Fear, failure, and getting back on the horse
The recent adage, “fail faster” is both exhausting and fails to address the path to failure and the complexities of picking yourself or your company back up afterwards. Although it is true that you’ll get nowhere by avoiding all risk because you fear failure, it is also true that it can be emotionally draining as you lead up to failure and then of course, fall on your tail.
But let’s say you’ve moved beyond your fear, taken a risk, and it looks like you’re going to fail. Admit to yourself that it is the end of the road and introspectively consider what got you to this point. You are not alone in failure – all of the greats have flopped at one point or another, but you must take responsibility for your defeat and avoid the blame game.
Let go of what you cannot control and grow from the painful experience. Forgive yourself and those around you, and when it’s all over, humbly tell others of your journey to help contribute to your community.
A tale of getting back into the game
Sometimes getting back into the game is difficult, even if it’s not due to failure. After a seven year hiatus spent building a charity, Eren Niazi, Founder and CEO of Open Source Storage is relaunching his company, a tough task, no doubt.
Niazi offers, in his own words below, five ways to get back into the game:
1. Learn from your mistakes. Mistakes are inevitable. They also give you a chance to bounce back and come back stronger. Steve Jobs once told me, “legends are made from people that learn from their mistakes and come back to their own company. Watch and learn kid.” These words have stuck with me as I went through the relaunch of my company Open Source Storage.
2. Give Back. You were lucky enough to go on this venture, and some people won’t ever get a chance. Show gratitude by giving back. Helping to change people’s lives, weather it be through charity giving, volunteering your time, or something else, is the most important thing you can do.
3. Keep an open mind. Things might not always go your way, but sometimes it’s for the better. From 2005 and 2007, I worked with Mark Zuckerberg, and we did a 5.4 million dollar data center install for Facebook at a very critical time in his company’s growth. I had to go with the flow, and it was at this point I learned that with an open mind, you enable yourself to gain wisdom you might otherwise miss.
4. Hard hits will come your way. A pioneer is the one with lots of arrows in his back. I played a role in creating the open source movement and I had to keep marching even with many of my peers having doubts along the way. Keep marching and eventually your tribe will carry your movement.
5. Make your own luck. Don’t rely on anything but hard work. In fact, the harder you work, the more chances you have to win.
