Positive thinking needs balance

My first major failure as a young entrepreneur was far worse than it needed to be, because in the successful years leading up to it, I had denied the possibility of failure.

Planning for failure is not the same as planning to fail. While thinking through threat scenarios can lead to better business decision-making, on a personal level, learning to leverage the possibility of failure becomes a kind of inoculation against fear, building resilience and composure.

It reminds me of what a tightrope walker once said when asked where he summoned the confidence to walk 400 feet above the ground without the use of a safety tether. He said the trick was in knowing how to fall on the rope.

Likewise, knowing how to manage failure can result in a more resilient kind of confidence. By contrast, the confidence that only comes from success and positive thinking can prove to be too fragile in times of crisis.