168 – The Fallacy Of Failure…the other ‘F’ word - a podcast by Alf Herigstad

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OK, what are we going to talk about today?  I think what I would like to talk about is the fallacy of failure.  The reason I call it a fallacy, is because the idea of failure, as a concept, is something that I don’t really believe in.  For me…it’s right there next to the easter Bunny.I hear people all the time talk about, and refer to their failures.  The word “failure” is used very frequently in the english language, and I suspect in other languages as well. 
It kind of boggles my mind because, like I said, I don’t believe in failure.  So it’s like listening to people talk about unicorns and Easter Bunnies.  In fact, the word only visits my vocabulary at times like now…when I am explaining to someone the fallacy of it.I always get the same reaction, and I’m sure many of you listening are reacting this was as well. 
You’re probably thinking;“C’mon Alf, of course failure exists.  Every time you are unable to do something, whenever you don’t win, when you try something and it doesn’t work…all these things are failures.”
Is that what you are thinking?  That’s what most people think.  I personally do not think these examples of failure are accurate.  I’ll explain what I mean, and then you can decide for yourself.First I will say, that everyone who makes an audible claim to have failed something…is probably right.  It is a self fulfilling prophesy.  Failure did not exist, it wasn’t real, it was just an idea right up until that person spoke it into existence and claimed it.  That is when failure becomes a real thing.
What I’m saying then, is that failure is more about perspective than anything else.  I’ll give you an analogy to better explain what I mean.Lets say there are two guys, named Bill and Mike.  They are friends, and they decide one day that they want to climb a mountain…lets say it Mount Rainier here in the state I live in.
They have never climbed a mountain before, and that’s why they want to do it.  They do research and try to prepare for it as best as possible.The day finally comes and they head up to climb the mountain.  They are doing pretty good, but about 2000 feet from the summit a bad storm comes in and they can’t see, they get off course.  When the weather clears they don’t know where they are.  In the process Bill got really sick and Mike tripped and hurt his ankle.  All they can do is sit there and hope their food doesn’t run out before somebody finds them.
They get rescued a couple days later, and now they are back at home.  The thing is…only one of these men have failed, even though they both had the exact same experience.The only difference between Bill and Mike, is their perspective. 
Mike thought it was a fantastic experience.  he made a note of everything that went well, and the things that didn’t. He values everything he learned on the trip, including the hardship.  Now he has a great story to tell his son when he is older, and Mike cannot wait until next season so he can tackle the mountain again.
Bill on the other hand is angry.  He thinks the whole thing was a waste of time and money because they didn’t accomplish what they set out to do; make it to the summit.  He is angry at himself and at Mike for being ill prepared.  He gets embarrassed whenever his wife brings it up to friends, because then he has to explain the details of why he failed to make it to the top.  He sold all his gear on craigslist and plans to never, ever climb again.So, because of their perspectives, Bill had a failure, and Mike had an adventure.  Bill is unhappy, and Mike is Happy.  Mike has a great story to tell of courage, adventure, hardship and beauty.  All Bill has to talk about, is his failure.
Hopefully, with the aid of that story you can start to see what I am talking about.  It’s all a matter of perspective, and where does perspective come from? Perspective is formulated in our brains.  Who controls our brains?  We do.I...

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