Children don’t fear failure: a lesson for would-be entrepreneurs

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Ask any person who has ever considered becoming an entrepreneur, why they have yet to launch their business enterprise and you will hear a litany of excuses. When boiled down to the basics, the majority will admit that it is due to a fear of some sort; fear of ridicule, fear of what others may think or say, fear of success, fear of the unknown. The list of fears can be endless, but the overwhelming majority will say that the number one reason for their inhibition is the fear of failure.

Have you ever stopped to consider where these fears originate? Were you born with them? The answer is no, with the exceptions being; the fear of falling, the fear of loud noises and in some people, the rear of snakes. All or our other fears are learned, ingrained and habitual.

As a child, we had no fears of failure. We tried to walk, we fell, made adjustments and then tried again and again and again. We kept trying and making adjustments until we found we could take one step and then two steps, all the while adapting our technique. This trial and error procedure allowed us to become proficient and we used the same techniques when we learned to ride a bike, swim, play sports or anything else we learned as a child.

Our parents never shook their heads and said, “Poor Johnny, he’ll never walk”. They picked us up, dusted us off, gave us some encouragement and told us to give it another try. Failure is nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve all failed (no one ever learned to walk, swim and so forth, on the first try ).

As children, we never worried about failure until we reached an age when we became concerned that others would think we were inferior if we failed in our current quest. The truth is that everyone must first fail in order to learn how to succeed.

The point is to let you inner child run free. Think like a child. Experiment. Attempt new things. Spend less time occupied with what others think and more time on freeing your spirit and expanding your mind. Try. Fail. Learn. Try again. Succeed.

It’s not like I’m asking you to hold a snake.

Tags: fear+of+failure, fears, failure

A child’s view

Children say the funniest things. 

My wife and I read a story to our girls every night at bedtime.  We’ve done this since our oldest daughter was born and our girls make sure that we don’ t forget.  Sometimes, due to the length of the book, we may only read a chapter, but unless they have stayed up past their bedtime, we read every night.  The girls alternate picking out what they want to hear at bedtime.  So the content may vary from Jules Verne’s “Journey to the Center to the Earth” to “The Three Little Pigs”.

A couple of nights ago, my youngest daughter, Peyton, soon to be four, picked out an educational book.  You know the sort.  It teaches colors, numbers, counting, similarity, and opposites. 

My wife was doing an excellent job reading and teaching as I listened.  When they got to the subject of opposites, my wife’s teaching skills became even more apparent. The following is a short dialogue of what happened.

Wife:  “If something is not up, it is …..”

Peyton:  “down”.

Wife:  “Good job Peyton.  If something is not little, it is …”

Peyton:  “big”.

This interaction continued for several minutes, until my wife came to the in/out or on/off concept and this is what was said:

Wife:  “If Peyton is not in the bed, she is ….”

Peyton:  “In trouble”

Needless to say my wife and I exploded into laughter.  Children make every day a joy.  Thank God for them.

Poot disappears – part 3

“Okay Stubby, here’s what we’re going to do”, Bud says.  “I’m going to run home and get Dad and you’re going to stay here and keep Poot company”.  Stubby quickly nods in agreement.

Bud takes off running for all he’s worth.  The trees seem to by flying past him.  The wind in his eyes is making them water.  Within just a few minutes, he’s back to his house and he bursts in the front door.  “Mama, Dad”, he yells. 

Mom and Dad come quickly as all parents do when they can tell that something is wrong.  “What’s wrong Bud”, his Dad asks.  Bud tells them as quickly as he can that Poot has fallen into an old well and may be injured and that Stubby is there keeping him company.  Dad says, “Helen, (that’s Bud and Stubby’s mom’s real name) go find Stubby, don’t let him get to close to the edge of that old well.  The edges could collapse at any minute”.  Dad turns to Bud and tells him, “come on Bud, let’s go to the barn and get some epuipment”. 

Bud and his dad go to the barn and start picking up items – a large high-powered flashlight, a long rope, a large basket, the first aid kit and a small tool kit that his dad keeps handy.  “Bud, I want you to go into the house and get the jar of peanut butter and a spoon”, his dad tells him.  Bud starts to ask why, but decides that there are just some times that dads know best. 

Mom knew exactly where the boys had been playing, so finding Stubby was no problem.  She just hoped that she got there quickly enough to keep Stubby from joining Poot at the bottom of the well.  Neither she nor John (that’s Bud and Stubby’s dad’s real name) had any idea that an old well was out there.  Mom rounded the rocks and began calling, “Stubby”.  Stubby answered right away and came running to his mom.  Stubby fell into his mother’s arms as the dam of tears burst. “Mom, Poot’s in this old well.  He might be hurt.  Do you think he’ll be okay?  What are we going to do?  Where’s dad and Bud?  How are we going to get him out?”  Mom just hugs him tight and says “shh, everything will be okay” as she gently begins to rock him.  After a few minutes, he begins to calm down.

Dad and Bud make their way through the woods toward the well and are quickly back.  When they arrive, dad says, “allright, let’s see what’s going on”.  Dad takes the flashlight and crawls to the edge of the well and shines it down the shaft.  He quickly spots Poot and calls to him.  Poot whines a little, wags his tail and gives a little bark.  Dad slides back to where the boys and their mom are and says, “I’m going to tie this rope around the handle of the basket and then lower the basket down into the well”.  “How are you going to get Poot jump into the basket, John?”, mom asks.  “That’s why Bud brought the peanut butter and spoon”, dad replies.  Dad takes the spoon and then scoops a huge glob of peanut butter out.  Then he put the spoon with the peanut butter on it into the basket.

“Come on Bud, I need someone to hold the flashlight”, dad says.  “Do you think it’s safe, John?”, mom asks.  “It feels sturdy and I can’t do this without help”, dad tells her.  So, Bud and his dad crawl to the edge of the well.  Shining the light down the shaft, they spot Poot.  While Bud holds the flashlight, dad quickly lowers the basket into the well. 

Once the basket gets to the bottom, Poot smells the peanut butter (which happens to be his most favorite treat of all) and jumps into the basket.  Dad quickly begins pulling him to the top of the well.  When the basket gets to the top, Poot jumps right out like nothing could be better than it is right now and he’s right.  Bud and Stubby run to him and hold and pet him.  Poot snuggles in their laps enjoying all the attention.

the end – for now

Poot disappears – part 2

The boys slowly turn around and around, while at the same time trying to think of where Poot might be.  Finally, Bud tells Stubby, “Let’s take a real good look around on this side of the rocks and then we’ll look on the other side.”  As the minutes pass, the two boys search everywhere – but there is no sign of Poot.  Stubby says, “Bud, I’m going to go to the other side of the rocks to see if Poot is over there.”  The older boy nods his head okay, but inside he knows that if Poot was over there, Poot would have heard them calling and he always comes running when he hears the boys.  Bud may be older and wiser, but right now all he feels is scared.

Soon Bud is on one side of the rock outcropping and Stubby is on the other side.  They both look and then call “Pooooot”.  To Bud, it sounds like Stubby is starting to cry a little when he hears Stubby call out Poot’s name.  Bud thinks that if Stubby is crying that’s okay, ’cause he feels like crying too.  Suddenly, Bud hears Stubby calling, “Bud come quick”.  The older brother races around to the other side of the rocks and looks for Stubby.  At first, Bud can’t see Stubby at all, then he hears Stubby and sees him sprawled out on the ground, close to a really big rock.

As Bud runs to see what Stubby is doing on the ground, he hopes that Poot is okay.  Bud gets to Stubby, but he is out of breath from running.  After he recovers, he asks, “What are you doing, Stubby?”  Stubby looks up at Bud with big teardrops in his eyes and then points to the ground.  It takes Bud a couple of minutes to realize what he is seeing.  There laying on the ground next to a hole are Poot’s saddle bags.  Bud asks, ” Is he down there?”  Stubby nods, ‘yes’, then blurts “what are we going to do Bud?”

Bud looks back at the hole in the ground.  The hole is nearly grown over now, but he recognizes that at one time it was a well.  “Can you hear him Stubby”, Bud asks.  “Just barely” Stubby cries.

…to be continued

Poot disappears – part 1

One balmy spring morning, Bud, Stubby and Poot set out in search of adventure.  Because the boys live so far out in the country, they have no neighbors.  With no neighbors, they have no neighbor children to play with.  This is not a problem for Bud and Stubby because their minds are filled with thoughts of pirates, soldiers, dragons, knights, cowboys and all manner of bad guys. 

Today, upon entering the woods behind their house, the decision has been made to play army.  The boys, dressed in their camo pants and shirts are stealthily picking their way through the woods toward  the enemy’s secret camp.  Trailing along behind them, Poot brings up the rear wearing his doggie-sized saddle bags made from an old pair of Stubby’s socks.  Poot is content to follow quietly for now, but that is subject to change at a moment’s notice.

Suddenly Bud dives to the ground and Stubby quickly does the same.  Bud motions for Stubby to crawl to where Bud is.  Stubby covers the distance that separates them and when he arrives Stubby asks, “What’s got you so jumpy, cap’n Bud?”  “Shhh”. says Bud.  Pointing toward a large rock outcropping, he whispers, “I think I just saw a lowdown enemy scout go behind those rocks, corporall Stubby.”  “What are we going to do, cap’n Bud?” Stubby asks.  Bud quickly looks around and grabs a twig, then begins to draw in the dirt with it.  “First, I’m going to run to that big, old oak tree right over there”, cap’n Bud says while at the same time pointing to his dirt map.  “Then corporall, I’m going to cover you while you haul your butt up here to meet me, OK?”  Stubby nods okay as Bud takes off running for the big oak tree.  

As soon as he gets to the tree, cap’n Bud turns and signals for Stubby to join him.  Corporall Stubby, feeling the excitement of danger, runs as fast as his short legs will carry him and upon arriving, slides head first into Bud.  They both spend a few minutes laughing as Poot trots up to join the fun.  The boys quickly begin to plan their course to the rocks and don’t realize tha Poot has spotted a rabbit. 

The rabbit sprints off and Poot quickly follows.  But the boys are unaware of this because they have begun their quest to capture and control the rock outcropping.

Cap’n Bud and Corporall Stubby run, dodge, hide and climb.  Finally, they control the rocks.  Sitting down on top of the largest rock, Bud asks, “Are you hungry, Stubby?”  “I sure am”, Stubby replies.  Then they both begin to call for Poot, because Poot is carrying two packs of peanut butter crackers in his saddle bags.  But Poot doesn’t come.  After a few minutes the boys climb down and continue to yell, “Poooot”.  But there is no Poot to be seen.

…to be continued. 

Introducing “Poot”

Yes.  It is a strange title for a blog post or article or whatever this is.  Well, I guess it’s really a story.  A story about two little boys, Bud (age 6) and his brother Stubby (age 5) and their little dog, “Poot”.

These three are the main characters in a series of stories that I have created to entertain my two daughters.  It all started because my girls, like most little girls, get bored easily when riding in a car.  They were continuously asking  “Please tell me a story, Daddy.”  And trying to be a good father, I obliged them.  At first, I told them all the common stories that we all remember from our childhood – “The three little pigs”, “Goldilocks”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Cinderella”, and others.  But after repeated tellings, these stories grew tiresome.  Then, one day, out of the blue, I made up the first thing that came to mind.  This resulted in the creation of Bud, Stubby and Poot.  To my surprise, the girls were delighted and began to beg for me to tell them other “Poot” stories.

I guess that I’ll use this opportunity to introduce the characters and maybe tell a short story tomorrow.

Bud is a six year old boy with brown hair and brown eyes.  He is a very smart, mischievous little boy which may explain why he sometimes gets into situations that he shouldn’t.  Even with all his misdirection, he is very sweet and tries to look out for his brother Stubby.  Stubby is five, with blond hair and blue eyes.  He’s a very rough and tumble kind of boy, though a little on the short side.  As you might guess, he’s always ready to try anything his older, wiser brother might suggest, which leads to some hair-raising escapades.

That leaves Poot.  Now Poot is a small, black, scruffy dog of indeterminate age.  Bud and Stubby think that Poot has always existed because he’s been around as long as they can remember.  In reality, Poot is almost the same age as Stubby, five.  He was dropped off on the dirt road that Bud and Stubby live on, just a little piece up the road and wandered toward the smell of bacon cooking that morning.  Poot parked himself by the front door and has been a part of their home ever since. 

Oh, his name?  It seems that Poot has some sort of gastro-intestinal malady which causes him to “break wind”, “cut the cheese”, “step on a frog”, “float air biscuits” or “pass gas”, hence the name – Poot.

Bud and Stubby love Poot and Poot loves them.  The three are inseparable, except for when the boys have to go to school, then Poot waits patiently on the porch for any sign of the boys and their school bus.

Tomorrow:  “Poot disappears”