I want to talk about failure.

We'll dissect it and go deep down this rabbit hole.

When I reflect on my life and I look at all the times I've experienced failure, this is how it generally goes:

I will try some kind of tricks.

When I was young, I used to do gymnastics.

I would be really hyped to try a new skill.

But I often failed and thought of giving up…

When I faced this result, I experienced a series of complex emotions and negative thoughts. I would feel sad and disappointed and think to myself, "Jonas, you are a loser, you are pathetic, you're never going to learn this in life."

It was really messy.

But I based all of those thoughts and emotions on one component of the journey—the outcome, which I deemed as being failure.

The Process Leading to Failure

I didn't think about all the steps that came before the result. For there to be some kind of outcome, some kind of action must have taken place. If we go deeper, before the action, some kind of decision had to have been made.

Before the decision, there is thinking. How you think leads to the quality and types of decisions you make.

There’s a whole process that comes before the actual result and outcome.

Depending on your quality of thinking, it determines the quality of the decisions you make. Depending on the quality of the decisions, it affects the quality of the actions you take. Then, the quality of actions leads to the quality of the outcome and result.

So think better. (Here’s a newsletter i recommend you to read if you don’t know how to think:

Identifying Points of Failure

The point of failure may not just be in the outcome. Failure can live in any particular part of that path. For example, if your execution ability isn't very good, that’s a point of failure. So, it’s not that I’m pathetic or a loser; it's just about improving the quality of execution. If you improve your quality of execution, you’ll improve your quality of results.

Another point of failure could be in decision-making. Maybe you are good at execution, but your way of making decisions isn’t effective. What frameworks and mental models do you use to make decisions? This could be a point of failure. Maybe you’re doing the right thing at the wrong time, which refers to prioritization. Are you prioritizing your actions well?

Then, there could also be another point of failure before the decision—your type of thinking.

How is your quality of thinking?

Improving Quality of Thinking

Imagine when you were 12, trying to solve a complex problem you encounter in your 30s. Would that 12-year-old version of you be able to solve it?

No, unless you're a genius.

As we get older, we encounter more complex problems that require us to have a better operating system in our minds.

Improving the quality of thinking requires conscious effort. The way I believe you can improve your quality of thinking is through learning, and my favorite mode of learning is reading.

As I read more, I improve my quality of thinking.

Taking lots of action allows me to apply that thinking, see the results, and create a feedback loop.

Let me know if you want to learn more about how to improve your quality of thinking.

Realizing this has made me more optimistic.

I think a pragmatic way to become more positive is to understand that failure isn't a single moment; it's part of a process. Just because you experienced a certain result doesn't mean it's the result you'll always get.

By identifying where the point of failure is, you can change your thinking, decision-making, execution, and ultimately the outcome.

Cheers,

Jonas