It would be great if our life went all according to plan. We’d all be constantly energized, we’d always do things according to plan, and all our goals will be accomplished and met.
So you might think when buying a car, “I’m a pretty safe driver; I’m pretty sure I don’t need insurance”. And you know what? Most of the times, you’d be right.
Every time you buy plane tickets, there’s this little ticker box that asks you if you want to buy travel insurance. How about when you rent a car? They ask you what kind of insurance you want on your rental. It’s so tempting to just say “no thanks!” and walk away, but many of us end up buying it.
(By the way, based on the incidents and instances I’ve observed over the years I think it’s definitely worth the money)
Why do we buy protection?
It’s because we know the possibilities and the associated risks. Buying preemptive protection is better than being caught off guard. Without knowledge of the possibilities we won’t be able to make this educated decision.
I see people with car insurances all the time. I see gyms that have their members sign a liability form all the time. I see terms and conditions in practically all the services I use. But there is one preemptive measure I don’t see people make: accounting for failure.
I would love it if I could tell you that you are immune to failure. But the thing is, we’re prevented from a guarantee of success for these two reasons:
- You do not control anything outside of you.
- you do not know what you don’t know.
As obvious as this sounds, this is the plain truth that even a five year old can know without learning any knowledge.
The greatest reasons for suffering have to do with our concept of time. We regret the things that happened in the past, we are unhappy with how things are in the present, and we worry about the future. In all of these cases, the one common cause of suffering is: failure.
We’re silly that way. We like to drink and party knowing perfectly well that we’ll have a massive hangover the more we drink now, but we do it anyway. We like to eat spicy food knowing perfectly well that we’ll have a horrible time a few hours later.
As much as they hurt, those are voluntary costs for having a good time with your body. So it’s still a conscious choice. But why do we not account for failure from the unconscious side, when we consciously know that failure is a part of life?
Instead of trying to avoid and escape failure, take failure into account. One of my Indian pilgrimage mates broke her tibia during the trip and boy was she glad she had traveler’s insurance.
When you create an offer, take into account 0 sign ups. When you marry someone, take into account catastrophic failure of marriage. When you go on an adventure, take into account the fact that the worst thing can happen.
For the first few times you do this, you will want to retreat into your shell and keep yourself safe. But the more you actively continue to evaluate failure, the more you will take measured steps outside of your shell. Over time, you will learn that in the end…
You are capable of handling anything.
Billy Seol
July Life Coach
julylifecoach.com
