Introduce Yourself : What would you do if you knew you could not fail? by Shawn Strider

Just remember, a fear of failing is like a fear of ripping off the band-aid. It is not as bad as you have imagined. And it gets dark and nasty if you don't eventually confront the fear and do it.

My fear of failure was, and is, a great motivator. I have just enough insecurity in my soul to make failure a feeling I do not want. Therefore, I prepare and execute with as much effort as I can. However, I don't have so much insecurity that failure breaks me, or that even ridicule hurts me.

Nothing different!

I will do my best!

Congratulations to all of you that took the high road. Myself, I'm thinking "Invite Kate Upton over for some naked twister."

Hi Shawn, I'm not quite sure if I understand your question.

I think if we never fail, we become un-balanced and loose out on a great deal of insight. :-) Hey! Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Rachel :-)

Yup. Great one Victor, I think too, in appreciation, one can enjoy the moments so much more as striving morphs into pleasure and feelings are freed.

Failure isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's how you handle it. Failure could be used as a learning tool...by examining the pits that caused the failure then improve in that area(s). If you allow failure to incapacitate you, you'll never venture out or complete the task. 'Failure' could be a mighty stepping stone to success.

create a chain of orphanages where I would hire the most positive, educated, and intelligent young people, train them in behavior analysis and child development, and help create the best future citizens in the world. It has been my dream for years, but it would require so much money and administration, that I could not do it.

I would do everything! Make a space ship, travel the universe! End hunger, disease, global warming etc etc.

I prefer this version of the question: what would you still go after with everything you've got even if you knew you could fail? I like the growth that comes from pursing things that aren't easy or a sure thing, regardless of the outcome, because walking that Path changes who you are, IME almost always for the better. That Path for me is writing.

I think courage builds character and it separates the things you want from the things you want bad enough to really work hard for and face your fear of enough to try and accomplish that goal. :) I say that from an older me and I wish I had known this as the younger me.;) Good thought provoking question .:)

Every step forward is part of the discovery, while we grow, we also share our blossoms with those that may pass by! :-)

To change it up a little bit. What would you do if you had one ARROW. One project you knew that if you put your earnest effort to - it would yield your desired result. That arrow would not necessarily be easy to fire, but it would soar true and all the doubts that have prevented you from even getting out of bed and taking aim. . . are gone.

Shawn, if you are waiting for everything to line up perfectly, I'm sure you'll be waiting for a long time. There are a lot of us 'who believe' to have put forth our best and the results aren't close to our desired end AND it didn't stop us from moving forward. If you don't try, you'll never know the result. SUBMIT TODAY!

On a more philosophical level, humans need adversity and failure. Without it, our innate nature would shrivel and become hollowed out. I choose to embrace and challenge failure. The difference is that some people view adversity as a burden that attacks them. It attacks all of us and is both necessary and inevitable.

Love your post, Linda! Excellent. And Steven, I loved your thoughts as well. It truly is a choice.

Control what you can control, right V?

Find a cure for cancer (not likely since I pass out at the sight of needles). Open my own production company (more likely - haven't learned enough to know what to fear).

I've loved my failures, after the fact. I've learned so much more from them than I could have if I succeeded straight out or always did. I can't think of anything in that black or white, succeed or fail. If I didn't have any repercussions I would travel the world, no matter the cost. I would move to L.A. and make it in the movies. But that is so void I know it wouldn't be enough. Have a part in a Broadway production without sacrificing family. Climb mountains, cure cancer, stop physical and sexual abuse world wide. That would be more like it.

I would do everything. Write, direct, authoring, produce and act what else lol

Failing is apart of learning. Without my failures I wouldn't be where I am today. I wake up every morning, with the goal of failing! How else can you succeed?

I guess I disagree with what many people here think of as failing. To me failing is not to try something, not not getting it. Failing is to stop trying without having reached your goal. For instance, I was born with a paralysis. It never prevented me from climbing trees, fighting, playing soccer, baseball, and later, karate. It did force me to learn how to learn my own way. I love karate so much, I have stayed with karate for 45 years. When I decided to participate in tournaments, I went to a state tournament and got two gold medals. This encouraged me and went to a qualifying tournaments for the nationals. I lost right away. Okay, you lose and you win. It's life. However, a man approached me and told me that I was in the wrong place. I should take part in the special people's tournaments. This discouraged me terribly. I didn't want to be defined by my paralysis. I quit karate until I met Jimmy Wong (world karate champion) who encouraged me to take karate again. Never coming back to another championship would have been failure. I went back and competed twice more, until I got another medal. Now, I stopped competing without failing. I stopped when I was ahead. Sometimes, we do have to stop following our dreams before we reach our goal. I wanted to be a film maker, a writer, a director, an actor, etc. In my mid thirties, I had to decide to give it up. My wife was an actress, a director, and a writer. So was I. Together, we would live on 10,000 or so. We were the poorest people we knew. I realized this went on and on. So, I went to grad school to study psychology. I became a very successful behavior analyst. I had a waiting list. Eventually, I became an organizer of programs for special children. I organized other programs to help average children to become very successful. And, I have been making very decent money for years. Somebody had to give up the creative dream. Either my wife or I had to make money. I gave it up. However, I never failed. Life places us in situations that make us look like failures, but it depends on what goals we are following, whether we are failing or succeeding. I have enjoyed so many years helping others, while my wife wrote books, acted, directed, etc. I think she is the best, but the world has never given her much recognition. Some times, she thinks she is a failure. However, I always remind her that I believe in her. Now that I am better off financially, I gave her own black box theater. Now, I act and she directs me. I have stopped desiring to direct because I already have such great director. I started writing again about five years ago. I wrote and rewrote many scripts, sent them for coverage. I went to Inktip in LA to find out what Hollywood wanted. Finally, my wife decided to direct two of my plays. They were very successful. Then, last October, I felt I was ready and started sending scripts to festivals. So far, My scripts have made to finalist three times. I feel that I am heading in the right direction. I am making an effort. I was born with one special need. The need to make bigger efforts. I teach the special children I know that we are different in only one way. We must make a bigger effort. In the end, with our effort, we can do everything we want. Life is not about failing, but about making the effort that was required. If you haven't succeeded yet, you may want to increase your effort. If nothing else, sustain that effort until the right opportunity presents itself. If you have to change direction temporarily, then don't ever forget that the arrangement was temporary. When the time is right, go back and succeed.

Failure is but a speed bump in the road to learning. Just gotta keep going.

Hi disappointments are a necessary learning curve. A quote. "Failure is not failure......Nor waste Wasted.....if it sweeps away Illusions and lights the road to a plan."

I'd ask Rachel Bison to marry me. Then I'd make a whole bunch of cool shows!

Rachel Bilson! Who knew?

Direct movies, with lots of action, big crowd scenes as well as intimate character moments, about really difficult subjects.

That has been my question to myself, yet worded a little different. Mine is: "If you knew you couldn't fail, what would your goals be?" Now that doesn't mean you would not stumble, or perhaps stub your toe, but in the long run you would succeed. I believe one has to pursue any endeavor with the fervor that they cannot fail in order to be ready for the many doors that will be slammed into their faces.

I generally don't think I can fail with any venture I set out on, so not much would change. But if I were ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED at least some level of success (i.e. same income level), I would leave my full-time job to become a full-time filmmaker. (and part-time woodworker). I'm kinda working on that right now, so, as I said, not much would change :)