Dealing With a Failure

[rake60]

In my work career as a machinist and even more in my home
hobby, failures do occur. I often lose my temper and throw
things around the shop.

Every now and then reality comes along and kick you in the face.
I have been fortunate to have known of a lot of truly great people
in my life time. One of them would be Dr. Randy Pausch of the
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh PA.
In his last lecture he said something that I feel fits here.

"The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how
badly we want something."

Dr. Randy Pausch died of liver cancer on July 25, 2008.
This was the first two minutes of his last lecture:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOBH9EvzO8&feature=related[/ame]

I learned a lot from that lecture.
Never give up, never give in.
If you want it bad enough, it will come around to you.

Rick

 

[ChooChooMike]

Thanks fo rthe reminder Rick.

His lecture and more is also in book form :

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (Amazon link)

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
--Randy Pausch

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

Extremely highly recommended for everyone. You'll be reevaluating your life as he's speaking from the heart knowing he only has a few months to live. It's about life priorities, living life like it's your last chance (it is) and more.

This YouTube video has been view over 10,000,000 times. Yes, it's a long video, but well worth it.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo[/ame]​

Mike

 

[Mo deller]

I am finding things very hard at the moment,can't keep the motivation and get very depressed when things go wrong. I will watch this and hopefully will be able to climb out of the rut a little.
It never ceases to amaze me how some people can keep smiling no matter what. I sure could use a bottle of that.

Thanks for posting

Peter.

 

[phlegmatic]

As I have failed more than most, I talk from experinece, ask your self why your´re angry that you´ve failed! There´s usually an answer and it´s usually very silly; like comparing one self with others (competing), or obvious lack of preparation (e.g lack of knowledge or tools)... Failing in metalwork is no biggie, its just happens!

Its your own experince that counts, nothing else!

 

[GWRdriver]

There's tons of helpful advice out there, like the video, but a couple of small things I do when I get in a rut or run up against a wall . . . the first is to recognize that Men (ie, me) are wired to be competitive, and obstinant, even with themselves. We are what we are and have to take that into account. So, I've learned to pick my battles. Some things, and every single thing, just isn't really worth butting your head against and losing you composure over. I'm not saying I avoid battles, or give up, but some battles are much more worth winning than others, some are worth winning Now and others can wait, and little victories can be stepping stones to winning the bigger battles. The second thing I do when things aren't going well is simply walk away . . . for today, or for this week, and come back to fight a battle on another day. I know within 15 minutes of picking up a tool if today is going to be a good workshop day or if it's going to be the day I screw up something I've worked on for weeks (or months.) If I see it's going to be a screwup day I simply walk away and come back to do battle another day. Those two things eliminate 90% of the stress in life (at least workshop life) for me.
Harry

 

[Doug E.]

Rick and all,

I also make my living as a machinist, and used to be very depressed when I would make a mistake on a part(Depression, btw, can be a result of anger turned inward). I finally figured out that a very high standard had been instilled in me at an early age that left no room for any kind of failure. This standard was held up by a person with a "short man attitude" who would build his ego up by the short comings of others. His ego needed feeding so much that he would cheat at games with his kids. He had a perfectionist attitude towards others, and would not be caught in doing anything less himself. Once I was able to realize that I had adopted a faulty standard was I able to accept that not everything I did would turn out 100% all of the time, and self worth was not tied to this persons approval.

The only machinist that does not make mistakes, is one that does not do anything.

For those that only machine as a hobby, remember that there is a learning curve associated with machine work. If you learn something from a scrapped part, the part is not wasted.

Regards,

Doug

 

[Lew_Merrick_PE]

We learn to walk, talk, ride a bicycle, or almost anything else by failing to do so until we have accumulated enough well that did not work experience to find out how to succeed.

As an apprentice, I asked what the difference was between an apprentice, a journeyman, and a master (machinist). Herr-Meister Muller told me, "An apprentice, he makes a mistake and knows not what to do. A journeyman, he makes a mistake and knows how to repair it. A master sees the mistake before he makes it and avoids it." By this measure, I am still only a journeyman...

A friend of mine likes to say, "I've never screwed up a job so badly that I can't go get more material and make it right."

I did a job for Lockheed many years ago with my one-man company. I was required to submit my "employment application" to prove that I was EEOC compliant before I could get paid. I had fun creating a realistic application. My favorite question was, "How far in feet did you have to travel to pick of the pieces from your last mechanical system failure?"

 

[Maryak]

I know within 15 minutes of picking up a tool if today is going to be a good workshop day or if it's going to be the day a screw up something I've worked on for weeks (or months.) If I see it's going to be a screwup day I simply walk away and come back to do battle another day. Those two things eliminate 90% of the stress in life (at least workshop life) for me.
Harry

Harry,

Great piece of advise - Thanks. :bow:

Best Regards
Bob