Inwards, onwards & upwards
A journal of invitations, ideas & inspiration to keep you moving from where you are to where you want to be
The 97.3% Failure
When I left university in 2002, I decided I wanted to be a theatre director.
The established career path was to get experience as an Assistant Director and work your way up from there. Great, I thought, I’ll do that then; enthusiastically, I set about applying for Assistant Director jobs.
Meanwhile, 5,200 miles away, a team of scientists in Arizona were launching an ambitious and intimate study of arboreal life in which the world’s biggest biosphere was created by planting trees inside a dome.
And some 370 miles west of that dome, Kobe Bryant was lining up as the Shooting Guard for the LA Lakers*.
Over the course of the next five years, here’s what happened…
Be more Weeble.
“Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.”
Novelty for those born after 1990, nostalgia for the rest of us, Weebles were children's roly-poly toys that originated in 1971.
They were egg-shaped, so tipping one causes a weight located at the bottom-centre to be raised.
Once released, the Weeble was restored by gravity to an upright position.
During a Coaching Session, one of my brilliant clients landed on Weebles as a metaphor for how they wanted to better handle the knocks, big and small, that come with everyday life.
The most missed shots in NBA history
Kobe Bryant missed more shots than any other NBA basketball player, ever.
14,481 failed attempts.
Worst player of all time, right?
Well, alongside being the leading failure, he is also the fourth highest point scorer of all time.
38,652 points scored. In 1,421 games.
So maybe not the worst after all.
He failed a lot because he tried a lot.
The trees that fell down.
In Arizona a biosphere was created by planting trees inside a dome.
Only, once they grew to a certain height, the trees fell over.
The roots hadn’t grown strong enough to support them.
Because there was no wind.
Roots, it turns out, are made strong through resistance.
And if there’s nothing to resist, the roots are weak and the trees fall down.
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