Success is the tip of the iceberg
Success is the tip of the iceberg.
Failure is the keel of the iceberg, invisible.
We don’t see the countless:
- bland or burnt meals,
- deleted sentences,
- recorded outtakes,
- trashed photos,
- wrong decisions,
- tries.
It’s useful to become aware of the invisible.
To see successful people not as a one-hit wonder.
To realise it takes many re-tries and restarts to do something worthwhile.
We don’t do it because it’s pretty—we do it because we must!
A more accurate picture
It’s admirable when successful people admit they’re not special.
- When they acknowledge it took countless gruel-some hours to get where they are.
- When they recognise it took them longer than you think.
- When they’ve failed more times you can imagine.
We need more people like Thomas Edison to say to us, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that didn’t work.”
Or like Michael Jordan to tell us, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions, I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot… and I missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s why I’ve been successful.”
Why?
Because we believe “they” got lucky, and we’re unlucky.
Because “they” are of a different race, gender, or background than us.
Because we think “they” have an unfair advantage and we’re at a disadvantage.
But it’s not true—and this mindset isn’t helpful.
The only way to shatter this myth is for successful people to share their struggles.
Fail often
Johannes Haushofer, a Princeton professor, did something admirable:
- He created a CV of failures. In this CV, he mentions every failure he’s encountered from trying things.
If your list of failures isn’t long, you’re not trying enough.
You need to accumulate a lengthy list of tries. Try even if things might not work out—you never know. I would recommend you keep a list of failures and study it often.
Why?
So you can train your mind to not be afraid of failing.
To make failure part of your daily routine.
To minimise the effect of failure.
To get over it faster.
Openly discuss the struggles and setbacks you encountered in your path towards success.
One day, you’ll look back at this journal and smile.