Forget the Endgame: The Key to Success Is Failure

Kobe Bryant once famously said, "It's the journey, not the destination." This quote embodies a powerful principle that can guide us in our pursuit of success and happiness.

Too often, we become obsessed with the outcome. We want the big promotion, the successful business, or the perfect relationship. We focus so much on the destination that we forget about the journey—the process that gets us there.

But as Kobe's quote tells us, it's the journey that matters most. Success is not just about achieving our goals, but also about enjoying the process of working towards them. It's about the small, incremental steps that we take every day, and the lessons that we learn along the way.

Here are two principles that can help us apply Kobe's quote to our lives:

1. Embrace the journey, not just the destination.

When we focus solely on the outcome, we are likely to become impatient, unfocused, and even discouraged. We may feel like giving up when we encounter obstacles or setbacks. Instead, we need to learn to embrace the journey, to find joy and fulfillment in the process of working towards our goals.

Thinking like a scientist, we'd quickly realize that the entire process begins with testing a hypothesis and learning, exploration, experiments, and gathering information. Imagine if the Wright Brothers based their pursuit of flying on their first attempt and quit immediately after due to "failure" and not understanding that their consistent and disciplined pursuit of their objective will ultimately bring countless lessons along the journey and make the success more rewarding and regarded by society.

Things that come too easy are for everyone, and things that are difficult to achieve are rare. Rarity is the most celebrated status bringer in society and is what separates the elite and great from the field.

2. Take action, even if it means making mistakes. Fail UP.

Fear of failure can be paralyzing. We may hesitate to take action because we're afraid of making mistakes. But as Kobe reminds us, the only way to get better at something is to actually do it. It's better to take action and make mistakes along the way than to do nothing at all. We can learn from our failures and use them as stepping stones to greater success.

Failing up is a way of thinking about failure that helps individuals work toward an objective and stay in pursuit of it, despite encountering countless setbacks and failures along the way. It recognizes that failure is part of the process and that incremental progress comes with each failure.

Like building a rocket, each failed test informs the next iteration, and eventually, the process is perfected and success is achieved. When viewed step by step, none of the individual tests is an objective success, but when viewed as a whole, success is obtained. This mindset can be applied to all areas of life, including working out, where each failed attempt at a new weight or exercise informs the next attempt and eventually leads to progress and success. By embracing the concept of failing up, individuals can stay focused on the journey rather than just the destination, and be motivated to keep pushing forward despite encountering setbacks and failures along the way.

So, as we pursue our goals and dreams, let's remember Kobe's wise words: "It's the journey, not the destination." Let's enjoy the process, embrace the challenges, and keep taking action, even if it means making mistakes along the way. In the end, it's the journey that makes the destination worth reaching.