Are You Failing Hard in the Right Arena?

I just experienced my biggest failure in my career.

Do you remember yours?

What if I told you that the feeling from the failure is more telling than the feeling from the success?

Luckily, I knew this devastating moment called for a revisitation (a pep talk of sorts) of a recorded discussion between Brene Brown and Chase Jarvis. I invite you to explore who they are, because the material and content they put out is simply brilliant.

I've watched this interview six or seven times and thought I'd take a walk and listen to it again. I've posted it at the bottom so you can tune in if you're interested.

They talk about how those that succeed are the ones that can get up the fastest after falling. This failure was a test that I knew I must pass.

Brene Brown mentions,

"He or she who has the greatest capacity for discomfort rises the fastest."

I understand it to mean that if you put yourself in a position to be absolutely vulnerable, your chance of immense success is counterbalanced by a chance to be gravely disappointed.

In order to achieve maximum thrill, satisfaction, and success, we must also realize that the other side of the coin will be present every time and will be just as potent. There's no avoiding it, and we cannot allow it to stop us. We must be vulnerable and uncomfortable at times and this is the true price for ultimate fulfillment.

Those who are not afraid of the other side of the coin (the bad side) will rise the fastest. Like working our muscles in the gym, we work them until they are tired or fail. We come back and do the same thing until our tolerance for failure grows to a level more than most, and we become physically stronger than most. Doing the same thing outside the gym puts us in more situations to succeed. The discomfort gets more tolerable, we become stronger, and we are able to allow ourselves an even greater goal that we are less afraid to fail at.

What this all means is that we must put ourselves in an arena we cherish and let it crush us at times.

I did not truly accept this challenge and line of thinking until the last day of 2014 when I quit my job (and secure paycheck) working at Firespring. The arena I was in was already delightful. Heck, Inc. Magazine named Firespring as one of America's 50 best workplaces.

Does your workplace let you work from your home in a different state?

Kinda cool.

Does your workplace have a slide?

I didn't think so.

I had to be just a tad bit insane to give it up.

This may sound a little morbid, but the thing that was missing from this particular arena was the threat of pulverizing failure. Because there was not an imminent threat of being crushed by failure, I started thinking if the other side of the coin (the good side) was as potent and fulfilling as it could be.

On January 1, 2015, I made the decision to enter the art arena.

Brene Brown talks about being in the arena, which means putting yourself in a position to prevail with amazing fulfillment. It also means that you will encounter criticism, devastation, and failure.

I listened to Brene's advice once again: