Image the work we could do without memory.

If we worked without remembering all the times we failed:

  • the product we announced would change the world.
  • the novel we’d finally finish.
  • the instrument we’d learn to play.
  • the video that would go viral.
  • the screenplay that’d give us our break.
  • the blog we started and swore this time, we were going to post every day, no matter what…

…only to lose focus and steam, and offer an apology or an excuse before abandoning it?

Is it lack of desire or the memory of failure that keeps us from trying again? Not even failure specifically, but our feelings associated with failing (shame, embarrassment) that stops us from picking back up the pen, lacing up the sneakers, or grabbing the camera?

What terrifies me is people watching me put myself out there again and asking:

  • Didn’t you already try that?
  • Do you really think this time is going to be different?
  • Why waste your time?

If we attacked our projects without memory of the shame, only the lessons we learned from our failure, how much affect could we have on our world?

Photo Credit: timbu

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