The Best Thing That Could Happen To You (Or Your Business) Is…

This is a post about the importance of fast failures and slow successes. 

There’s an old stock market lesson that goes, “There is nothing worse than winning big on your first trade.”

It’s meant to capture the idea of luck instilling a false sense of confidence. 

Even if you did the right homework and nailed your thesis – long-term success is going to require you’re not (ever) over confident. 

And because we’re all human… oh man, we all do it. 

The same is true for careers, businesses, and anything in life where you have to handle volatility trying to wipe you out on a regular basis. Nothing feels worse than being sure you’re long-term right while the world keeps showing you you’re short-term wrong. You have to earn your appreciation for this type of whimsy. 

When you play it out over time, the lessons compound. 

We can derive another version of the advice, and apply it broadly in the appropriate domains as, 

The best thing that can happen to you in business or investing is to succeed very slowly or fail very fast.

There are so many times I wish I failed faster. I wish I didn’t stubbornly stick to something and just got fully wiped out right away. Sometimes being handed your a** is a gift. 

The good stuff, the real success, takes time. 

Getting good gradually, it sucks to admit, is always where it’s at. 

Here’s to fast failures and slow successes in 2024.