Comments on: Are You A Failure Germaphobe?

By: Madhu

Madhu — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 23:21:19 +0000

Hi …
nice articles u have here…
just a small note, at the risk of seeming nit-picky, that you should probably change “you should increase your failure rate” to “….increase your failures”. One cannot increase both one’s success and failure rate at the same time
Keep up the good work
Madhu.

By: Jethro

Jethro — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 19:52:08 +0000

I just got a call an hour ago about a possible programming job and I have to either interview some time tomorrow or not at all because the hiring manager will be out of town and wants to make a decision this week. I’m probably not going to get the job, since I haven’t coded in that language in over 6 months and I don’t really have any time at all to brush up. I don’t even know why I got called to interview.

I probably wouldn’t have even agreed to interview under these circumstances, but now I’m going to do it. At least I’ll get some good “failure experience” out of the way when I bomb the interview and make a complete fool of myself.

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 20:03:29 +0000

This looks a lot like the Eric Sink article, “Make More Mistakes,” with a bit of a different spin (I love the list of benefits!) It continues to be relevant, and I could use to keep it in mind.

It took me almost 5 years to pull myself out of the procrastination trap, and I’ve been working hard to help others so they don’t take as long.

Five years?! I’ve got at least 8 or 9. If I’m good at anything, it’s procrastination. Working on it.

By: Steve Weber

Steve Weber — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 12:25:47 +0000

I know everybody says, you got to lose to know how to win — “Dream On”, Aerosmith.

Also, Nana korobi ya oki, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.” (Japanese saying, sometimes attributed to the Chinese)

I can’t begin to count how many friends I have at college who excuse their behavior or inaction by saying “oh, I was going to fail anyway”. It took me almost 5 years to pull myself out of the procrastination trap, and I’ve been working hard to help others so they don’t take as long.

Thanks to Steve, and encouragement to the whole community.

By: Mark Sicignano

Mark Sicignano — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 02:37:29 +0000

Steve, I like the article. Reminds me of an “African Proverb” that I read a while back and I’m sure somebody can find the actual text on the Internet, but it went something like this:

“When you stumble, it usually makes you move forward faster.”

By: neon

neon — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:15:54 +0000

This is really awesome opener. I like your courage article the most and this is my second favorite. I think the problem of fear is in the most important thing to be talked about. If there’s fear, there’s no real LIFE. Thank you very much Steve. I am going to fail on purpose from tomorrow.

By: Mike Hogan

Mike Hogan — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 21:15:37 +0000

Dude, you rock! This rocks! I am going to make “small failures” my watch word