Suckcess

Although it's been many, many years, I swear that I heard this quote from a 3 stooges movie. It goes, "If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking til you do suck-cede!" I have absolutely no earthly idea why I still remember that except that it has a catchy, sick, twist to it (which is right up my alley).

Think about it. Success is NOTHING but repeated, focused failure. I gave a speech some time ago entitled "Success is failure, repeated". Think about anything you or anyone else has succeeded in doing. You didn't succeed at your first attempt. You always had to work at it to get it right. Whether it's speaking, or being successful in meetings, or selling, or even walking, you failed many times before you succeeded. Or, in 3 stooges terms, you sucked at it. There are really no exceptions to this rule. You were not a born success at anything (except spitting up and pooping, and you're still good at that).

So why is failure looked upon with such a stigma? I submit that it's the EGO that uses failure against us. The ego feeds on itself, and it always has to be right, so failure is not on it's menu. Additionally, our collective egos have 'created' this stigma of failure to use it on others to boost our own egos. Right? Of course I'm right (my ego speaking here). If I can frame you as a failure, or as having failed again, then it feeds my ego. The truth is that you are just making an attempt at something to see what works and what doesn't. It has nothing to do with failure. Ok, let me correct that. It IS failure, but it's focused failure. It's good failure. There's really nothing wrong with most failures, and if we would understand that concept, the fear of failure would be eliminated. Here's an example. Jay Leno still fails. He still fails at comedy, something he's hugely successful at. Jay Leno still goes to small comedy clubs to try out new jokes. Sometimes they fail, BUT THAT'S WHY HE'S THERE. He wants to see what jokes work and what jokes bomb. If they bomb he either tweeks them and tries again, or he dumps them. Yes, he failed, but that's exactly how he became a success in the first place. He's just perfecting his craft - humor. We all fail, all the time. So why are we so afraid of it? Because we allow our egos to get involved and talk us into not making any risky attempts at anything, for fear that we will fail and look weak to others. This, my friends, is the difference between the haves and the have-nots.

So, if at first you don't succeed, keep on suckin til you do suck-cede! Have an exciting day!!