labelleizzy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
labelleizzy) wrote2012-01-20 12:18 pm
labelleizzy) wrote2012-01-20 12:18 pm
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Fail More, Fail Bigger. It's on the agenda.
I was having dreams early last night and early this morning, all having to do with solving the situation I'm in, to wit: feeling like I lack mission and drive, that I'm "stuck" in my job search, unsure whether to continue in education (the structure of which frustrates me with an in-grown unfairness of funding and opportunity) and unsure of what else I might do (that wouldn't suck the life and soul right out of me).
During dinner with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
princeofwands last night, I came to remember a story about Steve Jobs and his perspective on success. The story goes that Steve was looking at different divisions' reports of success and failure rates, and notices one division has a notably smaller failure rate than other similar divisions.
Steve goes to visit.
At first the department chief is proud and thinks Steve's there to praise them, but instead, Steve says, Fail more. Fail bigger, and more interestingly. Learn from the failures, and use them to try to take even bigger risks afterward. A low failure rate won't lead to innovation or new sales.
Fail More. Fail Bigger. Fail flamboyantly.
In my case the worst thing that could happen is being embarrassed or ashamed, since for example, I've no job to LOSE and I'm pretty sure my spouse will stick by me even if I do something really flamboyantly failtastic.
Planning to fail means planning to risk. Risk is scary, but it's better than stagnating, which is what I fear I'm doing right now. Change is scary but it's better than stagnating.
I've prided myself on my ability and willingness to go after things which were scary, but up till now my practice with scary things has primarily been internal.
I dug up a bunch of giant old rocks out of my garden and have used them as material for fences or conversation-starting ornamental rocks. I pulled out old weeds and old stumps, and got rid of colonies of yucky stuff, earwigs and slugs and fungus, that had lived in my garden. And this endeavor, took years and years of hard work, intermittently and steadily, as I had the energy and resources to tackle the challenges.
Basically it feels like I tilled the land, reclaimed it from the wilderness, and then went to the market to get seeds to plant... only when I got there nobody had the seeds I thought I wanted to plant and grow.
So I have been sitting with my tilled field, watching the weeds start to reclaim the land.
I don't want to just grab ANY seeds and stick them into the dirt; I want to be pleased, literally and figuratively, with the fruits of my labors.
I want strawberries and roses, lavender and bay leaves. I want grapevines and wisteria and hops on trellises. I want shady bowers with koi ponds full of sweet water. I want I want flowers and fruit, I want plain vegetables and fancy decorative flavorful frilly herbs: boxes and boxes of fragrant herbs for cooking and making. I want fruit trees, where we can just walk out and take deliciousness from the branches.
And I want people in my garden. I want my garden to be restful and nourishing, and I want people to feel they have a welcome there, welcome to work and to rest and to play and to sing or play music. I want there to be cycles of productivity and rest, and for one feature to fade away for a season while other features come into their glory.
and now I'm crying again, because the metaphor is beautiful but I still don't know where and how to find the "seeds" yet.
So today it is time to return to the basics. Pull up the weeds and restore order to the grounds so that the earth will be ready for the seeds. And then I have to get working with the seed and seedling catalogs, to decide what needs to come FIRST.
I don't have to decide *everything* right now.
But I do REALLY need to get back on the work I've been neglecting.
Strengthen and reinforce my house(my body). Build up, repair, and plan my garden walls(my boundaries). Weed my fields and garden(prepare for my life and my work).
and... craft a good, solid, beautiful garden gate(to invite in those I want, and shut out things I don't.)
During dinner with
princeofwands last night, I came to remember a story about Steve Jobs and his perspective on success. The story goes that Steve was looking at different divisions' reports of success and failure rates, and notices one division has a notably smaller failure rate than other similar divisions.Steve goes to visit.
At first the department chief is proud and thinks Steve's there to praise them, but instead, Steve says, Fail more. Fail bigger, and more interestingly. Learn from the failures, and use them to try to take even bigger risks afterward. A low failure rate won't lead to innovation or new sales.
Fail More. Fail Bigger. Fail flamboyantly.
In my case the worst thing that could happen is being embarrassed or ashamed, since for example, I've no job to LOSE and I'm pretty sure my spouse will stick by me even if I do something really flamboyantly failtastic.
Planning to fail means planning to risk. Risk is scary, but it's better than stagnating, which is what I fear I'm doing right now. Change is scary but it's better than stagnating.
I've prided myself on my ability and willingness to go after things which were scary, but up till now my practice with scary things has primarily been internal.
I dug up a bunch of giant old rocks out of my garden and have used them as material for fences or conversation-starting ornamental rocks. I pulled out old weeds and old stumps, and got rid of colonies of yucky stuff, earwigs and slugs and fungus, that had lived in my garden. And this endeavor, took years and years of hard work, intermittently and steadily, as I had the energy and resources to tackle the challenges.
Basically it feels like I tilled the land, reclaimed it from the wilderness, and then went to the market to get seeds to plant... only when I got there nobody had the seeds I thought I wanted to plant and grow.
So I have been sitting with my tilled field, watching the weeds start to reclaim the land.
I don't want to just grab ANY seeds and stick them into the dirt; I want to be pleased, literally and figuratively, with the fruits of my labors.
I want strawberries and roses, lavender and bay leaves. I want grapevines and wisteria and hops on trellises. I want shady bowers with koi ponds full of sweet water. I want I want flowers and fruit, I want plain vegetables and fancy decorative flavorful frilly herbs: boxes and boxes of fragrant herbs for cooking and making. I want fruit trees, where we can just walk out and take deliciousness from the branches.
And I want people in my garden. I want my garden to be restful and nourishing, and I want people to feel they have a welcome there, welcome to work and to rest and to play and to sing or play music. I want there to be cycles of productivity and rest, and for one feature to fade away for a season while other features come into their glory.
and now I'm crying again, because the metaphor is beautiful but I still don't know where and how to find the "seeds" yet.
So today it is time to return to the basics. Pull up the weeds and restore order to the grounds so that the earth will be ready for the seeds. And then I have to get working with the seed and seedling catalogs, to decide what needs to come FIRST.
I don't have to decide *everything* right now.
But I do REALLY need to get back on the work I've been neglecting.
Strengthen and reinforce my house(my body). Build up, repair, and plan my garden walls(my boundaries). Weed my fields and garden(prepare for my life and my work).
and... craft a good, solid, beautiful garden gate(to invite in those I want, and shut out things I don't.)
Taking big risks
I guess what I'm saying is, set a concrete goal which motivates you to do these things in your life, but take them 2 steps beyond what you're thinking of now. Learn and explore what you can do. If you find you're failing, you'll also find you're learning your capabilities and are expanding them too.
"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward"
- MLK
Don't be afraid to see if you can fly.
Re: Taking big risks
I think it's time to harrow my field again. Still some rocks and landmines and broken glass and shrapnel... and some valuable stuff too.
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Yes, yes, yes... ! Agree with you wholeheartedly. OTOH, I'm more risk-tolerant (and fail more) than many other people.
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I came to CurrentGig because I was desparate. 126 aps, six months, one offer. Ok. So I was doing Tech Support, in a manufacturing plant, for life science OEM products.
Now, riff off what you have. For me that meant getting exposed to Mfg. Quality, which I'd never seen before, and learning about it. Went to a Quality Society Conference. Started hanging out with the Quality group and learning about what they did. Realized I'd grown into their tasks, at least half of them. Re tooled my resume with help from a friend on Linked In.
Started shopping that around. No joy yet, but getting closer every day. Learned at the conference that Quality and Regulatory overlap sometimes. Learned about classes for Regulatory at the extension. Signed up for one. Went last week.
Find things that touch the things you are already doing and follow them out farther and farther. Looking for a big overwhelming GOAL or VISION may not work for you. But follow the thread in what you are already doing.
(I had a big GOAL when in my twenties. It's dead now and can't be resurrected. And the pain of that will be with me always. But there are other things and other pathways and they start with me where I am right here and now.)
Good luck. Do what you can with what you have where you are. And watch for how it goes out from that to something else!
no subject
What you say makes a lot of sense.
I had another of my life metaphor moments today, looking at various sculptures I have around the house... I thought, if I were to say I was like an animal, which would I choose? And I thought, a whale. They travel, slow but deliberate, long distances, while living a rich family life... and singing.
I did more work today around uncovering the fears that have been keeping me stuck, and you and I came to some of the same conclusions.
Thanks again for your insight!
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