Failure is an option

 
Failure is not only an option, it is inevitable. And we are better for it.
 
When we sell life as an exercise in mistake avoidance or perfection, we we end up lying to children who grow up to become adults who live their lives in fear of being wrong.
 
But if we are never prepared to be wrong - to make a mistake - to fail - then we will never create anything new.
 
When we say that failure is not an option, many kids really hear us saying that failure is something that should never happen - but then it does, and they are left debilitated and helpless. So they quit.
 
No one is successful all the time. Successful people see mistakes and failure not as something that should have never happened but as information to be used in the pursuit of life long learning.

Maybe it's my fault

Natural talent is not only a myth, but it is also insulting. It's insulting to Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Wayne Gretzky, Stephen Hawking, Christopher Reeves... and little Johnny who's in my afternoon science class. It's insulting to all successful people who worked so very hard to reach their accomplishments.

We could blame successful people for duping us, but in the end, we are only fooling ourselves.

There is no magic bullet.

There is no long lost treasure map to success.

Too often we are distracted by the flash to notice the fire.

Too often we are distracted by ability to notice the effort.

Too often we are distracted by the championships to notice practices.

Talent is overrated, and natural ability is a myth.

Geoff Colvin explains:

All we can say for the moment is that no specific genes identifying particular talents have been found. It's possible that they will be; scientists could yet find the piano-playing gene or investing gene or accounting gene. But they haven't so far, and doing so could be a long shot. The most one could say is that if genes exert any influence, it would seem to be much less than the whole explanation for achieving the highest levels of performance.

In his book The Genius in All of Us, David Shenk writes:

Most underachievers are very likely not prisoners of their own DNA, but rather have so far been unable to tap into their true potential.

Micheal's right - we make excuses.