The Museum of Failure
What a rutty way to live your life!
Located in Helsingborg, Sweden, the Museum of Failure displays some of history’s greatest failures.
Remember Heinz Green Sauce, Google Glass, or Harley Davidson Cologne? How about the Segway, or frozen lasagna by Colgate? Wait—lasagna that you don’t have to brush your teeth after eating!? You can find them all and many more in the museum that celebrates history’s most heinous and fantastic flops!
Have you ever failed at something?
With the risk of failure present in every enterprise and pursuit, it takes courage to try new ventures. Yes, you might fail, but you also might succeed! While innovation requires both inspiration and perspiration, it also (and always) requires risk—risking your ego (reputation), your emotions and your experience (or lack thereof) to pursue a dream and destination.
Achieving true success also requires more than a calculated or educated guess.
There’s an element of faith (belief that it’s possible…somehow) followed by action AND persistence, especially when you hit the resistance or “reality”. There’s also an intangible and internal call that beckons to you beyond your beliefs and is often heard only by your mind and heart. This is where you discover your “why” to help you endure the trails, setbacks and stay motivated and moving forward, no matter what.
There is a price that must be paid for the privilege of dreaming, doing and becoming.
Some dreamers have failed too many times (“failed” according to who?) and believe they no longer have what it takes, or want to continue paying for such expensive experiences. They stop dreaming and doing (pursuing) and start thinking it’s just a waste of time, talent and treasure. So, instead of starting again (which can be even more difficult than the initial beginning!), they put their regrets and failures on the pedestals and shelves of their very own personal museums of failure.
If you think failure in your venture means the adventure is over, think again.
Ever heard of Thomas Edison? Sir James Dyson? What would you be doing right now if Mr. Edison had given up after his one hundredth, or one-thousandth failure to invent the lightbulb? It took Sir Dyson over 5100 attempts to create an innovative and effective vacuum. Surely he wanted to quit because that many failures sucks! Well, he resisted failure and persisted and is now worth over 8.15 billion dollars. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t suck, just his vacuums!
What dreams are sitting on the forgotten (even shamed) shelves of your heart gathering dust and rust?
Don’t give up on your future because you failed in your past—no matter how many times. Ask yourself if the rewards outweigh the risks? Are you willing to keep going when the failures and criticisms pile up? Can your belief in your “product” and in yourself sustain you through the storms? Will your why and your work ethic outweigh your worries?
It’s been asked, what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
Yet, it’s often failures that can teach you the greatest lessons as to make the greatest improvements…if you allow them to. Please allow this into your mind and heart that it’s okay to fail, as long as you don’t stay down in the dumps, or stuck in the muck and mires of failure and regret. Keep trying, learning and living and keep getting back up instead of giving up.
Well, what would you do? Even if you do fail? Because your dreams are still waiting for you to try again.
Not waiting in the haunted halls of the museums of your past, but in the wide-open oceans of inspiration of your future. You’ve heard it said that if your ship hasn’t come in yet, swim out to it. I say if your ship hasn’t come in, go build one yourself. Because when your destination is powerful enough to call forth perspiration, not just inspiration, you’ll find the motivation. You’ll discover (rediscover) the brilliance and resilience to achieve your dreams! Then you can begin building your Museum of Successes on the renewed, improved and reinforced foundation where your museum of failures once stood.