Please, Go Make Mistakes

Go fvck it up, Buttercup! You'll figure it out.

There is a way of being wrong which is also sometimes necessarily right.

— Hardy Abbey

Hey there!

A lot of people, for fear of doing the wrong things, end up not doing anything at all, and that is the worst tragedy in life, to have passed through life without doing anything. Are you one of them? Chances are high.

The mindset that we have to be perfect, do the right things, always be in the right, do holy things, not make mistakes so we can make our God, our parents, neighbours, family and friends proud has so sucked up a lot of lives and destinies, because the truth is, perfection is a myth.

It is impossible to be correct all the time. It is next to impossible to be right all the time. You can't be perfect, one bit!

If you're waiting for the conditions to be perfect, you'd never move from where you are. If you are scared of doing the wrong things, or making mistakes, you will end up not making your own impact, on your own life and on the lives of other people.

People say they want to be correct, they want to be sure, they want to see the road that leads up to their destination, and see the destination itself before moving from where they are, and as a result, they NEVER move!

The reality is, even when you're driving on a literal road, going to an actual, physical destination, you only see the road right in front of you. You only see the road up to the point where your headlights can make you see in the night. You don't see all the roads that lead to your destination at once! No!

I've seen many people not write that book ever because they wanted to get the full picture first, the whole idea before they out paper to pen. They don't want to have to cancel, or rewrite a chapter, or sell a not so perfect, or even outrightly wrong idea.

These people have not only cheated themselves, but they have also cheated the world they were meant to grace, robbed the world of the gift they were meant to give.

There are people that never spoke up because they were too scared of stammering, or saying the wrong things, or not being liked because of their assertiveness. All their lives, till their last breath, they never said anything that made impact. Some are even too scared to give advices to younger ones! I meaaaan!

Same with people who were meant to sing songs, direct movies, teach people, build businesses, establish companies, raise families, hold conferences, pour themselves out one way or another, they never do that because they don't want to make mistakes. That's no way to live! In fact, that's not living at all.

The tragedy of life is not death, but what we let die inside of us while we live.

— Norman Cousins

You have to stop being too careful about the steps you take. You don't have to see it all before you take steps. Give yourselves to possible mistakes you are going to make. Mess things up. Scatter the whole structure if you have to.

Don't be paralysed with the thought that you might not be capable of rearranging or getting it right. Fuck up! Fuck up brilliantly, and ask him who never fucked up to put their hands in the air, and you'd be surprised!

The truth is, the condition necessary for getting things right is going ahead to do things incorrectly. Imagine if our Uncle Thomas Edison was too scared to fuck up. Ah! Candle will suffer! He fucked up 1,000 times! Michael Jordan too fucked up 9,000 times. Even Apostle Peter fucked up. So why are you putting pressure on yourself na, my guy?

I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, i’ve been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

— Michael Jordan

It is better to do something incorrectly than to do nothing at all. With doing nothing, there is zero impact, but if you do something wrong, you have learned what doesn't work. You have learned what not to do again, increasing your chances of doing things correctly next time.

Just as you're never caught ‘unfresh’, never be caught doing nothing for fear of being wrong, or being incorrect, or failing.

Start it and go from there. The fog will clear as you proceed. If you get up and do it correctly, your life will change. If you make a mistake, your life will change either way, and almost always, it will change for the better on the long run, in both cases. Stop suffering from the paralysis of fear!

"Go fuck it up, Buttercup. You will figure out where to go from there."

To Your Growth,

Your Coach,

Abiola Okunsanya.