How Many Ways Do You Find That Wont Work?

Growing up, I was often forcefully told, “If you’re going to do something, bloody well do it right the first time.” The admonishment usually followed some mistake or other I’d made and was intended to shame me for not properly planning and executing what I was doing.

It has taken me a very long time to kick that message out of my headspace.

You’d think at first blush the comment makes a lot of sense. Use your head, do it right. Don’t waste people’s time and energy, especially my own. In a perfect world, that would indeed make a lot of sense.

We Live In An Imperfect World

We live in a world where outcomes can’t always be known in advance. A world where we need to try things out to learn how they work. We often need to try things out a lot in a lot of different ways before something works. Or is proven not viable.

Learning to embrace failures is a powerful way to learn and to advance in life.

If not for trial an error, I’d likely not be typing on this computer. It’s how I learned to use a computer back in the days of the Commodore 64. I found a bit of documentation and then I tried those instructions and then tried different ways. Each success and failure built on my learning curve until I developed a comfort level.

Watching My Niece Learn Computer

I remember watching my young niece when she wanted to learn how to use this cool machine her aunt was ‘playing’ with. She was hesitant that she might break something. Until she saw me restart the computer a few times when something she did made it freeze up. She was unstoppable then.

She had the power of the power button. Make a mistake, hit the power and start over.

Thankfully, I had sense enough not to say anything about the computer freezing up. After all, I had just got through learning pretty much the same way. I didn’t need, nor should I have her feel ashamed for something not working right. I’d share with her what did work so she had something more to build on her knowledge base.

It takes fortitude to keep trying.

Often other people will laugh at repeated failures, believing the person who continues to tackle the problem in search for a solution to be on a fool’s errand.

We have a very human tendency to take the path of least resistance. When we make a mistake and a plan doesn’t work out, the path of least resistance is to just stop. Imagine if Edison had stopped, or any of the other inventors who have toiled away discovering and improving things we take for granted.

The computer I’m typing on, the power its attached to, the mouse I use with it, the phone sitting near by — none of them would likely be here if everyone who invented or improved the design hadn’t had the ideas and the fortitude to work on them.

Do you give up easily when presented with a failed idea?

Do you keep going until you solve the problem or try a time or two and then stop?

Or do you dig in and keep at it until you solve the problem you’re working on?

Which person are you?

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Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.

NOTE: unless otherwise stated, all images are the author’s

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