I seem to be having at least one animated conversation per day about Tim Ferriss and his book “The 4-Hour Workweek.”
In one of the online bonus sections that buyers of the book get free access to, I read a quote that I think sums up Tim’s secret to success:
“I (make) more mistakes in 8 weeks then most make in 8 years.”
Tim was referring to the methodology behind his rapid language learning program, but this could easily apply to any of the other things he excels at: dancing, martial arts and direct marketing.
Most people spend their lives avoiding the discomfort of making mistakes. That’s probably the biggest mistake of all.
The only way…the ONLY way…you can learn a skill (as opposed to a theoretical idea) is by doing, making lots of mistakes in the process, and learning to identify and correct your mistakes. The more mistakes you make, the better.
– Ken McCarthy
P.S. For over 25 years I’ve been sharing the simple but powerful things that matter in business with my clients.
If you’d like direction for your business that will work today, tomorrow and twenty years from now, visit us at the System Club.
Ken,
You’ve convinced me I need to read this book. When I was a young product manager, one of the experienced managers had a little plaque on his desk. It said some like this, “Always use good judgment. How do you get good judgment? Experience. How do you get experience? Bad Judgment.”
If a mistake is not dangerous, we may actually learn faster making the mistake. I’ve read that Thomas Edison said he did not fail 10,000 times as he searched for an incandescent filament, he discovered thousands of materials that were not suitable.
It seems to me the experience and attitude we take away from our mistakes will lead to better decisions.