This is probably my favorite lesson over the last two+ years of running a small business. I crashed and burned as an artist/entrepreneur for YEARS previous to this because I hadn’t figured out this truth yet. ...and I really believe that finally learning it has been the primary contributor to any success I’ve experienced.
The idea is this: everything in business or art—in life, really—is an experiment. Let's say I've designed a t-shirt and want to sell it, or let's say you've recorded a song/written a short story/hatched a business plan/etc. Will it sell? Will it resonate? Will it succeed? We don't know. We're taking a leap of faith that it will—but we have no idea whether or not it will work.
Now, let's say we put it out there. I offer the tee for sale. You release your song/publish your story/launch your business. …and it FAILS. No one buys my tee. No one reads your story, listens to your song, or engages with your business. It sucks, but it happens. To everybody. Every day. We try something (big or small) and it fails. Now what?
Most people quit at this point. A tenacious few keep trying—the same thing—and keep failing. Only those who have learned that everything is an experiment—only the mad scientists—make a change and try again.
Did the tee bomb because I'm a "bad artist?" Did the book/song/business fail because you aren't "good enough?" NO! There are a hundred thousand variables that contribute to success/failure. Tweak one and try again. You're a scientist. You're an experimenter. Make a change, put it out there, see what happens, then repeat!
This isn't about whether or not you are worthy of success—whether or not you've got the talent or the resources or the "right stuff." That crap is meaningless—we're ALL worthy of success! This is about solving the puzzle. This is about treating everything as an experiment and realizing that there's no such thing as failure. Failures are just lessons learned—steps toward success. Everything is an experiment! Just go play and see what happens! You can't fail!