If you're not failing 90% of the time, then you're probably not working on sufficiently challenging problems.
Interpretation
Failure is a sign of tackling difficult challenges.
This quote emphasizes that encountering failure frequently is indicative of attempting complex and worthwhile problems. It suggests that if you are not facing challenges that push your limits, you may not be pursuing growth or significant achievements.
In practice
During a team meeting, I can share this quote to encourage team members to take risks in their projects.
The Internet was done so well that most people think of it as a natural resource like the Pacific Ocean, rather than something that was man-made. When was the last time a technology with a scale like that was so error-free? The Web, in comparison, is a joke. The Web was done by amateurs.
Perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
The greatest single programming language ever designed
By the time I got to school, I had already read a couple hundred books. I knew in the first grade that they were lying to me because I had already been exposed to other points of view. School is basically about one point of view -- the one the teacher has or the textbooks have. They don't like the idea of having different points of view, so it was a battle. Of course I would pipe up with my five-year-old voice.
Simple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.
Scratch the surface in a typical boardroom and we're all just cavemen with briefcases, hungry for a wise person to tell us stories.
For years, I always thought it was hilarious that I was this fitness guru, because fitness was just a tool I utilized to help people improve their confidence. For me, it's never been about fitness. It's always been about helping to empower people.
Our goals should stretch us bit by bit. So often when we think we have encountered a ceiling, it is really a psychological or experiential barrier that we have built ourselves. We built it and we can remove it.
I do not believe in excuses. I believe in hard work as the prime solvent of life's problems.
Each workout is like a brick in a building, and every time you go in there and do a half-ass workout, you're not laying a brick down. Somebody else is.
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you’re running and you think, ‘Man, this hurts, I can’t take it anymore. The ‘hurt’ part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself.
It's like anything in life, visualizing the old man you're going to become: As long as you have a clear picture of that - the life you want to lead - eventually you'll probably get there.
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