26A – Celebrating Failure

In the last semester, I have failed REPEATEDLY on the Cupcakes. At first, I thought that I could get away with playing the lectures in the background while I do other things. I learned pretty quickly that that was not going to work. I got a .4 on that Cupcake. Then, the next week I thought I could watch the lectures at 2x while paying attention. That didn’t work too well either because that week I got a .2. This kept happening for two more weeks until I gave up and decided that I had to take notes. Now, I take notes while I watch the lectures at 1.5x and that helps me do it efficiently and get about a .8 average on the Cupcakes. I learned that if I want to get a good grade on the Cupcakes, I have to actually put in the work and actively take notes while I watch the lectures. I think failure is really just the most effective way of learning something because every time you fail, you know what doesn’t work and you have this motivation to get it right. I see failure as a chance to try again and get it perfect so it is more of a feeling of motivation. This class has changed my perspective on failure in the sense that I now see failing in entrepreneurial ventures is going to happen and it just means you have to find another solution that will work. I am more likely to take risk because either way I will learn something.