The Fringe Benefits of Failure

Failure is something we all fear. The idea that we put our hearts and efforts into accomplishing something, and then fall short is one of the most dreaded feelings in the world. JK Rowling's talk was a really important talk for me personally to hear. I fear failing, and honestly, I think that this fear of failing often leads to my failure in putting all my effort into tasks, that way I always have an excuse if I do fail. But I have come to see that by doing this, I am already failing; failing to grow, failing to learn, failing to reach my full potential.

JK Rowling said that "Failure is a means for stripping away the inessential." When we fail, we direct all our energies to what is really important to us. When we hit rock bottom, it can become the bottom foundation on which to begin building something great. It is all in how we look at the situation. In HCSC, we may fail. We may try to put together an event that is a total flop, but in the end it is merely a part of the growing process. A growing pain, if you will. It is impossible to live without failing at something. Every single person who has ever lived, and ever accomplished greatly, has failed at something at some point. What will set us apart in the end is what we do with that failure. We have one of two options:

1. Feel badly for ourselves, and live in fear of failure for the rest of our lives

or

2. Use the failure as a springboard to our next great achievement or moment

While it seems easy in theory, I'm sure it's very hard in practice. But hey, since when was practice ever easy, right? It's the hard things that make us stronger. It's all about how we respond. I challenge everyone, including myself, to let go of the fear of failure, and put ourselves totally into whatever project we are undertaking. Only in doing this can we ever have the hope of reaching greatness.

How Leaders Inspire Action

Simon Sinek talked about this concept of "the Golden Circle", and why companies like apple or men like Martin Luther King Jr. stand our from the crowd as excellent. Why is it that they succeeded where others failed?

The major point that Sinek hit on over and over again was that "People won't buy/buy into what they do, they buy why you do it." If you are trying to do some thing just because you want fame, riches, etc no one will be interested in you, your work, or your cause. What ever cause we have and try to accomplish needs to be rooted into some sort of belief. This ties into our work at the Humanities Student Council because we need to know why we are working towards the goals that we are trying to accomplish in order for any of them to succeed. If we want people to follow, we need to inspire. This sounds like a lofty calling especially for a student council, I know. But it's something we need to figure out how to do in order to lead and succeed.

"The majority will not try something unless someone else tries it first." They do these things for themselves, because they wanted to be first. People do things that prove what they believe. To be a leader, we can't be afraid to be innovators. Trying something first is scary. No doubt about that. But as leaders we have to take risks, safe risks, planned risks, but risks nonetheless.