Yesterday, we talked about the importance of sticking to your dreams and never giving up. Today is a new day.
Some of the world's most inspirational ideas have come from making mistakes and not giving up. Post-in notes were conceived when Spencer Silver failed to make a super strong adhesive. He instead created a very weak one that didn't leave behind any residue and Art Fry saw this and thought of a convenient way to make it useful. Rather than giving and abandoning the idea of a weak adhesive, they decided to persevere and think of a use for it. Years later post-it notes are used worldwide.
My favorite example is Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. People like to write him off as if he were a prodigy. "He was a genius!" That's just an excuse to justify our own mediocrity. Einstein wasn't merely a genius. He dedicated YEARS of his life perfecting his theory of relativity. He was criticized, ridiculed, his wife left him, and despite all of the shit he went through he chased his dream with unrelenting tenacity. He faced the struggle and persevered until he finally came up with what we now know as the theory of relativity.
The difference between the average person and Einstein is the amount of time and effort he put in to his work. He wasn't born smart and talented. He earned it through overcoming countless trials and tribulations. He achieved it by never giving up and developing his mind by learning from his failures.
Those born at the top often can't recreate the success of their parents because they didn't have to experience the pain and hardship that comes with failure. The mistakes they made didn't carry the same weight and so the lessons from them didn't propel them as far as those who had to struggle and work harder to get to where they are today.
When I draw I often make mistakes. Some mistakes are easily corrected, but oftentimes I make mistakes that force me to think of alternate ways to finish my picture. It makes it very difficult for me to make things like recreations (I am terrible in this regard), but I've learned to go with the flow and adapt to the situation. My art is an expression of this trait. I still have so much learning to do, but with each mistake - each piece, I'm noticing growth in my skill and ability to conceptualize my pieces.
Had I been perfect every time I would undoubtedly be able to create some amazing things (I have many concepts that end up changing drastically when they're being laid down on the paper), but I think my mistakes represent my actual character more than any grand idea I may come up with. They humble and ground me to reality.
It's okay to make mistakes. Don't beat yourself up over them. If you're gonna spend time and energy thinking about it, try thinking about what you can learn from them and what you can do moving forward. You never know, with enough hard work, determination, and the will to keep going you might become the next Einstein.
Peace
"The person who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything." - Edward John PhillipsPeople like to plan out there lives. We tend to overestimate our ability to predict the future and plan things out. Nobody is perfect, yet we have this idea that perfection is the ideal way to live. We've become conditioned to think that if we fail that means we're not worthy. But nobody who's made it to the top ever got there unscathed.
Some of the world's most inspirational ideas have come from making mistakes and not giving up. Post-in notes were conceived when Spencer Silver failed to make a super strong adhesive. He instead created a very weak one that didn't leave behind any residue and Art Fry saw this and thought of a convenient way to make it useful. Rather than giving and abandoning the idea of a weak adhesive, they decided to persevere and think of a use for it. Years later post-it notes are used worldwide.
My favorite example is Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. People like to write him off as if he were a prodigy. "He was a genius!" That's just an excuse to justify our own mediocrity. Einstein wasn't merely a genius. He dedicated YEARS of his life perfecting his theory of relativity. He was criticized, ridiculed, his wife left him, and despite all of the shit he went through he chased his dream with unrelenting tenacity. He faced the struggle and persevered until he finally came up with what we now know as the theory of relativity.
The difference between the average person and Einstein is the amount of time and effort he put in to his work. He wasn't born smart and talented. He earned it through overcoming countless trials and tribulations. He achieved it by never giving up and developing his mind by learning from his failures.
Those born at the top often can't recreate the success of their parents because they didn't have to experience the pain and hardship that comes with failure. The mistakes they made didn't carry the same weight and so the lessons from them didn't propel them as far as those who had to struggle and work harder to get to where they are today.
When I draw I often make mistakes. Some mistakes are easily corrected, but oftentimes I make mistakes that force me to think of alternate ways to finish my picture. It makes it very difficult for me to make things like recreations (I am terrible in this regard), but I've learned to go with the flow and adapt to the situation. My art is an expression of this trait. I still have so much learning to do, but with each mistake - each piece, I'm noticing growth in my skill and ability to conceptualize my pieces.
Had I been perfect every time I would undoubtedly be able to create some amazing things (I have many concepts that end up changing drastically when they're being laid down on the paper), but I think my mistakes represent my actual character more than any grand idea I may come up with. They humble and ground me to reality.
It's okay to make mistakes. Don't beat yourself up over them. If you're gonna spend time and energy thinking about it, try thinking about what you can learn from them and what you can do moving forward. You never know, with enough hard work, determination, and the will to keep going you might become the next Einstein.
Peace
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| Mistakes are proof that we're trying. They're a good thing. |
Today's assignment: Make at least one mistake and enjoy it thoroughly. What can you learn from it?
ReplyDeleteLeave a comment below and let me know what mistakes you've made and learned from.