The Importance of Failure - Issue 7 - 1st May 2022
Let’s talk about the importance of failure with regards to struggle. It’s easy to beat yourself up when you fail. You didn’t get the job, you didn’t get the promotion, you failed to run a 5km etc. These can be very disheartening events, but they needn’t be. There is no success without failure, so if you’re not failing, you will never succeed. Most people are so terrified of failing that they never even try. However, every successful person failed, struggled through setbacks or felt lost and hopeless right before they “made it.” Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote:
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
What he meant by this is that we can have all the expectations for how our lives will pan out but we cannot control what actually happens therefore we must accept failures and obstacles and push through them. Obstacles must be accepted and overcome if we are ever to make it to the top of the mountain. Think about climbing a mountain. It starts off easy with a gradual incline, we become confident, however here is where we must be aware of what’s to come and prepared with the knowledge that it will not always be this easy. It will suddenly become steeper and steeper and steeper until we are strugglingto climb. At this point failures and setbacks are inevitable, you’ll trip, run out of breath or become tired but these are just indications of improvement, not of failure because right as the struggle is almost unbearable, you’ll find yourself at the top gazing over your accomplishment. This is similar to a goal worth pursuing. Take learning to play the guitar. You start by learning a simple riff like Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water and then a few more, they’re fairly easy and you’re becoming more confident but then you have to learn keys, scales and improvisation. These are much harder to grasp but are necessary for improvement. This is the steep part of the mountain. You might feel hopeless or that you want to give up or that you’ll never improve, but this is precisely the point where maximum effort must be initiated. You’ll struggle to play in time with the music or to hit the right notes or to memorise the keys. Then suddenly, you’ve written a masterpiece and can gaze back at your journey of broken strings, wrong notes and frustration.
So what’s the advice and takeaways from this?
1) Be aware of the initial-growth stage; it will not always be easy and to be prepared for what’s to come is to be realistic but optimistic.
2) There will be extremely difficult struggles following the initial-growth stage, but this is where maximum effort must be employed to reach the other side.
3) Failures and setbacks during this struggle-stage must be welcomed and learned from instead of quitting.
4) The hardest part comes right before success so do not be disheartened by the struggle; one day you’ll be gazing back at this point with pride.
Keep on Struggling,
Gregor
Healthy Snack I’m Enjoying - Graze
I love these things. Basically, I follow a very loose diet that I’ve been able to maintain for years now. It maintains my weight, I feel good mentally and physically and I still allow myself to gorge every once in a while. In general, I watch what I eat and drink for four days out of the week, the other three I allow myself some treats whilst also eating healthy foods. I’ll perhaps dive deeper into the diet I follow and what I consume in a future newsletter. In general, on healthy days, I replace treats like chocolate, crisps and sweets with healthy alternatives and these are my ‘crisps’ alternative. They taste great and are much healthier than high-salt alternatives.
Video/Speech I Love - Tim Minchin’s 9 Rules For Life
I love comedian Tim Minchin’s 9 rules for life that he gives as his graduation address at the University of West Australia. Instead of the classic, cliched and cuddly speeches that people usually give: “Follow your dreams” etc., Minchin provides some realistic rules that are productive, hilarious and uplifting. If we all lived our lives by these rules, the world would be in a much better state than it is now.
Watch the full speech below.
New EP I love - The Planet of the Youth by The Vaccines
I have two favourite bands that tend to battle it out for the top spot in my head anytime they bring out new music: Kings of Leon and The Vaccines. Based on The Vaccines latest album and newly released EP, they’re winning. They have introduced new styles into their music making it more dramatic, musical-like and ‘space-agey.’ I recently went to see them live at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom and they were spectacular. This was my first gig since before COVID-19 so it was only fitting that I went to see The Vaccines. I would recommend listening to their new EP The Planet of the Youth and their latest Album Back in Love City. I’ve linked a live performance at The Abbey Road Studios of the song Paranormal Romance below as it’s sensational.
TV Show I Watch Every Week - Real Time with Bill Maher
I love this show because comedian Bill Maher has conversations surrounding current affairs with people from diffferent political beliefs which I don’t think exists elsewhere. The world is so polarised at the moment that conversations with people from the left and right is the only antidote. While I don’t agree with everything Maher says, I admire that he is a free thinker and speaks his mind regardless of the backlash. Here’s a description: “Acerbic comic Bill Maher welcomes a panel of three guests from diverse parts of the political spectrum for a lively discussion of current events. Also usually included as part of the show are a comedic monologue and an interview with a newsmaker or political figure.”
You can watch his show on Now TV or Sky in the UK or on HBO in the US. I’ve linked below a video of one of his closing monologues concerning the Will Smith/Chris Rock Oscars drama