This quote seemed a little bit confusing for me at first (although I can tell all of you will probably feel the same thing), but very quickly I came to realize what it meant and its significance. And I totally agree. Life is all about taking chances, and if you don’t take them, then you’ll probably be sorry that you never did them towards the end of your life, and your heart will be filled with regret. Then again, though, who knows? We might all pass on today or tomorrow...only God and the future know! Thus, it’s imperative for each and every one of us to live life to the fullest, even when it feels like there is no purpose to today. And even if it does feel like that, MAKE your own purpose! And it’s ok if we mess up and fail, like Neil Gaiman said in his New Year’s wish, but it’s better to “Fall down seven times, get up eight” (as the Japanese say) than to never even take the first step and still be at the starting line of the race when others are already coming back from the finish.
In fact, this reminds me a lot of 8 Mile, though I’ve never watched the whole film. In the movie (SPOILER ALERT!), the main character, B-Rabbit (Eminem), seeks to build a career from rapping, and goes to a club called the “Shelter” to rap battle on advice from his friend Future. In his first rap battle, he ends up choking (not being able to say anything) and leaves the stage in failure. But then, he comes back much harder than he did before, and then beats two other rappers with ease before finally defeating Papa Doc, the Shelter’s defending championship. In essence, even though B-rabbit fails his first battle horribly, he doesn’t give in or give up, which ultimately makes him the champion. (SPOILERS END HERE!)
In my perspective, I can relate to this quote with my first performance at my Jain temple. I was listening to one person sing bhajans (devotional songs), and I was amazed. Then, my dad asked me, “Do you want to go up there and sing too?” Without hesitation, I replied, “Yes!” and after some time, Dad brought me up on stage and let me perform. And as I went on stage, I sang with all my heart, and in the end, I guess you could say I received my due applause. But when I think of it in retrospect, I realize now that if I was scared to sing or if I was pessimistic and said that there was no way I could go on stage, then I would never have been able to give my first stage performance (outside of my Indian Classical annual recitals). In fact, I don’t even think my music career would’ve even taken flight!
But back to the quote, it’s very important to try things in life, because even if you fail, you can still say that you did something. But if you don’t try anything in life, life has no meaning; “It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.” ~ Edgar Lee Masters, “George Gray” :-)
Like Sparsh had mentioned before, this quote confused me at first. Typically, human nature would tell you to be afraid of failure and to not try something that you aren't confident with. But as I thought about it, I realized that this was true and it is actually helpful. For example. in Mrs. Nix's room, there is a poster saying that you will miss 100% of the shots you don't take. The quote on that poster relates to this quote. They both talk about taking opportunities and trying your best even if you aren't guaranteed to succeed. Like the quote says, there is nothing wrong with failing but you should never stop trying due to potential failure. It is imperative that our lives consist of risks and leaps for the future instead of a "confined" lifestyle. This will help you live life to the fullest and enjoy life. You never know where risks can take you so you will always be looking forward to your future. This will also provide for chances at greatness and chances to make your life more and more colorful. I would like to take risks in life as I grow older because I want to get somewhere. Living in a confined life will promise you the same stable lifestyle everyday but taking risks will allow you to turn new corners and discover new places. While failing is an inevitable part of life, it is your choice to keep on trying. This choice will make or break you. It can lead you to the life you've been looking for. For this reason, it is important that you chase your dreams and not let mistakes stop you. Some of the greatest people in history had to work through failures to become so great. For example, Steve Jobs had to work at NeXT, a failing company, just to make a living. Eventually, he used the NeXT tech to then work at Apple. From there, he became the great businessman that we know today. Jobs had to face adversity through his whole career yet he didn't give up. He continued his pursuit of personal computers. Eventually, he ended up as the CEO of Apple and made his dream reality. He made mistakes and survived failure but no matter what happened, he kept trying. His perseverance allowed him to pull through and bring personal computers to american households. Just like Jobs and many other greats, I want to keep on trying no matter what. Even if I fail, I want to be proud that I will keep on trying. It will not only build self-esteem but a life-long sense of hard-work and drive. What I become in the future will depend if I want to keep trying. It will depend on my choice to not give up. Although failure can be embarrassing and can act as discouragement, it is never an excuse to stop trying. For that reason, I want o incorporate the idea of failure and perseverance into my life to create a more happy and diverse future.
This quote felt confusing to me when I first read it. This because it is the opposite of what humans naturally think. We always are cautious about making a good impression, and we never want to fail. We are always afraid of trying things. Especially new things like food or a new style or anything like that. This quote is also very similar to the quote that we reacted to last month. Trying things lets us have more opportunities, and if we don't try new things, there is no spice to life. we shouldn't just go through our routine every single day. We need to try new things in order to learn stuff. At least you should be trying to do something instead of killing time, Making a mistake just tells you what to do. It is like mistakes are the boss of life. In the last part it tells us to keep on making mistakes and create new things. I really wish that I could manage to implement this quote into my life and see the difference his words will make, and how it will really help me.
Being afraid to fail is one of the many mundane mistakes, we as humans, make. We have all made this mistake at least once in our lifetime. We have only been here for at least thirteen years, yet we have made decisions due to the fear of failing. What we do not realize is that these mistakes are what make us humans. Whether it was to join a new sport, learn a new instrument, or even make a new friend, we have all given up on something. The fear of failing is with all of us. It’s not our fault--but we never try to overcome this fear. After all, the greatest fear is fear itself. The fear of failing is one of the greatest fears of our minds. But like any fear, we can conquer it. All it takes is to think to yourself that you cannot fail. Even though this is not true, it has the specific encouragement we need to get up and try new things. I mean, the first step to success is to fail. There is a specific acronym that supports this:
F- first A- attempt I- in L- learning
This acronym summarizes everything there is to say about failing. It’s true--failing IS the first attempt in learning. The phrase, “Practice makes perfect,” has the same meaning as the acronym. Failing is a form of practice. In fact, practice is failing. As many as times you fail, you are in truth just practicing for whatever is your ultimate achievement. What the statement should really be is, “Failing makes perfect.” Failure is the same thing as making mistakes. Making these mistakes (as we know from the last blog) is the most important thing in life. Failing A.K.A. mistakes are the one thing that keeps the world alive. Brilliant minds such as Albert Einstein, have failed. Yet now, he is known as the most intelligent man that was ever alive. Whenever people hear the word “genius” nowadays, people in a flash think of Albert Einstein. Yet, no one knows his story about failure. He couldn’t even speak fluent English until he was nine years of age. He got expelled and was rejected from colleges. But, somehow, through all of those failures and struggles, he still became the man he was. The same story goes for Thomas Edison. Yet his failures impacted our lives so much today. Being afraid to fail is just a fear and nothing more. To overcome and conquer this fear, you need to know that the first step to success is to fail.
This part of the quote has a similar meaning to the first. Just like before, people live in the fear that taking risks, trying new things is scary. The reality is...it IS scary. Why wouldn’t it be scary? Risks are new things that you have never done in your entire life. You don’t know if you’ll like it or not or if you will fail at it or not. But that is what makes taking these risks exciting. They will change your life if you just take them. What is the definition of “risk?” Risk, according to Google is, “a person or thing regarded as likely to turn out well or badly, as specified, in a particular context or respect.” This definition is true. You don’t know if your risk will turn out to be good or bad. What really matters is that you took it. It will you a new outlook on life. It most likely will change your definition of life. The quote, “Live life to the fullest,” is the most popular of quotes but it’s one of the facts of life. In life, we do not know how long we have. It can be even tomorrow. But this is the reason why we have to at least try to live. Try to have all the experiences of the world. Try to enjoy life. You don’t want to go from this world, regretting that you’ve never done anything but boring, everyday things your entire life. You need to have a legendary life. Other quotes, such as, “Don’t give up on your dreams,” also refer to taking risks in your life. Dreams can be outrageous and can even seem impossible to achieve. But if you really want to take that risk...you can achieve your dream. You need to take that extra step and not let go no matter what. Even if you feel tired and/or scared--just don’t let go. Taking this extra step is what made geniuses such as Steve Jobs or even Bill Gates. Steve Jobs even got fired from his own company but still continued not letting go until he was finally admitted back into Apple. But, risks can be small or big. It doesn’t matter the intensity of it. Whether it be trying a new ice cream flavor or a new chocolate flavor (I had a Chili-flavored chocolate today) it doesn’t matter. Try anything--just take that risk and be afraid NOT to try.
As wise as this quote is, honestly speaking, I don’t live by this quote. Have I in the past sworn to myself to try new things? Of course, I have. And have I done new things? Yeah, of course. It’s kind of inevitable. I will learn algebra. I will learn how to drive. I will pay taxes. All of these things are new to me. New things will inevitably enter my life. I just find the message of this quote unrealistic. As much as we’d like to tell ourselves, “Trying is what counts,” it’s not exactly true. We all try. Not all of us are awarded with the same results for the same amount of trying. Some of us will succeed, some of us will fail. No one tells, “Ok self, today I will fail ________ so that I can learn from this mistake and then because I learned from that mistake, I will be successful.” Fear of failure is not unreasonable. It seems like everyone is encouraging us to make mistakes and to fail, so that we’ll learn from our mistakes to do something even better. But honestly… No one wants to fail. Because we always think of how it will be at the moment. At the moment of failure, it will feel as if… you are a failure. Like you are your parents’ greatest disappointment, or an embarrassment to mankind. So, I suppose we do all we can to try to avoid this feeling, right? Though everyone says it’s okay to fail, is it really? Sure, people say, “it’s ok to fail”, but why are they so disappointed in you when you do fail? If failing is okay, why does society make out failure to be the worst thing possible? Failure defines you. If you fail to meet the academic standards, you won’t get a good job, you’ll probably work at McDonalds even when you’re 40, you’ll live in a run-down neighborhood, you’ll struggle to build and support a family, and your children will have a tough life. Because of your failure. Failure has a chain reaction. To avoid that aforementioned scenario, we do all we can to avoid failure. But failure is something unavoidable. It will inevitably happen to you, no matter how hard you try to dodge failure. The harder you try to dodge failure, the more damage the failure will do. So, what is the point of dodging failure if it’s bound to happen? There are degrees to failure. Some can be as small as screwing up a fourth-grade science test or as large as going bankrupt. The greater the risk, the more damage the failure will cause. The more you try, the worse the failure will be. If you simply try to draw an apple, the worst failure that can result in that is that your drawing of an apple looks like an orange. But if you decide to try to jump off a cliff, your failure of such a task can result in your death. When we make a decision, we oftentimes weigh the possibility or chance of failure. If I work with _________ for my World History project, I have a 23% of getting a less than ideal grade. If I play recreational basketball, I have a 78% of getting injured, ending my athletic career. If I punch _________, I have a 59% chance of getting caught and being suspended, ruining my academic career. Failure affects our decisions. That fear of failure drives our lives. This fear is also what makes the difference between an ordinary accountant in New York and Taylor Swift. Both people may have the same amount of talent. But Taylor Swift’s fear of failure did not stop her from becoming the queen of pop she is, while the NY accountant. Fear is oftentimes what hold us back, not talent. After we die, we will most likely be forgotten and washed away into oblivion. But to those who do remember us, our failures don’t define our lives. No one is going to remember you as the person who screwed up a fourth-grade science test. But people who do remember you, they will remember you for what you had done, what you had tried. They will remember you to the be the person that decided to do a backflip on a skateboard that is on fire at the age of 5, the person dyed their hair a neon blue at the age of 30, the person who skydived on his 67th birthday. Try new things. Don’t let your fear of failure rule your life.
Although this phrase has a deep meaning, it puzzled me the first time I read it because of the way it was worded. However, after rereading the quote a couple times, I understood what it suggests- you shouldn't be afraid of failing something, but instead you should be afraid of not trying it. And I agree completely with this. In my life, there have been plenty of instances where I was afraid to appear unsuccessful, and therefore ended up not attempting the task. However, from this quote I can interpret trial and error should be an essential part of life. If not, you might end up missing out on many wonderful opportunities that could have led to success. In my opinion, this quote can be used as a lesson in many different perspectives.
Firstly, I think that the quote suggests to try new things in order to get farther in life. Like I was saying earlier, if you're afraid of failure, you would never want to try anything new, and instead tend to stick with the activities you're familiar with. This would only lead to less knowledge. On the other hand, if you experiment with new things, your experience and knowledge will expand greatly. As a result, you will learn countless new things, ranging from concepts as simple as math problems to as wild as doing a flip while on a bicycle.
Furthermore, trying but failing is much better than not trying at all. For example, when a baby first learns to walk, he or she doesn't just get right up and start walking all of a sudden. Instead, they try many times and even fail, and eventually, learn to walk like an ordinary person. Now if the baby never tried to walk at all in fear of falling down, he or she may have never even learned to walk at all. The same idea can be applied for other instances. If you try, you may be encountered by failure at first. But the experience can help you achieve your goal over time, and that's what counts the most.
I think that this quote was originally said by Michael Jordan. As he's a basketball player, I often think of this quote as a connection of the sport itself. For example, on the court, you have a decision- whether to shoot the ball that is in your hands or whether to let the opponent or another teammate take it. You have an opportunity- it is up to you whether you want to take it and risk failure or not take it and eliminate the chance of failure as a whole. If you decide to shoot the ball, you have a chance of making it in the basket. Even if you don't make it, you still gained experience, because now you know not to make the same mistake again. But, if you decide not to take the shot entirely, you have zero possibility of scoring a point. You never know- if you had shot, you could have made it. But you lost the opportunity.
Overall, this quote applies in our everyday perspectives of life. Whether it is academically or athletically related, it doesn't matter at all. What matters is that you make sure to put aside the fear of failure and TRY. Because trying could only create a better outcome by increasing your chances, but also give you insight on the topic. One thing is for sure- without trying, nobody could get anywhere in life. But, the more you keep attempting, the greater your future successes will be.
This is a very strong and persuasive quote. It promotes the idea that you have to try hard in order to achieve something. You cannot quit trying because of a chance of failure. That chance is always going to be present. However, if you try hard and practice in whatever you want to achieve, you may be able to evade that chance of failure. Being afraid of this chance is not an option because if you bend down and accept it, you will never be able to accomplish your goals. Trying is the key to everything. If you try hard enough to achieve something, you are likely to make your wish. However, if you play loosely and not try hard enough, you will be more likely to fail. This advice encompasses all goals, such as sport goals, educational goals, or even social goals. This quote means a lot to me. Often, I am afraid to try out for a new sport because I think that I have no chance of making it on a team. I do not want to make a fool of myself in front of my peers, so I give up the chance to make it onto the team. If I do decide to try out, I don’t practice as hard and when the try outs come close, I decide not to go after all because of my lack of practice and foolishness. This quote, however, gives me new insights about such things. It makes me want to try hard for something instead of simply giving up. My life is now built upon the basis of quotes such as these. I now try my best to follow this wisdom given by this quote. Another quote I often refer to in order to overcome anxiety in an activity is “One must learn how to fail before learning how to succeed.”
I believe this quote is very true and I have lived many experiences like this. If we fail at something it's okay. The journey to our destination counts more. Even though you might fail at something in the end, you have lived moments that have taught you so much. Sometimes, it's for the better if we step out of our comfort zone and explore. Our knowledge broadens and we may be introduced to a whole new world. We shouldn't be afraid to fail, but instead be afraid of not trying. If we don't try, we can miss out on so much. We never know what will happen not until we actually accomplish the task. By not trying new things, we could have just missed out on great experiences. Things may expect to be a certain way but once you try to do the task, it can be completely different. As long as you tried, you have already done your part. Determination and persistence is key.
Surprisingly, we have all lived this quote at one point of our life. For example, last year in gym we were told we were going to play California kickball with all three classes. I got nervous because I didn't want to kick the ball in front of everyone. Thoughts such as “what if I embarrass myself” or “no I don't want to do it” went through my mind. I kept on stalling off my turn because I was afraid of not being able to kick the ball correctly or just making a fool out of myself. But, eventually I had to go. I was really nervous as I kicked the ball. When I kicked it I thought I would make a foul but surprisingly I didn't. Then, I ran to first base and I felt much better. Later on, I kept running through the bases and making home runs. If I didn't go up to that base and kick the ball, I would never know how the game really is. Now I actually look forward to playing it in gym. We played it again a few days later, and when I kicked the ball I actually got it out. But I didn't feel that bad as I knew I tried.
The first thought had when I read this quote was the blatant irony of the situation. This quote tells people not to be shied away by the fear of loss, but as Vipin said, its nature for humans to be scared first. But if you are afraid to fail, you will get nowhere. Life is full of risks, and everything you do can have benefits and consequences, no matter how big or small. And if you want to get better or excel in life, you’re going to have to take chances. It could be creating a new start-up company. If it succeeds, you could become a millionaire and famous. If it fails, you would be sunk in debt and be the laughing stock of the century. Instinctively, most people would play it safe and not try, shied away from the possible risks. But people who would follow this quote would immediately go for it, dreaming about the possible rewards. Of course, there is always an immense chance of failure, but if you put enough sweat and tears, anything is possible. You just have to try. It could also be something like investing in a new startup company yourself, something new and untested. If it succeeds in the market, so will the price of your share, and you will earn tremendous sums of money. But on the other hand, if that startup is a failure and never profits, your share will plummet to the ground into nothing, and you will lose all the money you put into the company. Most people wouldn’t risk the investment since the company hasn’t been tested and it isn’t known whether the product will sell amongst consumers or not. However, people who follow the quote won’t be afraid to try out the new company and would invest with them, seeing potential for them to rise above the doubters. They wouldn’t see some naïve new company that can easily crash and burn, but instead “The Next Best Thing”, a revolution in technology, something that can bring in quite a lot of money, if the company works hard enough.
All in all, although most people don’t follow this quote, doing so would help them immensely. These people get scared by the thought of loss, the possibility that they might not get back what the put in and instead end up harming themselves instead of helping. And although that is a very real possibility, if anyone works hard enough, that possibility becomes incredibly slim. These people who work hard are the ones that change the world, the ones that advance the human race. And the best part? Anyone can do this; they just have to try.
Failing is a part of life that can either lead you to the highest potential you can possibly reach, or it can sweep out all of the hard work you have done so far and can possibly ruin your life. Many times we are strictly warned to not fail in certain areas, other times we are encouraged to fail. But when it comes to trying, nobody stops your way. To get anywhere, you have to try first. To achieve anything or to be successful you have to try before you get anywhere. Although failure can be the best thing that has happened to you or the worst, it doesn’t hurt to try. When the person who said this quote said, “Don’t Be Afraid to Fail” I don’t think he or she meant that it is good to fail. Although failing can be good sometimes, I think the real meaning is to not be afraid of doing what you love. Often, the real reason why people (including me) don’t go out there and start exposing themselves to do what they love is because they are afraid that they will fail. They are afraid that other experienced people are going to look down on them when they stumble and fall. This quote simply encourages people to do what they want and love to do, regardless of potential failure. Of course, in my opinion, you have to draw a line on that fearlessness somewhere. You can’t go take the SAT’s and not be afraid to fail. That score will determine what college you go to or what job you get. I think this quote is also targeted specifically to beginners - people who haven’t set a proper path for themselves yet. When you are a beginner, you can’t be afraid to fail. It is obvious that nobody is perfect and that you are going to make mistakes, fall down, and possibly have to start from square 1 once again. It’s near impossible to be perfect at something that you are new to. Being afraid to fail will just stunt your progress in a new skill or activity because you won’t be able to move forward in any new area. For example, when I first started cross country, I was terrible at it. To say that I was a complete weakling that was extremely horrendous at cross country is probably an understatement. But now that I think about it, if I had been too afraid to move on after my first time in a practice race was well over 17 minutes, then I wouldn’t have been able to become better at it. My time is much better now, but to be honest it’s still not that good. But this shows that it is imperative that you don’t get scared easily by failures when you are a beginner. Failures in the amateur or novice level are not there to crash your dreams or to kill your self esteem, but rather they are there as a test to see if you can learn and move on from it or not. Failures at an expert level is a different story, since they can possibly be really destructive to your career or life. But still, even at an expert level, you can’t get too comfortable with your pace, because you have to still move forward, which often requires failure. So even at an experienced level, you wouldn’t be completely protected from failure.
Trying is another inexorable part of life. Truth be told, if you don’t try, you will achieve nothing. You will get nothing. You will never accomplish what you want. Trying is the very essence of success. How did the best athletes such as Michael Phelps get where they are? How did the best businesses reach to where they are? They weren’t just born with the ability to be really good at something. No ghost or angel comes down to anyone to tell them what they will be good at. Nobody has a prophecy written down for them saying exactly what job or career will suit them best. It is your job and your own responsibility to try new things and to expose yourself to different material. That is the only way you will find out what you love to do and what you don’t like to do. As many of our parents used to tell us when we refused to eat something, “You won’t know if it’s good until you try it!” we will literally never know what our fate is if we don’t try. If Michael Phelps had never tried swimming in his life, he would never be where he is right now. If J.K. Rowling had never tried writing a book, we wouldn’t have Harry Potter. The person who said this quote is right to say that we should be afraid of not trying. If someone had the potential to become a very famous singer, but never tried singing, he or she would have lost the opportunity to reach their highest potential. Not trying is one of the worst things that you can do to yourself because you could possibly be shying away from a career or activity that can lead you to your highest success level. By not trying, you are basically destroying all of your possible success. While failing can be both the best and worst part of your life, trying is the fuel to reach your highest potential. This quote showed me how important trying is in your life. Now that I think about it, without trying, nobody in this world would have accomplished anything. Failure is a debateable topic on the other hand; it can be life changing, unfortunately, in both a negative and positive way. After all, trying exposes you to experience, failing exposes you to wisdom.
First of all, I apologize if I am repeating myself from the last blog (and that this is kind of late). This quote and the previous one are quite similar, so be warned, I compare the two a few times. That being said, I still feel that this quote has a twinge of individuality to it, relating to me personally in a slightly different way than last blog’s quote did. “Don't Be Afraid to Fail. Be afraid NOT to try.” Last time, the quote was scarily similar to the advice I’m often given, since mistakes are a prominent fear of mine. This time, the quote is actually the opposite—advice I give to others. Oftentimes I’ll find myself in a situation where I am surrounded by honors students who are, usually, (I say ‘usually’ because there are exceptions, including myself) obsessed with their grades. They always strive for that perfect “A”, fight for every point, and lament over a “B”. Don’t get me wrong, it is absolutely wonderful that they want to succeed and try their hardest to achieve above-average scores, but they, sometimes without even realizing it, impose this mentality too harshly on themselves. In other words, they are afraid of failure, and feed this phobia by setting impossibly high standards for themselves. I’m always trying to relax panicking friends about their grades. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether you got that good grade you wanted or if you totally flunked a test. Yeah, that’s right—no difference. All that matters, in the grand scheme of things, is that you honestly and wholeheartedly tried your best, because you had the bravery and determination to actually TRY in the first place. Trying helps you grow, learn, and discover things about topics you want to master, as well as yourself. Maybe the reason you failed that algebra final was because it’s just not your thing, not because you’re daft. That failure could show you that you want to focus on literature and the arts in your life instead of numbers and calculations. I’m fortunate to have wonderful parents who encourage the practice of trying your best and accepting the results knowing that you worked to your full potential. It is true that you can’t fail if you don’t try, but you also cannot achieve without trying, and you can’t try without some aspect of failure. It’s all connected. Failure is a fantastic thing that teaches you and helps you become more wise with your choices. Why be afraid of it? Lack of effort and attempting are what people should fear instead. Those characteristics show revolting laziness. What many of my friends don’t realize is that there is a crucial difference between the failure of a person who tries, and that of a person who does not. The person who tried will learn from the experience, grow, and bounce back with a more enlightened mind. The person who did not try will continue to fail, because they will take nothing from the failure. Just the simple change in mental perspective and the effort you put into something will determine whether your failures are really failures.
Amitesh Arya The quote seems quite contradictory to what you will be told by most responsible parents, teachers, and other adults, who would want you to "play it safe" and to avoid risks People tend to to reach their full potential to achieve a goal, but also are driven to not fail as they fear failing. Failure is something that can be used as a drive, or the fear or it can limit success. If someone fuels themselves to avoid failure, it will only take them so far, as not failing and fully succeeding are not the same thing. Failure can also prevent someone to attempt something, limiting their potential. Many people avoid trying out something new, which they could be very good at but choose to avoid it as they are afraid of failing at it, causing them to “play it safe”, and losing their potential opportunity.
“Don't be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try”, presents an opposing way of life compared to “playing it safe”. It says to take chances as trying is equivalent to taking a risk. Many people are afraid to try, as failure is a greatly feared aftermath of trying . Don't be afraid to fail, presents how failing can be not all negative and be used to promote success how it can. For example, if you are climbing a rock wall and you fail at a certain spot, you know not to go that way one your second attempt. This shows how failure provides you with first hand knowledge that you would not have gotten if you did not try, which can help guarantee your success the second time. Overall this section of the quote says not to be discouraged by failure but to let it encourage you to do better the next time. Be afraid not to try tells you to always take risks and chances as there are times where you won't get a lot of opportunities and if you choose not to take that opportunity you will regret it. Many successful people had to try a plethora of times before reaching their success. In conclusion, this quote strongly supports our current generation as with so many new platforms arising, and the technological revolution, taking chances is what we need to do.
This quote seemed a little bit confusing for me at first (although I can tell all of you will probably feel the same thing), but very quickly I came to realize what it meant and its significance. And I totally agree. Life is all about taking chances, and if you don’t take them, then you’ll probably be sorry that you never did them towards the end of your life, and your heart will be filled with regret. Then again, though, who knows? We might all pass on today or tomorrow...only God and the future know! Thus, it’s imperative for each and every one of us to live life to the fullest, even when it feels like there is no purpose to today. And even if it does feel like that, MAKE your own purpose! And it’s ok if we mess up and fail, like Neil Gaiman said in his New Year’s wish, but it’s better to “Fall down seven times, get up eight” (as the Japanese say) than to never even take the first step and still be at the starting line of the race when others are already coming back from the finish.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, this reminds me a lot of 8 Mile, though I’ve never watched the whole film. In the movie (SPOILER ALERT!), the main character, B-Rabbit (Eminem), seeks to build a career from rapping, and goes to a club called the “Shelter” to rap battle on advice from his friend Future. In his first rap battle, he ends up choking (not being able to say anything) and leaves the stage in failure. But then, he comes back much harder than he did before, and then beats two other rappers with ease before finally defeating Papa Doc, the Shelter’s defending championship. In essence, even though B-rabbit fails his first battle horribly, he doesn’t give in or give up, which ultimately makes him the champion. (SPOILERS END HERE!)
In my perspective, I can relate to this quote with my first performance at my Jain temple. I was listening to one person sing bhajans (devotional songs), and I was amazed. Then, my dad asked me, “Do you want to go up there and sing too?” Without hesitation, I replied, “Yes!” and after some time, Dad brought me up on stage and let me perform. And as I went on stage, I sang with all my heart, and in the end, I guess you could say I received my due applause. But when I think of it in retrospect, I realize now that if I was scared to sing or if I was pessimistic and said that there was no way I could go on stage, then I would never have been able to give my first stage performance (outside of my Indian Classical annual recitals). In fact, I don’t even think my music career would’ve even taken flight!
But back to the quote, it’s very important to try things in life, because even if you fail, you can still say that you did something. But if you don’t try anything in life, life has no meaning; “It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.” ~ Edgar Lee Masters, “George Gray” :-)
Like Sparsh had mentioned before, this quote confused me at first. Typically, human nature would tell you to be afraid of failure and to not try something that you aren't confident with. But as I thought about it, I realized that this was true and it is actually helpful. For example. in Mrs. Nix's room, there is a poster saying that you will miss 100% of the shots you don't take. The quote on that poster relates to this quote. They both talk about taking opportunities and trying your best even if you aren't guaranteed to succeed. Like the quote says, there is nothing wrong with failing but you should never stop trying due to potential failure. It is imperative that our lives consist of risks and leaps for the future instead of a "confined" lifestyle. This will help you live life to the fullest and enjoy life. You never know where risks can take you so you will always be looking forward to your future. This will also provide for chances at greatness and chances to make your life more and more colorful. I would like to take risks in life as I grow older because I want to get somewhere. Living in a confined life will promise you the same stable lifestyle everyday but taking risks will allow you to turn new corners and discover new places. While failing is an inevitable part of life, it is your choice to keep on trying. This choice will make or break you. It can lead you to the life you've been looking for. For this reason, it is important that you chase your dreams and not let mistakes stop you. Some of the greatest people in history had to work through failures to become so great. For example, Steve Jobs had to work at NeXT, a failing company, just to make a living. Eventually, he used the NeXT tech to then work at Apple. From there, he became the great businessman that we know today. Jobs had to face adversity through his whole career yet he didn't give up. He continued his pursuit of personal computers. Eventually, he ended up as the CEO of Apple and made his dream reality. He made mistakes and survived failure but no matter what happened, he kept trying. His perseverance allowed him to pull through and bring personal computers to american households.
ReplyDeleteJust like Jobs and many other greats, I want to keep on trying no matter what. Even if I fail, I want to be proud that I will keep on trying. It will not only build self-esteem but a life-long sense of hard-work and drive. What I become in the future will depend if I want to keep trying. It will depend on my choice to not give up. Although failure can be embarrassing and can act as discouragement, it is never an excuse to stop trying. For that reason, I want o incorporate the idea of failure and perseverance into my life to create a more happy and diverse future.
This quote felt confusing to me when I first read it. This because it is the opposite of what humans naturally think. We always are cautious about making a good impression, and we never want to fail. We are always afraid of trying things. Especially new things like food or a new style or anything like that. This quote is also very similar to the quote that we reacted to last month. Trying things lets us have more opportunities, and if we don't try new things, there is no spice to life. we shouldn't just go through our routine every single day. We need to try new things in order to learn stuff.
ReplyDeleteAt least you should be trying to do something instead of killing time, Making a mistake just tells you what to do. It is like mistakes are the boss of life. In the last part it tells us to keep on making mistakes and create new things.
I really wish that I could manage to implement this quote into my life and see the difference his words will make, and how it will really help me.
“Don’t be afraid to fail.”
ReplyDeleteBeing afraid to fail is one of the many mundane mistakes, we as humans, make. We have all made this mistake at least once in our lifetime. We have only been here for at least thirteen years, yet we have made decisions due to the fear of failing. What we do not realize is that these mistakes are what make us humans. Whether it was to join a new sport, learn a new instrument, or even make a new friend, we have all given up on something. The fear of failing is with all of us. It’s not our fault--but we never try to overcome this fear. After all, the greatest fear is fear itself. The fear of failing is one of the greatest fears of our minds. But like any fear, we can conquer it. All it takes is to think to yourself that you cannot fail. Even though this is not true, it has the specific encouragement we need to get up and try new things. I mean, the first step to success is to fail. There is a specific acronym that supports this:
F- first
A- attempt
I- in
L- learning
This acronym summarizes everything there is to say about failing. It’s true--failing IS the first attempt in learning. The phrase, “Practice makes perfect,” has the same meaning as the acronym. Failing is a form of practice. In fact, practice is failing. As many as times you fail, you are in truth just practicing for whatever is your ultimate achievement. What the statement should really be is, “Failing makes perfect.” Failure is the same thing as making mistakes. Making these mistakes (as we know from the last blog) is the most important thing in life. Failing A.K.A. mistakes are the one thing that keeps the world alive. Brilliant minds such as Albert Einstein, have failed. Yet now, he is known as the most intelligent man that was ever alive. Whenever people hear the word “genius” nowadays, people in a flash think of Albert Einstein. Yet, no one knows his story about failure. He couldn’t even speak fluent English until he was nine years of age. He got expelled and was rejected from colleges. But, somehow, through all of those failures and struggles, he still became the man he was. The same story goes for Thomas Edison. Yet his failures impacted our lives so much today. Being afraid to fail is just a fear and nothing more. To overcome and conquer this fear, you need to know that the first step to success is to fail.
“Be afraid NOT to try.”
DeleteThis part of the quote has a similar meaning to the first. Just like before, people live in the fear that taking risks, trying new things is scary. The reality is...it IS scary. Why wouldn’t it be scary? Risks are new things that you have never done in your entire life. You don’t know if you’ll like it or not or if you will fail at it or not. But that is what makes taking these risks exciting. They will change your life if you just take them. What is the definition of “risk?” Risk, according to Google is, “a person or thing regarded as likely to turn out well or badly, as specified, in a particular context or respect.” This definition is true. You don’t know if your risk will turn out to be good or bad. What really matters is that you took it. It will you a new outlook on life. It most likely will change your definition of life. The quote, “Live life to the fullest,” is the most popular of quotes but it’s one of the facts of life. In life, we do not know how long we have. It can be even tomorrow. But this is the reason why we have to at least try to live. Try to have all the experiences of the world. Try to enjoy life. You don’t want to go from this world, regretting that you’ve never done anything but boring, everyday things your entire life. You need to have a legendary life. Other quotes, such as, “Don’t give up on your dreams,” also refer to taking risks in your life. Dreams can be outrageous and can even seem impossible to achieve. But if you really want to take that risk...you can achieve your dream. You need to take that extra step and not let go no matter what. Even if you feel tired and/or scared--just don’t let go. Taking this extra step is what made geniuses such as Steve Jobs or even Bill Gates. Steve Jobs even got fired from his own company but still continued not letting go until he was finally admitted back into Apple. But, risks can be small or big. It doesn’t matter the intensity of it. Whether it be trying a new ice cream flavor or a new chocolate flavor (I had a Chili-flavored chocolate today) it doesn’t matter. Try anything--just take that risk and be afraid NOT to try.
I had to to do this in parts. I had too many characters.
DeleteAs wise as this quote is, honestly speaking, I don’t live by this quote. Have I in the past sworn to myself to try new things? Of course, I have. And have I done new things? Yeah, of course. It’s kind of inevitable. I will learn algebra. I will learn how to drive. I will pay taxes. All of these things are new to me. New things will inevitably enter my life.
ReplyDeleteI just find the message of this quote unrealistic. As much as we’d like to tell ourselves, “Trying is what counts,” it’s not exactly true. We all try. Not all of us are awarded with the same results for the same amount of trying. Some of us will succeed, some of us will fail. No one tells, “Ok self, today I will fail ________ so that I can learn from this mistake and then because I learned from that mistake, I will be successful.” Fear of failure is not unreasonable.
It seems like everyone is encouraging us to make mistakes and to fail, so that we’ll learn from our mistakes to do something even better. But honestly… No one wants to fail. Because we always think of how it will be at the moment. At the moment of failure, it will feel as if… you are a failure. Like you are your parents’ greatest disappointment, or an embarrassment to mankind. So, I suppose we do all we can to try to avoid this feeling, right? Though everyone says it’s okay to fail, is it really? Sure, people say, “it’s ok to fail”, but why are they so disappointed in you when you do fail? If failing is okay, why does society make out failure to be the worst thing possible? Failure defines you. If you fail to meet the academic standards, you won’t get a good job, you’ll probably work at McDonalds even when you’re 40, you’ll live in a run-down neighborhood, you’ll struggle to build and support a family, and your children will have a tough life. Because of your failure. Failure has a chain reaction. To avoid that aforementioned scenario, we do all we can to avoid failure.
But failure is something unavoidable. It will inevitably happen to you, no matter how hard you try to dodge failure. The harder you try to dodge failure, the more damage the failure will do. So, what is the point of dodging failure if it’s bound to happen? There are degrees to failure. Some can be as small as screwing up a fourth-grade science test or as large as going bankrupt. The greater the risk, the more damage the failure will cause. The more you try, the worse the failure will be. If you simply try to draw an apple, the worst failure that can result in that is that your drawing of an apple looks like an orange. But if you decide to try to jump off a cliff, your failure of such a task can result in your death.
When we make a decision, we oftentimes weigh the possibility or chance of failure. If I work with _________ for my World History project, I have a 23% of getting a less than ideal grade. If I play recreational basketball, I have a 78% of getting injured, ending my athletic career. If I punch _________, I have a 59% chance of getting caught and being suspended, ruining my academic career. Failure affects our decisions. That fear of failure drives our lives. This fear is also what makes the difference between an ordinary accountant in New York and Taylor Swift. Both people may have the same amount of talent. But Taylor Swift’s fear of failure did not stop her from becoming the queen of pop she is, while the NY accountant. Fear is oftentimes what hold us back, not talent.
After we die, we will most likely be forgotten and washed away into oblivion. But to those who do remember us, our failures don’t define our lives. No one is going to remember you as the person who screwed up a fourth-grade science test. But people who do remember you, they will remember you for what you had done, what you had tried. They will remember you to the be the person that decided to do a backflip on a skateboard that is on fire at the age of 5, the person dyed their hair a neon blue at the age of 30, the person who skydived on his 67th birthday.
Try new things. Don’t let your fear of failure rule your life.
Although this phrase has a deep meaning, it puzzled me the first time I read it because of the way it was worded. However, after rereading the quote a couple times, I understood what it suggests- you shouldn't be afraid of failing something, but instead you should be afraid of not trying it. And I agree completely with this. In my life, there have been plenty of instances where I was afraid to appear unsuccessful, and therefore ended up not attempting the task. However, from this quote I can interpret trial and error should be an essential part of life. If not, you might end up missing out on many wonderful opportunities that could have led to success. In my opinion, this quote can be used as a lesson in many different perspectives.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I think that the quote suggests to try new things in order to get farther in life. Like I was saying earlier, if you're afraid of failure, you would never want to try anything new, and instead tend to stick with the activities you're familiar with. This would only lead to less knowledge. On the other hand, if you experiment with new things, your experience and knowledge will expand greatly. As a result, you will learn countless new things, ranging from concepts as simple as math problems to as wild as doing a flip while on a bicycle.
Furthermore, trying but failing is much better than not trying at all. For example, when a baby first learns to walk, he or she doesn't just get right up and start walking all of a sudden. Instead, they try many times and even fail, and eventually, learn to walk like an ordinary person. Now if the baby never tried to walk at all in fear of falling down, he or she may have never even learned to walk at all. The same idea can be applied for other instances. If you try, you may be encountered by failure at first. But the experience can help you achieve your goal over time, and that's what counts the most.
I think that this quote was originally said by Michael Jordan. As he's a basketball player, I often think of this quote as a connection of the sport itself. For example, on the court, you have a decision- whether to shoot the ball that is in your hands or whether to let the opponent or another teammate take it. You have an opportunity- it is up to you whether you want to take it and risk failure or not take it and eliminate the chance of failure as a whole. If you decide to shoot the ball, you have a chance of making it in the basket. Even if you don't make it, you still gained experience, because now you know not to make the same mistake again. But, if you decide not to take the shot entirely, you have zero possibility of scoring a point. You never know- if you had shot, you could have made it. But you lost the opportunity.
Overall, this quote applies in our everyday perspectives of life. Whether it is academically or athletically related, it doesn't matter at all. What matters is that you make sure to put aside the fear of failure and TRY. Because trying could only create a better outcome by increasing your chances, but also give you insight on the topic. One thing is for sure- without trying, nobody could get anywhere in life. But, the more you keep attempting, the greater your future successes will be.
This is a very strong and persuasive quote. It promotes the idea that you have to try hard in order to achieve something. You cannot quit trying because of a chance of failure. That chance is always going to be present. However, if you try hard and practice in whatever you want to achieve, you may be able to evade that chance of failure. Being afraid of this chance is not an option because if you bend down and accept it, you will never be able to accomplish your goals. Trying is the key to everything. If you try hard enough to achieve something, you are likely to make your wish. However, if you play loosely and not try hard enough, you will be more likely to fail. This advice encompasses all goals, such as sport goals, educational goals, or even social goals.
ReplyDeleteThis quote means a lot to me. Often, I am afraid to try out for a new sport because I think that I have no chance of making it on a team. I do not want to make a fool of myself in front of my peers, so I give up the chance to make it onto the team. If I do decide to try out, I don’t practice as hard and when the try outs come close, I decide not to go after all because of my lack of practice and foolishness. This quote, however, gives me new insights about such things. It makes me want to try hard for something instead of simply giving up. My life is now built upon the basis of quotes such as these. I now try my best to follow this wisdom given by this quote. Another quote I often refer to in order to overcome anxiety in an activity is “One must learn how to fail before learning how to succeed.”
I believe this quote is very true and I have lived many experiences like this. If we fail at something it's okay. The journey to our destination counts more. Even though you might fail at something in the end, you have lived moments that have taught you so much. Sometimes, it's for the better if we step out of our comfort zone and explore. Our knowledge broadens and we may be introduced to a whole new world. We shouldn't be afraid to fail, but instead be afraid of not trying. If we don't try, we can miss out on so much. We never know what will happen not until we actually accomplish the task. By not trying new things, we could have just missed out on great experiences. Things may expect to be a certain way but once you try to do the task, it can be completely different. As long as you tried, you have already done your part. Determination and persistence is key.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, we have all lived this quote at one point of our life. For example, last year in gym we were told we were going to play California kickball with all three classes. I got nervous because I didn't want to kick the ball in front of everyone. Thoughts such as “what if I embarrass myself” or “no I don't want to do it” went through my mind. I kept on stalling off my turn because I was afraid of not being able to kick the ball correctly or just making a fool out of myself. But, eventually I had to go. I was really nervous as I kicked the ball. When I kicked it I thought I would make a foul but surprisingly I didn't. Then, I ran to first base and I felt much better. Later on, I kept running through the bases and making home runs. If I didn't go up to that base and kick the ball, I would never know how the game really is. Now I actually look forward to playing it in gym. We played it again a few days later, and when I kicked the ball I actually got it out. But I didn't feel that bad as I knew I tried.
Snehil Agrawal
ReplyDeleteThe first thought had when I read this quote was the blatant irony of the situation. This quote tells people not to be shied away by the fear of loss, but as Vipin said, its nature for humans to be scared first. But if you are afraid to fail, you will get nowhere. Life is full of risks, and everything you do can have benefits and consequences, no matter how big or small. And if you want to get better or excel in life, you’re going to have to take chances. It could be creating a new start-up company. If it succeeds, you could become a millionaire and famous. If it fails, you would be sunk in debt and be the laughing stock of the century. Instinctively, most people would play it safe and not try, shied away from the possible risks. But people who would follow this quote would immediately go for it, dreaming about the possible rewards. Of course, there is always an immense chance of failure, but if you put enough sweat and tears, anything is possible. You just have to try. It could also be something like investing in a new startup company yourself, something new and untested. If it succeeds in the market, so will the price of your share, and you will earn tremendous sums of money. But on the other hand, if that startup is a failure and never profits, your share will plummet to the ground into nothing, and you will lose all the money you put into the company. Most people wouldn’t risk the investment since the company hasn’t been tested and it isn’t known whether the product will sell amongst consumers or not. However, people who follow the quote won’t be afraid to try out the new company and would invest with them, seeing potential for them to rise above the doubters. They wouldn’t see some naïve new company that can easily crash and burn, but instead “The Next Best Thing”, a revolution in technology, something that can bring in quite a lot of money, if the company works hard enough.
All in all, although most people don’t follow this quote, doing so would help them immensely. These people get scared by the thought of loss, the possibility that they might not get back what the put in and instead end up harming themselves instead of helping. And although that is a very real possibility, if anyone works hard enough, that possibility becomes incredibly slim. These people who work hard are the ones that change the world, the ones that advance the human race. And the best part? Anyone can do this; they just have to try.
Failing is a part of life that can either lead you to the highest potential you can possibly reach, or it can sweep out all of the hard work you have done so far and can possibly ruin your life. Many times we are strictly warned to not fail in certain areas, other times we are encouraged to fail. But when it comes to trying, nobody stops your way. To get anywhere, you have to try first. To achieve anything or to be successful you have to try before you get anywhere. Although failure can be the best thing that has happened to you or the worst, it doesn’t hurt to try.
ReplyDeleteWhen the person who said this quote said, “Don’t Be Afraid to Fail” I don’t think he or she meant that it is good to fail. Although failing can be good sometimes, I think the real meaning is to not be afraid of doing what you love. Often, the real reason why people (including me) don’t go out there and start exposing themselves to do what they love is because they are afraid that they will fail. They are afraid that other experienced people are going to look down on them when they stumble and fall. This quote simply encourages people to do what they want and love to do, regardless of potential failure. Of course, in my opinion, you have to draw a line on that fearlessness somewhere. You can’t go take the SAT’s and not be afraid to fail. That score will determine what college you go to or what job you get. I think this quote is also targeted specifically to beginners - people who haven’t set a proper path for themselves yet. When you are a beginner, you can’t be afraid to fail. It is obvious that nobody is perfect and that you are going to make mistakes, fall down, and possibly have to start from square 1 once again. It’s near impossible to be perfect at something that you are new to. Being afraid to fail will just stunt your progress in a new skill or activity because you won’t be able to move forward in any new area. For example, when I first started cross country, I was terrible at it. To say that I was a complete weakling that was extremely horrendous at cross country is probably an understatement. But now that I think about it, if I had been too afraid to move on after my first time in a practice race was well over 17 minutes, then I wouldn’t have been able to become better at it. My time is much better now, but to be honest it’s still not that good. But this shows that it is imperative that you don’t get scared easily by failures when you are a beginner. Failures in the amateur or novice level are not there to crash your dreams or to kill your self esteem, but rather they are there as a test to see if you can learn and move on from it or not. Failures at an expert level is a different story, since they can possibly be really destructive to your career or life. But still, even at an expert level, you can’t get too comfortable with your pace, because you have to still move forward, which often requires failure. So even at an experienced level, you wouldn’t be completely protected from failure.
Trying is another inexorable part of life. Truth be told, if you don’t try, you will achieve nothing. You will get nothing. You will never accomplish what you want. Trying is the very essence of success. How did the best athletes such as Michael Phelps get where they are? How did the best businesses reach to where they are? They weren’t just born with the ability to be really good at something. No ghost or angel comes down to anyone to tell them what they will be good at. Nobody has a prophecy written down for them saying exactly what job or career will suit them best. It is your job and your own responsibility to try new things and to expose yourself to different material. That is the only way you will find out what you love to do and what you don’t like to do. As many of our parents used to tell us when we refused to eat something, “You won’t know if it’s good until you try it!” we will literally never know what our fate is if we don’t try. If Michael Phelps had never tried swimming in his life, he would never be where he is right now. If J.K. Rowling had never tried writing a book, we wouldn’t have Harry Potter. The person who said this quote is right to say that we should be afraid of not trying. If someone had the potential to become a very famous singer, but never tried singing, he or she would have lost the opportunity to reach their highest potential. Not trying is one of the worst things that you can do to yourself because you could possibly be shying away from a career or activity that can lead you to your highest success level. By not trying, you are basically destroying all of your possible success.
ReplyDeleteWhile failing can be both the best and worst part of your life, trying is the fuel to reach your highest potential. This quote showed me how important trying is in your life. Now that I think about it, without trying, nobody in this world would have accomplished anything. Failure is a debateable topic on the other hand; it can be life changing, unfortunately, in both a negative and positive way. After all, trying exposes you to experience, failing exposes you to wisdom.
First of all, I apologize if I am repeating myself from the last blog (and that this is kind of late). This quote and the previous one are quite similar, so be warned, I compare the two a few times. That being said, I still feel that this quote has a twinge of individuality to it, relating to me personally in a slightly different way than last blog’s quote did. “Don't Be Afraid to Fail. Be afraid NOT to try.” Last time, the quote was scarily similar to the advice I’m often given, since mistakes are a prominent fear of mine. This time, the quote is actually the opposite—advice I give to others. Oftentimes I’ll find myself in a situation where I am surrounded by honors students who are, usually, (I say ‘usually’ because there are exceptions, including myself) obsessed with their grades. They always strive for that perfect “A”, fight for every point, and lament over a “B”. Don’t get me wrong, it is absolutely wonderful that they want to succeed and try their hardest to achieve above-average scores, but they, sometimes without even realizing it, impose this mentality too harshly on themselves. In other words, they are afraid of failure, and feed this phobia by setting impossibly high standards for themselves. I’m always trying to relax panicking friends about their grades. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether you got that good grade you wanted or if you totally flunked a test. Yeah, that’s right—no difference. All that matters, in the grand scheme of things, is that you honestly and wholeheartedly tried your best, because you had the bravery and determination to actually TRY in the first place. Trying helps you grow, learn, and discover things about topics you want to master, as well as yourself. Maybe the reason you failed that algebra final was because it’s just not your thing, not because you’re daft. That failure could show you that you want to focus on literature and the arts in your life instead of numbers and calculations. I’m fortunate to have wonderful parents who encourage the practice of trying your best and accepting the results knowing that you worked to your full potential. It is true that you can’t fail if you don’t try, but you also cannot achieve without trying, and you can’t try without some aspect of failure. It’s all connected. Failure is a fantastic thing that teaches you and helps you become more wise with your choices. Why be afraid of it? Lack of effort and attempting are what people should fear instead. Those characteristics show revolting laziness. What many of my friends don’t realize is that there is a crucial difference between the failure of a person who tries, and that of a person who does not. The person who tried will learn from the experience, grow, and bounce back with a more enlightened mind. The person who did not try will continue to fail, because they will take nothing from the failure. Just the simple change in mental perspective and the effort you put into something will determine whether your failures are really failures.
ReplyDeleteVery deep thinking here, I love it!
ReplyDeleteAmitesh Arya
ReplyDeleteThe quote seems quite contradictory to what you will be told by most responsible parents, teachers, and other adults, who would want you to "play it safe" and to avoid risks People tend to to reach their full potential to achieve a goal, but also are driven to not fail as they fear failing. Failure is something that can be used as a drive, or the fear or it can limit success. If someone fuels themselves to avoid failure, it will only take them so far, as not failing and fully succeeding are not the same thing. Failure can also prevent someone to attempt something, limiting their potential. Many people avoid trying out something new, which they could be very good at but choose to avoid it as they are afraid of failing at it, causing them to “play it safe”, and losing their potential opportunity.
“Don't be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try”, presents an opposing way of life compared to “playing it safe”. It says to take chances as trying is equivalent to taking a risk. Many people are afraid to try, as failure is a greatly feared aftermath of trying . Don't be afraid to fail, presents how failing can be not all negative and be used to promote success how it can. For example, if you are climbing a rock wall and you fail at a certain spot, you know not to go that way one your second attempt. This shows how failure provides you with first hand knowledge that you would not have gotten if you did not try, which can help guarantee your success the second time. Overall this section of the quote says not to be discouraged by failure but to let it encourage you to do better the next time. Be afraid not to try tells you to always take risks and chances as there are times where you won't get a lot of opportunities and if you choose not to take that opportunity you will regret it. Many successful people had to try a plethora of times before reaching their success.
In conclusion, this quote strongly supports our current generation as with so many new platforms arising, and the technological revolution, taking chances is what we need to do.