Does failing in public frighten you enough to not take action on your dreams?
In a recent Total Life Freedom Business Q&A call, there was a level of vulnerability that spotlighted why this group is so special. Near the end of the call, one member brought up what he was struggling with. This person has made a few business pivots over the past half decade, and as with many of us, some have worked out better than others. You’d be hard pressed to find a business owner who hasn’t experienced these ups and downs.
Some of those business ventures might be described as failures, and some did well enough to get him to the next level. With that experience and knowledge, he is moving on to build and grow his current venture. The problem is, he is feeling a lack of momentum and clarity.
That isn’t because the idea- or his skill set- isn’t solid. The problem, he explained, is that he’s hesitant to put his new work out in public. He explained that, after announcing on social media about the different things that he has started in the past few years, he has a deep concern that by changing again he will be seen as a failure. And that fear of being seen as a failure is what’s stopping him from moving faster.
As you might have seen, I use sports analogies a great deal to strategize issues like this. All of the challenges that we face as entrepreneurs have been faced in the sports world with higher intensity, greater pressure and with a larger audience watching. In so many situations, studying the business and mindset side of sports- not the game- can give vital insights on how to reach higher levels.
When he mentioned the fear of failing in public, my mind immediately went to a basketball player in the 90’s. And this wasn’t just any basketball player. We’re talking about the man who is widely regarded as the greatest of all time- Michael Jordan.
In 1993, Jordan was at the top of his game. He and his Chicago Bulls had just won their third world championship in a row a few months earlier. I was in Madison Square Garden as the Bulls battled my beloved New York Knicks in the conference finals. It was game 5, and the underdog Knicks were poised to knock off the mighty Bulls. I, along with 20,000 others, watched in horror as Jordan and a few of his teammates blocked five shots in a row from the Knicks’ Charles Smith as he attempted to make the go-ahead basket as time was expiring. I have never heard an arena so quiet as it was that night as the Bulls celebrated their emotional victory.
Months later, at the height of his success, Jordan shocked the world by retiring to pursue his passion to play professional baseball. Earlier that summer, James Jordan- Michael’s father- was murdered. Even though he was a basketball legend, Michael bonded as a child with his father over baseball. So he decided to take his shot at that sport.
The sports world was stunned. Jordan had reached an almost god-like level in the NBA, where any doubts thrown at him could be silenced with a thunderous slam dunk or a no-look spin pass that left the fans and media in awe. Why would he leave such a comfortable environment where he was clearly the best for one that not only will it be a longshot for him to succeed, but he undoubtedly would face unending and ruthless criticism from the baseball purists? Not only would they see him as someone who didn’t have the proper skills, but also one who didn’t have a legitimate shot at making a major league team.
But if there was anyone who could prove them wrong, it would be Jordan.
From the moment he laced up his baseball cleats and grabbed a bat in Birmingham, Alabama to play for the Barons, all of the cameras were on one man. The man that was destined to fail.
In his first professional baseball game, Michael Jordan went 0-3. It took him nearly four months to hit his first home run. His statistics for his first season went like this. A .202 batting average, 3 home runs, 51 RBI’s and a stat line that wouldn’t impress any scout or general manager.
When we talk about failing in public, I’d be hard pressed to find a better example of that.
Yet the best basketball player in the world stepped out daily, in front of hordes of reporters, photographers, fans and critics, towards a dream and certain failure. He had to have known he would be mocked. He must have seen that the comparisons to his championship results in basketball would be the barometer that would be set for anything else that he tried.
He did it anyway.
And, it didn’t work. But did all of the negativity crush him? Far from it. He returned to the NBA after one season in baseball, and proceeded to win three more world championships.
So what is the point for you? I hate to tell you this, but nobody cares if you are failing or succeeding. Why? Because they are too concerned about their own failures and successes. Do you think they are keeping score about what business you started a few years ago that you aren’t doing any longer? They aren’t paying attention. And if they are, those aren’t the people you should spend time with anyway.
If you realize this, then there is no reason to not give it everything you’ve got- whether it’s your first attempt or your fifth in five years. And remember this- even if everyone is watching, like they were with Michael Jordan, hopefully this convinced you to do it anyway. If you worry about failing in public, realize that he faced our greatest fear. He faced it, and failed. Which is actually an even bigger nightmare.
And then he went back to being the best in the world.
Failure didn’t stop him. The critics didn’t deter him. In fact, early in the baseball season, Sports Illustrated writer Steve Wulf said that the idea of Jordan playing baseball was ridiculous. When he returned at the end of the season to do an update about Jordan, Wulf was astonished by how much better Jordan was at baseball.
“He had turned himself into a baseball player, and I was astounded,” Wulf conceded.
Even in failure, we can produce some of our greatest successes.
Have an AMAZING day!
Vincent
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