Hi. I’m Marla. Gimme a Minute. I wanna talk to you about failing. When I was in high school, one of my teachers also coached a sport. Almost everything he said during his “outside of the class lesson content tangents” annoyed me, because almost everything was a sports analogy.
Yeah, I get it, use sports stories because they motivate your team players, blah blah blah.
But one story stuck, obviously. It was the story of Babe Ruth, and his record of hitting the most home runs in a career.. Of course, this was in the early 70’s before Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. But what struck me the most (no, that is not a pun) is that at the time, Babe Ruth also had the record for the most strike outs. Inspirational? Yes.
I’ve repeated that story many times in many circumstances, mostly to myself when I mess up.
Much later in life, I met my friend Susan, who told me that I should expect 100 people to say “no” to me, before I could hope that one person would say “yes.” And every time one person says “no,” I am one step closer to a “yes.” She also instructed me to say “thank you” when someone says “no,” just in case they can refer you to someone who WILL say “yes.” Again, this is a story I repeat often.
Because you never know when someone will say “yes,” you have to be prepared to hear “No.” So, to have the opportunity to succeed, be willing to fail.
