TentBlogger

I was asked the other day by Seth via Twitter if I had ever written anything specifically on how one can recover emotionally from project failure.

My assumption is that his question was a personal one and that he was looking for advice on how to move on to the next big thing. A quick scan reveals that I’ve shared a few things here and there about “failure”:

1. More Bloggers Need to Fail
2. A Positive Attitude as Strategy
3. Get Fired
4. Fighting Irrational Fears
5. Worth the Price of Admission
6. Broken Promises
7. You are Not Your Blog
8. How the Mighty Fall
9. My 2012 Year in Review

Those are just a few that have elements of me mentioning failure – but I do not believe that I’ve tackled the topic head-on so I’ll do my best Seth to answer what I believe is your explicit question and then any underlying questions as well.

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It’s tough being a parent and it’s getting more difficult every single year.

The biggest challenge right now is trying to identify the numerous interests that both of our girls have and being able to match those with activities that will engage and challenge them without imposing the dreaded your-parents-love-this-and-you-should-do-it-too syndrome.

Like all parents we want to give our children everything that we can to provide a solid foundation of learning that consistency feeds their curiosity that may eventually become part of their long-term vocation. At times it seems impossible to know which interests are worth pursuing and which ones are worth investing in (financially) for camps, after-school programs, and such.

The pressure, on a bad day, feels like we’re trying to help create life-plans for them and if we fail then our childs’ life is ruined!

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Fear can cripple you. Most of the time it’s the fear of doing something that, on the outside looks ridiculous (like what I did with my iPhone) but is functionally quite simple (deleting apps requires little brainpower or exceptional motor skills).

Very rarely are we asked to do something that is functionally difficult, thus driving the primal instincts to kick into high gear for self-preservation and survival, like jumping off a real cliff or something of that nature.

Again, most of the time, these are functionally-simple exercises and yet our fear drives us to believe that our life is over if we attempt it. I challenge you to reverse your thinking for a moment and think that you life may be over if you do not engage, if you do not complete that task, if you do not take that first step.

I’ll give you one example from my past that is (unfortunately) all too common:

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Hey, don’t take it personally.

Screw that, my friend. It’s always personal. Everything I do I take personally. I can’t help it. And it’s not even about “taking” at all. It’s about it being personal. All the time. In everything I do.

All of us work very hard and spend countless hours building not only great products and companies but also our very own lives. We are artisans and craftsmen of our very own literal lives, inch by inch, pixel by pixel, line by line, note by note, word by word.

We are defined very much by the things that we do, just as much as who we believe ourselves to be, the culture that we find ourselves in, and even what we believe. To deny that is tantamount inhuman, or at the very least complete and utter ignorance.

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One reason I enjoy teaching so much is because it’s powerfully cathartic – although I don’t express those feelings or emotions outwardly in any obvious manner it stirs quietly underneath because I know that I’m helping others accelerate their goals by giving them a heads-up on what’s to come.

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All of us aren’t all that savvy about our online “resume” as we believe – even though you and I may feel like we’ve got a pretty good handle on our personal online brand there are still many more still who have no idea.

This is especially true with people in their late teens or early twenties – kids who are getting ready for the real world in business and in a career. These college students who have spent a good portion of their time posting content that may impact their future.

I’ll be spending time this weekend with a few of them at Georgia Tech for a conference and I hope to provide some advice on building the best “online you” as possible.

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