Raise your hand if you know where I remixed this week's title from 🤚🏾.
The first draft of this post was an emotional venting session on my greatest failures.
The version you are reading is a testament to how much growth is possible in a couple of days.
I was listening to a podcast by one of my favorite YouTubers, and he was interviewing Richard Wiseman, a Psychology Professor, on The Sure-Fire to be Luckier in Life and it got me thinking.
When people talked about Elon Musk trying to colonize Mars, I joined the lampooning by regurgitating the unoriginal argument of "charity begins at home." I argued that there are so many problems on the earth worth solving, so why are we trying to pack a bag like a disgruntled cartoon character and go ruin the good thing Mars has going on before we solve our problems at home?
For some reason, we like to romanticize a better future instead of working through what it takes to create that perfect future. I get it—dreaming is better than fireside chats.
However, while part-timing as a hater, something Richard Wiseman said struck me: He talked about Hans Berger who had a "telepathic experience" circa 1920 and tried to build a machine that proved telepathy exists. Don't call him crazy. I know I am not the only one who has tried to stare at the TV remote intensely in the hope of somehow willing it into my hands with my mind. If you haven't, try it today. It may work and then we will name our children after you.
Mr. Berger failed spectacularly at proving telepathy exists, but along the way, he built the electroencephalogram (EEG). The EEG is used to detect brain activity in the medical field and you might have seen it on the millionth episode of Grey's Anatomy. I can't believe that hospital still attracts residents or patients.
What is the lesson here? I know this makes me sound like an evangelical pastor trying to make a tenuous connection between the ordinary and the profound but allow me: If we ignore Elon Musk's intentions for a second, the cliche about prioritizing the journey over the destination holds some value. Several useful inventions would not exist if the Americans and Russians didn't get into a pissing contest trying to make it to the moon. You would not be reading this article on your phone without Neil Amstrong's [alleged] moon landing. (Here is a list of inventions that exist because of space travel if you want to sound smart and pretentious at parties.)
Use failure as a ladder. Re-examine that failed relationship, or that failed startup idea and figure out what you learned along the way. By digging through the rubble of failure, you might find the gem that could change everything.
Have a blessed week ✌🏾.
PS: If you want to listen to the podcast I mentioned, it's a mixed bag but here it is on YouTube and while you're there, subscribe to my YouTube channel.
If you like what you read, subscribe ⬇️
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