No such thing

Hello friend—you’re receiving this email as a part of morning reading, a daily reflection on the parts of life worth living for that you signed up for sometime last year. I've got a laundry list of additions, designs updates, and website pieces I want to make, but ultimately, I just wanted to bring this back. Thank you for reading, and a very happy New Year. 

No Failed BeginningsJanuary 12th

Good morning, friend.Author Nassim Taleb says there are no such thing as failed entrepreneurs.(And no, he’s not trying to use a statement like that to sell you some kind of course.)His reasoning goes like this: starting a small business is an inherently risky task. Even with an absurd level of effort and preparation, many new businesses fail. We as a society have the luxury of shopping at the businesses that succeed without having to pay for the ones that don’t. We get all the benefits without any of the downside. Because of that, Taleb says that all entrepreneurs should be celebrated. Not just for the positive result, but for the task of taking on the risk itself. Every new beginning, regardless of outcome, is an act of courage.In a roundabout way, it’s the failures that should be celebrated more—because the risk of failure is part of setting out of anything new. It’s part of the cost. It’s not just the potential for late nights at the office, early mornings at the gym, or burnt souffles. Trying something new means being willing to bear the shame of stopping. Not just the risk of making mistakes, but the risk of being wrong in an existential sense. Calling your shot before watching it sail 5 feet wide of the net. We often want to celebrate the new beginnings that turn into stories of transformation. And we should. They’re powerful and exhilarating, and remind us why risks are worth taking in the first place.But today? Today we should celebrate every new beginning that went nowhere. Every gym membership that lapsed after a week. Every journal abandoned after the 6th page. Every guitar sitting in a corner gathering dust.Because if we all know the potential of feeling shame is part of the cost of trying something new, shouldn’t we celebrate the people who were willing to do it anyway?Journal Prompt: What was the last time you tried to start something new?