One of my most popular all time posts, Fail Fast, was all about not being afraid to fail and learning from that. So, naturally, Michael responded in a way only he could: “sure it sounds nice to learn from failure, but I’d rather learn from success.”
MB Tip # 4: John, don’t get carried away, Learn From Success
Michael’s right: you shouldn’t try to fail. I don’t mean to encourage hordes of young people to stop thinking about their decisions and just fling themselves into a mountain of successive failures. I just mean you shouldn’t let a fear of failure paralyze you into doing nothing, or not trying the thing you were meant to try. But if you try two different things, or try the same thing two ways, and only one works, maybe that’s the information you needed most.
Follow your smaller successes to a place of great success. This a process of discovery. The more you see what about what you are doing you did well – you can try and do more of that, or find a way to do just that. As you keep doing things and doing more of the things you are more successful at, you will eventually wind up at the place that’s best for you.
If you keep starting from scratch, then you really aren’t learning all that much useful information. So look for where your successes are, and follow that trail to your oasis.
– John Murdock, The Young Professional
The Young Professional 