Better to fail, than to fail to try.

It’s that time of the year where we celebrate the end of one year and the start of a new one. As I did last year, I want to share with the rest of the world my failure report of the past 12 months. I am still a firm believer that everyone should have a failure report so they can reflect on where things didn’t work out and start developing a plan on how they can improve themselves. I also believe that stating them publicly is the way to go, as it forces you to embrace your failures and get rid of all the shame that comes with them.

So here we go, in 2019:

  1. I failed to meditate every day and to get a good night’s rest. I focused on physical health but forgot the importance of mental health. I forgot that I need my 8 hours of rest in order to better benefit the world and myself in the remaining 16 hours.

  2. I failed at my startup Pedaru and had to close the company. There were lots of lessons learned from that experience, but it was still disappointing that I couldn’t scale the company the way I had originally imagined.

  3. I failed to travel to 2 new countries, a promise I had made to myself in 2012, due to my failure to financially balance myself. While my financial woes have been mostly taken care of, I could have  avoided this scenario with better planning and expectations from my startup lifestyle.

  4. I failed at being Stoic at certain times when I dealt with people that I couldn’t agree with or get along with.

  5. I failed at time management on certain days, pushing productivity and physical exercises down the drain and opting for a relaxing time (comfort is the enemy of progress!).

  6. I failed at reading 1 book per month.

So was 2019 all doom and gloom?

No. There have been plenty of wins in 2019, but that is not the point of this article.

Did I improve on my 2018 failures?

For the most part, yes (2018 failures can be found here)! I improved my friendships and did a better job at keeping in touch with other people. I was able to become a better uncle to my nieces, to be there for my family when they needed me, and to support my best friend in his cancer recovery journey. Last year I was scared of commitment and relationships, but this year I overcame that fear and started dating a wonderful lady who makes me feel at home. Last year I failed at studying Japanese, whereas this year, I have studied on a daily basis. A little does go a long way!

What is my 2020 mindset to overcome my current failures?

It can be summarized in 8 words, coming from my favourite Japanese philosopher Miyamoto Musashi: no fear, no hesitation, no surprise, no doubt. How will I achieve that? Through proper planning, daily journaling, more self belief and monthly fear setting exercises. At the end of the day, actions speak louder than words, and so I look forward to reflecting on my progress and sharing my results with all of you 1 year from now.

Happy new year 🙂