"It’s not failure. It’s feedback."
- lifelessonsfrommem
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
Have you ever heard of the Burnt Toast Theory? No, it does not mean if you smell burnt toast you are having a stroke (although I have heard that is one symptom of a stroke). What it means is that everyday there are little “inconveniences” and how you react to them is important. If you burn your toast for breakfast, do you just give up and say “My whole day is going to suck!”? Or do you say “This is my sign I need to go to Dunkin and get a bagel and coffee and treat myself!”?
I don’t know about you but I have never had a day where everything went perfectly. I think if I did, I would assume that I was in the Matrix!
For instance, one day I went to get coffee at my neighborhood Starbucks. I pull up and it is closed (there was construction nearby and they shut off the water). Well, that sucked! So I turned to Yelp and it pointed me to another coffee shop—a “mom and pop” type of cafe. Holy cow! It was the best coffee and for a fraction of the cost of Starbucks! I now have a new favorite and I get to support a small business. A total win-win.
Another time, I was going to work. I take the same way to and from work everyday because I usually drive on auto-pilot. This time, there was a detour. Shit! I HATE detours. Now I have to pay attention. Well, by the end of my ride, I shaved 10 minutes off my commute by going the different way! What?? That’s awesome. I now have a new way to work.
That’s what the Burnt Toast Theory is about. Usually, with any mild setback, there is something good that comes out of it. You just have to look for it.
What about major setbacks? What good can come out of them?
We have all been there. We have been working on a project for weeks. We have been dieting for months. And the project goes wrong or we gain 3 pounds. What the hell?
Let me give you two really good examples.
In 1928 (yup, a long time ago) a scientist was gone for summer break. When he came back, his lab was in disarray and messy. Instead of getting mad (like I would have), he started to look around and observe his lab. One observation he saw was some petri dishes that were filled with bacteria. However, he also saw mold on those dishes. In fact, after further discovery, he saw that the mold was stopping the bacteria's growth. This led to the production of penicillin. Penicillin has saved an estimated 200-500 million lives since its discovery. A discovery by accident.
In 1968, a scientist was trying to develop a super strong adhesive for the aerospace industry. Instead, he accidentally made a “low-tack, reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive”. He put this adhesive on some bright yellow scrap paper, but didn’t know what to do with it. In 1974, his friend used that scrap paper to make a bookmark in his hymnal.
Guess what? You probably have this “low-tack, reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive” accident on your desk right now.
And Post-Its were born.
Instead of giving up, instead of getting mad at their “failures” and telling themselves “I am such an idiot! I can’t do anything right! Why am I so dumb?”, they took a step back. They looked at their “failures”, their burnt toast, and instead, asked themselves “What do we have here? Umm, this is interesting…” They observed, not judge.
When we supposedly fail, that is what we need to do. Observe what has happened. How did we get there? What can we do from here? What can we LEARN? Don’t judge yourself–”You stupid moron!”, but observe. “Hmmm, I gained 3 pounds. What did I do differently? Maybe eating ice cream every night might be adding the extra calories. Maybe I could switch to an apple or berries at night for less calories and more nutrition. I’ll try that for a month and see what happens.” Boy, isn’t that better than calling yourself a frickin’ idiot?
Remember—It’s not failure. It’s feedback!
If you’re not failing, you’re not learning.
If you’re not learning, you’re not growing.
If you’re not growing, you’re not living.
Blog Website: https://www.lifelessonsfrommemaw.com/
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