What Would You Try If You Could Not Fail

Hey Team! I have a question for you. How many things would you attempt if you knew you could not fail? What would you attempt to do today if you knew you couldn’t fail?

I like that statement because what keeps us from attempting to do things? Failure. Rejection. Physical pain. The fear of being made a laughingstock. The fear that others will think we are losers. What prevents you from attempting? If you thought that you could never fail, how much more would you attempt to accomplish in your life? What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

It’s a good thing to think about because it’s all in our heads. It’s what’s in our minds that prevents us. Did you know that both faith and fear require belief? Think about that for a second. Faith and fear require you to believe in something. You believe that you can’t, or you believe that you can. You have faith that you have the ability to learn, to grow, to attempt, to strengthen yourself. Physically, mentally, spiritually, whatever it is. You believe in yourself, and so you step out, grow, learn, and try.

I have personally run into this roadblock many times. I have either attempted or not attempted something out of fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of somebody looking down on me. I have gotten over that many times, but there have been things in my life I have not attempted because I was scared.

I’ll be honest with you. I grew up in a loving family with caring parents who encouraged me and helped me. Some of you might wonder if the military encourages people. Well, they encourage you by not giving you much of a choice to have fear. Whether it’s jumping off a 10- or 15-foot platform fully clothed with a backpack, helmet, gun, and boots into a pool of water, or jumping out of a helicopter and sliding down a rope attached to nothing but your hands and boots—hoping for the best—or carrying 40, 50, 60 pounds of gear on a 25-mile hike with lots of hills, you start to wonder: Can I fail? Can I do this?

Each time you succeed and make it one more mile, one more step, you start to believe. If I can make it one mile, I can make it two, if I can make it 10, I can make it 15. If I can make it 15, I can make it 20. And now, I only have five miles to go. You start to believe that you can. You start taking other steps and wondering, is it possible for me to do the next thing?

I have run into failure. Sometimes, you do fail. The fear of failure is real. Sometimes, even when you believe you can, you still make mistakes, or the odds are just against you. I wrestled all through high school, and sometimes I walked away victorious, standing on the podium with a medal in my hand. Those were great days. But there were also days I didn’t win. I lost every match. I was a loser. But I took those losses, learned from my mistakes, figured out what I had done wrong, and came back again. I didn’t quit. I had the resolve to continue, and that’s what drove me to become more successful.

That is what drives me today—not the fear of failure, but the faith in success. I have faith in my team, in the people around me, in the men and women I serve with every day. I have faith in you. That is what drives me to want to have more success, to believe, and to encourage you.

Remember, faith and fear both require you to believe. One makes you believe you can’t. The other fills you with faith that you can. If you believe that you can, you will find more success than failure. But you have to try. You have to attempt.

I started with this question: What would you attempt if you believed you could not fail? So, what’s preventing you from attempting it today? What’s stopping you from making a grand gesture, from moving forward?

If I had not been able to get past my fears, Karen would have never married me because I would have never asked. But I believed that this beautiful lady could be my wife. And here we are, almost 32 years later, coming up this November. Thirty-two years she has been by my side. Wow. I am so lucky—you have no idea. But I had to attempt. I had to get past the fear within me to ask her out, to ask her to say yes to marrying me, to ask her if she would start this venture in Northwest Enforcement and make all the sacrifices she has made.

I had to ask. And what a leader Karen has become. Those of you who know her closely, you see it. She’s grown so much, even in just the last five years. She’s amazing. I am so lucky. But she had to step out of her comfort zone. She had to have a little faith that this crazy redheaded guy—who is now bald—was someone worth betting on. Because I was crazy. You think I’m crazy now? Oh my goodness, you should have seen me 32 years ago. I was a lot thinner, had a flat top, looked pretty good. Some people even thought I looked like Doogie Howser. That’s a whole other story for another day.

So, remember: What would you attempt if you didn’t think you could fail? Faith and fear both require you to believe. What are you going to believe? Are you going to bet on yourself? Are you going to bet on your team, are you going to bet on the people around you? When are you going to take that step? Are you going to leap with faith? Or are you going to shrink back in fear?

You can attempt and make great strides. Even when you fail, you fall forward and make progress in the direction you want to go. So, on this beautiful day, remember: God bless you. We love you. I appreciate you. And let’s be valuable. Nothing less will do.

Have a great day, guys.