IF YOU CARE ENOUGH TO RISK FAILURE, CHOOSE
TO DO EXCEPTIONAL WORK. IF YOU CARE
ENOUGH TO DO EXCEPTIONAL WORK, CHOOSE
TO RISK FAILURE.
This oft-repeated phrase might mean,
“everything will turn out the way you
want it to.” But it doesn’t. In fact, it
never turns out that way.
It actually means, “something will
happen.” And whatever happens, you
can figure out what to do with that.
Because be defining what happens as
“okay,” we open the door to accepting
our work and our world and our quest
to make things that matter.
It’s all invented (but that
doesn’t mean it isn’t real)
A friend grew up with a severe phobia.
He told me that one of the most hurtful
things adults said to him (they meant
well, no doubt) was, “it’s all in your
head.”
Just because it’s in your head doesn’t
mean you’re not sick, in pain, unable to
breathe.
Most of all, we invent the constraints
that prevent us from seeking freedom.
We invent them.
“
It
will
be
okay.
”
If these inventions aren’t working, if
they’re making us sick or unhappy or
ineffective, the question on the table is:
why not invent something else?
Why not invent different rules, different
expectations, different ways of deciding
what success is and what it’s not?
Here’s how I know that there’s no
correct set of inventions: We each have
a different list. Each of us has different
expectations, a different definition of
fairness, and a different set of goals.
And my set (and probably your set) is
not the same as it was a month or a year
or a decade ago. It changes.
The paralyzing fear we feel in the face
of freedom is in our head; that’s the
only place it could be. It’s something
we invented, just as we invent all the
drama in our lives, all the attractions,
connections, and meaning that we
depend on.
If each of us has a unique, invented
worldview, and that worldview keeps
changing, why not change it on
purpose? Why not invent a way of
being that’s actually eager (not just
comfortable, but eager) to live with the
duality of work/not work, to embrace
the freedom of living in a world where
we’re not controlling every outcome
and not even sure about what’s going to
happen next?
Ben and Roz Zander talk about the
game we play in creating narrative of
our lives. We invent our expectations,
o \