1) Success is a pre-requisite for Failure. We believe that success is what people are willing to settle for when they are afraid to fail at something truly life defining. There is absolutely nothing wrong with success, and it is obviously necessary to have a certain amount of success to cover the basic needs (food, shelter, flat screen TV, etc). But rarely is that enough to truly inspire and excite us. So this club is designed to attract the people for whom ‘success’ is not enough, and who want to reach for something audacious and bold – which means that failure is highly probable. The name Failure Club filters out those with lesser ambitions.
2) Failure is Fun. We often reference Edison and his quest to create a viable light bulb. Common legend has it that he tried nearly 10,000 variations before finding the perfect filament for his light bulb. Can you imagine suffering thru 10,000 failures? This would have been impossible without a profound shift in perspective. Rather than look at each one as a negative, he actually reveled in the discovery process. This lab or ‘sandbox’ was his playground, and he was most happy when he was in that mode. In fact, when he finally reached ‘success,’ what do you think he did next? Yep, went right back into the lab to start ‘failing’ at his next invention – electric power plants, fuses, insulated underground wires, movie cameras ….
3) Failure is not just a word. If you deconstruct failure to its’ component letters, you find that there are some incredibly inspiring words embedded in failure, including ‘air,’ ‘fire,’ ‘life,’ ‘flair,’ and ‘fuel,’ in addition to ‘fear’ (click here for full list) Failure Club teaches members to look at failure in new ways, and in so doing, discard the negative associations. Once you learn that the word ‘failure’ can be reshaped into a positive, then it is easy to see how the concept of Failure Club can be a powerful motivator.
4) Failure takes practice. Like everything in life, practice makes perfect. The more you fail, the better you get! The Failure Club propels you forward, starting with small failures and working up. Everyone can point to failures in their life, but rarely are they deliberate. We ask you to directly confront the fears you have around failure and as you get more practiced, then those quickly lose their potency. By the end of the year, the fears you have experienced throughout your life will be gone. Filling that void will be a powerful new tool for pursuing any dream you may have, regardless of how grand or whimsical.
If you would like to start or join a Failure Club in your community, please visit failureclub.org/pods/
Watch weekly episodes of Failure Club on Yahoo Screen
From the beginning, we dreamed of Failure Club’s popping up around the world to enable people to pursue seemingly unattainable dreams. Since the launch of Failure Club on Yahoo, hundreds of people have signed up with their own Failure Club projects. Click on the map below to find like-minded people in your community, and start up a Failure Club Pod of your own.
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