensive as I get and even then I’m annoyed.
CJ is a perfectionist, he wants to have everything figured out and lined up just right before he begins his task. This is one of his strengths. This is why he will be the one who knows exactly how our stroller, car seats, and everything works prior to the day we use them while you will find me in the parking lot sweating and cursing the stroller because I don’t know how it opens. To wind up calling my husband and owning up to the fact that I didn’t do the test run prior and oh yeah how does this damn thing open??
This same strength can also be his weakness. The test to be licensed is not a breeze and even his father, a pioneer in his own right, struggled. So, CJ will put it off making a great plan for studying, applying for the test, feeling prepared, and the list goes on. Funny thing, there is never a perfect time. I believe in him, I hope that he will take it and do better than he realizes. I also hope he takes it and fails. Harsh, right?
No, not really. When you take something and fail, I don’t believe that you are failing. You are just one step closer to success IF you take that failure as an opportunity. We often blow things up in our minds where we will be judged, scored, examined, or analyzed into something completely unattainable where it paralyzes us from taking the steps to just do it in fear of failure. That if you fail, you are a failure.
No statement could be further from the truth.
If you fail, you try again. If you fail, you grow. If you fail, you are that much closer to succeeding. If you don’t do anything at all because you don’t want to fail, you will miss the opportunities that you could make a difference. We often look at opportunities, experiences, jobs as we need them, or how it will impact our lives. What about the fact that those same opportunities, experiences and jobs need YOU or how will you impact their lives. That is the part that will fulfill you more than succeeding. Don’t allow failure to stop your dreams, allow it to be a step in achieving your dreams. And don’t forget you may not even fail - take the chance on yourself. You're worth it!
If CJ takes the test and fails, we will celebrate. If he takes the test and passes, we will celebrate.
Share your failures and embrace your failures, they will make success so much sweeter.
