Be Bad Before Good

I have eight grand-kids.  None of them could walk on the day they were born.  They were bad walkers.

I watched an eight year old compete in a violin competition.  She was bad. 

The NASA space shuttle in 1986 was bad.  It exploded on national TV and killed all of the astronauts on board.  It was doubly bad.

And so life goes on.  We are all bad in the beginning.  Some of us may have a moment or two of luck or brilliance early on in our skill development, but it is in the improving of that skill that matters in the long haul. 

People who are good in the long haul fail a lot.  They try and fail and try again.  They learn from their efforts.  They tweak, they rebuild, they practice some more and they learn from the best in their field.

Failure is a part of the deal.  Being bad is actually good for you.  We don’t like it, but believe it or not, bad is a great role model.  A person can learn a lot from failure.

Have you ever failed in business, or in a marriage, or lost a job you really liked?  Good for you.  You are probably better now in business or marriage or in your current job.

Bad always comes before good.  And if you try to cheat, it will catch up with you.

I’ll never forget a time when I was in the 9^th grade and got to play drums for our pep band at a half-time football game.  Someone shouted out the song “Wipeout” which was high on the charts at that time.  The leader turned to me and asked if I could play it.  I assured him I could.

It was a disaster.  I was BAD.  My sticks got tangled, I dropped the beat a time or two and I fatigued quickly and ended in a heap of smoke.  I shuffled off the field with my snare drum banging against my knee and my bruised ego riding shotgun on my shoulder whispering “You wiped out.  You wiped out.”

Every rejection, every failure is a gift.  It is a chance to learn and to do better next time.  Rejection teaches you that you can bounce and not break. 

People who become good in the long run have failed a lot.  Failure is a part of the deal.  It’s in the contract you sign.  Want to be good in the long run?  Pay the price along the way.  Be really bad before you ever think of being really good.

Opportunities abound at the feet of being bad.  Don’t let them go to waste.

(This post idea is based on an excerpt from Seth Godin’s book What to do When It’s Your Turn.)

P Michael Biggs

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