IF YOU’RE NOT FAILING TODAY, YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO SUCCEED.

This may be a long read. You’ve been warned. 

There’s a lot of people in the world who continue to believe in a common, overly macho, chest-thumping, and (frankly) daft idea: ‘Failure is not an option’. 

These are the same people who wear crisp new suits and sharp hairdos to client meetings. The same people who kill idea on brainstorming tables because of ‘logistical issues’. The same people who bullshit their way through life. Every. Single. Day. 

Now the question begs. Do you want to be one of these people? Or do you want to be someone who gives a crap about their work? Do you want to look cool? Or do you want to be cool? Do you want a crisp new suit and a sharp hairdo? Or do you want the satisfaction that only comes from finally finishing a piece of work on which you’ve been slogging your ass off for days? Do you want a life of mediocrity or do you want those fleeting moments of excellence?

Choose the life you want to lead. Choose it now. And choose it every day. Because whether or not we all possess the same amounts of talent, we all possess the power to make the choice that is right for us.

And if you’ve chosen a life that revolves around creative work, remember this: failure IS an option. It is always an option. It is an option you need to acknowledge, embrace, love. It is an option that teaches you, empowers you, turns your eyes into fiery, burnished nuggets of gold. 

Failure gives you the experience success can’t. It teaches you what you did wrong, what you could’ve done better, what you shouldn’t have done at all, what you should do way more of. 

Failure gives you firsthand knowledge that no teacher, no mentor, no bully can. Failure makes you resilient. It turns you into an unbreakable force of nature. It pumps the life force of creativity into your veins, your bones, your every pore. And it gives you legs to stand on. 

Failure teaches you how to stand up for yourself. Because you’ve been there, done that, failed at that, and you know better. Failure teaches you that the opinions of naysayers mean nothing to your life and art. Failure teaches you to love your art better. To love your craft better. Failure teaches you to love yourself better. 

And there is nothing nicer you can do for yourself. 

Failure makes you a better person, a smarter person, a kinder person. Failure makes you a person who’s got a plan. And a backup plan. And a backup plan for the backup plan. 

Failure is a sign you’re trying something new, and not rotting away in your everyday complacency. Not stagnating in a pond of self-congratulatory garbage. Not stinking of laze. 

Failure is a sign that you still hold on to the reasons you chose the career, the craft, the life you chose. And that’s a good thing. Because the day you forget those reasons is the day you stop being an artist and turn into an impostor, a poser, a pretender. 

Now the question begs: Will you choose the path of an artist who fails every day because she tries something new every day? Or will you choose the shiny, but empty life that is filled with a hatred for the same failure that helps you blossom?

Choose. Choose now. Choose every day.