[0:00]What if I told you that the biggest mistake of your life isn't failing, but never trying? There is a Japanese proverb that has changed the lives of many people around the world. Shippai wa Seikou no Moto. It seems complicated, right? But the meaning is devastating. Failure is the foundation of success. It's not learn from your mistakes, it's not try again. It's much deeper than that. It's the idea that failure is not the opposite of success. Failure is the path to success. Researchers studying human behavior have discovered something fascinating. People who avoid failure at all costs are much more likely to live with deep regret throughout their lives. Do you know why this happens? Because this type of person lives limiting themselves, constantly repressing their own potential, afraid of the consequences, afraid of making mistakes and being the butt of jokes from their friends or family. And you know what's worse? Most of these people don't even realize they're doing it. These people simply don't try, they don't open that business, they don't take that course, they don't ask that person out, they don't invest in that dream. Why? Fear, fear of failure, fear of being rejected, fear of losing money, fear of looking stupid. And this fear kills your dreams before they even exist. But today we will explore more about this Japanese proverb, which has the power to free you from the chains of fear and has the power to make you start pursuing your best version. Chapter 1 The boy who was afraid to live. Let me tell you a story about a guy. Let's call him Michael. Michael was 22 years old. He had graduated from high school a few years ago. He got a job at an electronics store. The salary was low, but it paid the bills. Michael wasn't stupid, he had ideas, he had dreams, he had potential, but Michael had a very common problem, he was afraid, fear of failure. And that fear controlled every decision he made in life. Every day Michael woke up at 6:00 in the morning, he had coffee, he went to work, he came home, he watched Netflix, he went to sleep and the next day the same thing. On weekends it was the same routine, nothing changed. And you know what's worse? Michael knew, he knew he was under arrest. He had a dream of starting his own business, he always had. Since he was a child, he imagined owning a company, being the master of his own time, building something with his own hands. But whenever he thought about starting, that voice in his head would say, what if it doesn't work out? What if you lose all the money you've saved? What if people laugh at you? So he did nothing. Michael also wanted to invest, to study the financial market, to make his money work for him. But whenever I was about to open an account with a brokerage firm, fear would creep in. What if you lose everything? And he would give up. Michael was thinking about going to college, maybe engineering, something that made sense. But every time she went to register, fear would creep in. What if you don't like the course? What if it's too difficult? What if you spend years studying something you're not going to use? And he did nothing. And do you know what else was killing Michael inside? He had a girl at his work, Sarah. Michael had been in love with her for months, she was amazing, intelligent, funny, beautiful. Every time she passed by him, his heart raced, every time she smiled he thought, maybe I'll ask her out today. But whenever he mustered up the courage, fear would hit him harder. What if she says no? What if she laughs at you? What if you get rejected in front of everyone? So Michael did nothing and Sarah remained there smiling and he just watched. You know what's interesting? Fear is necessary for human survival. It's a feeling that keeps us alert, that prevents us from doing dangerous things, things that could put our lives at risk. In ancient times, the people who were more afraid, generally lived longer. Think about it, in a tribe, if a brave person decided to go for a walk in the forest alone, that person could be attacked by a wild animal and die. While the fearful ones who decided to stay in the tribe remained alive and healthy. However, this ancient mechanism of our brain today makes us think that everything is a mortal threat, when in reality, it isn't. Think about it, if you go to talk to that person you like and they don't want to go out with you, what will happen? Will your life end? Will you go to jail? Will you die? No, none of that will happen. If the person says no, you might be sad for a few days, but soon after you'll go on with your life normally. Now think about it from another perspective. What if the person says yes? What if the person is willing to talk to you and get to know you better? Perhaps you're missing out on something you've always dreamed of because you're afraid it won't turn out the way you'd like. But know this, the regret and pain of never having tried is far worse than the discomfort of failure. Chapter 2 the pain of not trying. Do you know what the saddest part of Michael's story was? He was suffering all day, he wasn't happy, he was just existing. He woke up every day knowing he could have more, knowing he deserved more. But he preferred to live with the pain of never having than to live with the discomfort of trying. Because trying meant taking a risk, and taking risks meant the possibility of failure, and failing in Michael's mind was the worst possible scenario. But do you know what Michael didn't understand? He was already failing. Every day that he didn't try, he was failing, failing to live the life he wanted, failing to become who he could have been, failing to be happy. A psychologist with years of experience in human behavior said something that should be on every wall in the world. The pain of regret is infinitely greater than the pain of temporary failure. Because failure hurts, but it passes, you try, you make mistakes, you learn, you adjust, you try again. But what about regret? Regret remains. He will be with you forever. And Michael was building a lifetime of regrets. He looked at his friends who took risks, who tried, who failed a few times, but kept trying and he saw these friends living, while he was merely surviving. Chapter 3 The day everything changed. Until one day something happened. Michael was at home, end of another ordinary day, another day where nothing changed, he was browsing the internet aimlessly, just killing time. And suddenly he saw something, a social network, a sentence in Japanese, Shippai wa Seikou no Moto. Failure is the foundation of success. Michael stopped, he read it again. Failure is the foundation of success. Something about that sentence would touched him. He clicked, he started searching. And what he discovered changed everything. Shippai wa Seikou no Moto is not just a cute proverb, it's a philosophy of life. Michael discovered that this idea has been deeply rooted in Japanese culture for centuries. In Japan, failure is not seen as the opposite of success, it is seen as the necessary ingredient for success. Think about it, when you learn to walk, you fall many times, when you learn to speak, you make mistakes constantly. When you learn any new skill, you fail at first. And it is precisely through these failures that you learn. But at some point in life, society teaches us that failure is bad, that making mistakes is shameful. You need to get it right the first time and that that paralyzes us. Michael continued his research. He discovered that in Japanese companies, especially the most innovative ones, there is a culture of fail fast, learn fast. The idea is not to avoid mistakes, it's to make small mistakes early on, before investing everything. Test, fail, learn, adjust, try again. He read about Japanese martial arts, where masters say that every fall on the mat is a lesson, not a failure. He read about the concept of Kaizen, continuous improvement through small steps. And Michael realized something, he had spent years of his life trying to avoid failure, and in the process he avoided success as well, because you can't have one without the other. Chapter 4 The Change of perspective. That night Michael couldn't sleep, he spent hours thinking, thinking about all the times he didn't try, all the opportunities he let slip by, all the what ifs that he never explored. And he felt angry, not from others, from yourself, anger at having wasted so much time, anger at having let fear control him, anger at having chosen the safety of mediocrity instead of the risk of greatness. But Michael also sensed something different, something he hadn't felt in years, hope, because he finally understood. Failure was not the enemy, the fear of trying. That was the real enemy. Shippai wa Seikou no Moto, failure is the foundation of success. It's not, maybe you'll learn from your mistakes, it's you need to fail to achieve real success. Michael realized that everyone he admired had failed. That businessman he followed on Instagram, he went bankrupt twice before getting it right. That investor he admired, he lost money several times in the beginning. That guy who started his dream company, he was rejected by 30 investors before securing funding. The difference wasn't that they didn't fail, the difference was that they tried and they kept trying. Chapter 5 the First steps. The next day Michael woke up feeling different. He looked in the mirror and made a promise to himself. I'm not going to let fear decide for me anymore, and he started small. Because he understood that Shippai wa Seikou no Moto does not mean being reckless. It doesn't mean throwing everything away and hoping for the best. It means taking risks, but smart risks. Michael had no family to support, he had no children, he had no great responsibilities. He had the greatest advantage anyone can have in life, freedom to fail. So he decided to use that to his advantage. The first thing he did, he invited Sarah for coffee. Does it seem simple? But for Michael it was terrifying. He spent the entire morning rehearsing what he was going to say. His hands were sweating, his heart was beating fast, and that voice in his head screamed, don't do that. What if she says no? But Michael took a deep breath and he reminded, failure is the foundation of success. If she said no, he would learn, he would grow, he would move on. But what if he didn't try? He would live the rest of his life wondering, what if? Then Michael went over to her table. Hi Sarah. I know this might sound a little strange, but would you like to grab a coffee with me after work? His heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Sarah looked at him, he smiled. I thought you'd never call me. Of course I want to. Michael almost fainted, she was waiting too. He had spent months suffering from a fear of something that was never real.
[13:02]Chapter 6 the Domino effect. That coffee changed something in Michael. Not because he started dating Sarah, that came later. But because he proved to himself that fear was greater than reality. And once you break through one barrier of fear, the others start to fall as well. Two weeks later, Michael opened his first account with a brokerage firm. He didn't invest everything he had, far from it. He set aside a small amount, an amount that if lost wouldn't destroy him. And he began to study, read, learn, test strategies. Did he make a mistake? Of course he did. Did you lose money in your first trades? Absolutely. But do you know what Michael did? He analyzed where he went wrong, he adjusted the strategy and he tried again. After three months he was already seeing positive results. Nothing absurd, but I was learning and more importantly, I was doing it. After that, Michael started working on his business idea. He didn't quit his job immediately, that wouldn't have been smart. But he started working in his spare time. He created a simple business plan. He started testing the idea on a few people, he asked for feedback. His first product version, it was a complete failure, nobody wanted to buy it. But instead of giving up, Michael asked, why? And people spoke, it's too expensive, it doesn't solve my real problem, the packaging doesn't inspire confidence. And Michael adjusted, second version, better, but it still hasn't taken off. Third version, he started selling slowly, but selling. And Michael realized something incredible, each mistake was not a failure, it was feedback. It was the market teaching him how to get it right. A researcher who spent years studying successful people in different fields discovered that 100% of them failed, multiple times. But the difference between those who succeeded and those who didn't, was not talent, and it wasn't luck either. It was in the way these people dealt with failure. Successful people viewed failure as data for your information as part of the process. Those who failed to achieve their dreams, however, viewed failure as a form of identity. I failed, therefore I am a failure. And that change of perspective, that's the difference between achieving your dreams and living with regret. A neuroscientist with years of experience discovered that our brain cannot differentiate between real fear and imagined fear. When Michael was afraid to call Sarah, his brain reacted as if he were facing a predator. But the truth, there was no real danger, it was simply fear of discomfort, fear of rejection, fear of feeling unwell for a few minutes. And this imaginary fear was preventing him from living. Chapter 7 the truth about risks. Now let me make one thing perfectly clear here. Because I don't want you to misunderstand. Shippai Wa Seikou No Moto doesn't mean being irresponsible. It doesn't mean betting everything on the red and hoping for the best. If you have a family to support, you can't just drop everything and follow your dreams. That's not courage, that's recklessness. If you have children who depend on you, you need to be strategic, calculated risks, smart risks. Perhaps you'll work on your project in your spare time before quitting your job. Perhaps you should build up a six-month financial reserve before making the transition. Maybe you'll start small and grow gradually. This is not fear, this is wisdom. But if you're young, if you don't have major responsibilities, if you have the freedom to fail without destroying other people's lives. So you have a rare privilege, you can make mistakes, you can try, you might fail and life will not end. And you know what's even crazier? The younger you are, the more you should be trying and failing. Because it's during this phase that you learn the fastest. This is the stage when you have the most energy to start over. It is at this stage that the cost of failure is lowest. Michael was 22 years old, had no children, I didn't have huge debts, no one was depending on him. And yet he was living as if he had everything to lose. When in fact, he had everything to gain. Chapter 8 One year later. One year after that night when Michael discovered Shippai Wa Seikou no Moto, his life was completely different. He was still working at the electronics store, but now it was a conscious choice, not a prison. Because his business was growing, slowly but growing, he hadn't quit his job yet, but he already had a significant extra income. And more importantly, he had a plan. In the next six months, if things continued to grow, he would make the transition. Michael was investing regularly, learning, growing. Had he already suffered losses? Of course, several times. But he had also made a profit and he was learning how to manage risk. And you know what else? Michael and Sarah had been dating for eight months. And he couldn't believe he'd spent so much time being afraid to ask her out. But the biggest change wasn't external, it was an internal incident. Michael was letting fear paralyze him more and more. He was still afraid, of course. Fear is human. But now he understood fear was not a sign to stop. It was a sign that he was growing up. Every time he felt afraid, he asked himself, what's the worst that could happen? Can I handle this? And most of the time the answer was yes. Chapter 9 the lessons he Learned. Michael learned some things in that one year that changed him completely. And I want to share it with you now, because maybe, just maybe, you're like the old Michael. First lesson, failure is not permanent. Regret is when you fail, you can try again, adjust, improve, start over. But what happens when you don't try? That what if will haunt you forever. Michael realized that every time he failed at something, the pain went away. He was upset for a few days, maybe a week. But then what? Life goes on as normal. But what about the years he spent without trying? That hurt every day. Second lesson, you don't have to get it right the first time. In fact, it's almost impossible to get it right the first time. Michael tried five different versions of his product before finding something that worked. He made dozens of bad investments before he started to have consistency. He had several awkward conversations before he was able to call Sarah in a natural way. And that's normal, that's how it works. Nobody gets it right the first time, nobody. And if you're waiting to have the perfect strategy before you begin, you'll never get started. Third lesson, fear never goes away. You just learn to act despite it. Michael still feels fear. Every time he launches something new in his business, the fear resurfaces. Every time he makes a larger investment, fear creeps in. But now he understands, fear is not the problem. Letting fear decide for you, that's the problem. Brave people are not fearless people, these are people who act despite their fear. Fourth lesson, most of your fears are irrational. When Michael finally stopped and analyzed his fears, he realized something. 90% of the things he was afraid of never happened. He was afraid of being rejected by Sarah, she said yes. He was afraid of losing all his money investing, he did incur losses, but nothing catastrophic. He was afraid his business wouldn't work out, it did. The human brain is programmed to protect us. And that's why he always imagines the worst possible scenario. But in real life, things are rarely as bad as we imagine. Fifth lesson, imperfect action is better than imagined perfection. Michael spent years planning the perfect deal, it never got off the ground. But when he started with a good enough version, he learned more than in three years of planning. Because you only truly learn when you do, when you put it into the real world, test it, get feedback, adjust it. Planning is important, but there comes a time when you need to start, even if it's not perfect. Especially if it's not perfect. Chapter 10 the real concept behind philosophy. Now let me explain to you why Shippai Wa Seikou No Moto is so powerful. Because it's not just about not being afraid to fail, it's deeper than that. In Japan, this philosophy is connected to other ideas, like Wabi Sabi, the acceptance of imperfection as part of beauty. Like Kintsugi, the art of repairing broken ceramics with gold, making the scars part of the object's beauty. The central idea is this, your failures don't diminish you, they build you up. Every mistake you make adds a layer of experience, every fall teaches you how to get back up better. Every failure brings you closer to success if you learn from it. The problem isn't failing, the problem is failing and not learning anything from it. The problem is being so afraid of failure that you don't even try. Think about it, a baby who is learning to walk, falls dozens of times. But the baby doesn't think, man, I'm a failure, I'll never be able to walk. That's because babies don't think, but the baby simply tries again and again and again. Until one day he walks. And you, you were like that once, you tried, you failed, you tried again, no judgment, no fear, with just curiosity and determination. But at some point you learned to be afraid, you learned that failure is shameful, that making mistakes is bad, that you should always get it right. And that that paralyzed you. Shippai Wa Seikou No Moto invites you to return to that mindset, the mindset that failure is part of the process, not the end of the process. And you know what's even crazier about all of this? There is a study done with people aged 80 to 90. Researchers asked them, what is your biggest regret in life? And do you know what the vast majority answered? It wasn't about things that went wrong. It was about things that these people did not do, the business they didn't open, the trip they didn't take, the person who wasn't asked out, the course they didn't take, the risk they didn't take. People at the end of their lives don't regret their failures, they regret the chances they didn't take, of the attempts that were never made, of the dreams they let die out of fear. So let me ask you a question, you want to reach 80 years old and look back with pride on your efforts, or with regret for their omissions? Chapter 11 The Complete Transformation. Today Michael is no longer the same guy. He's only 23 years old, he's still young, but the difference is that now he is living, not just existing. His business is already generating more than the store's salary. He'll be making the transition soon, he'll be leaving his job. Yes, he is scared, but it's a different kind of fear, it's an exciting fear. It's the fear of someone jumping off a cliff, but knowing they have wings. Michael and Sarah are planning to live together, and he still can't believe he almost let her go because he was afraid of hearing no. His investments, they're growing slowly, but steadily. He has already suffered losses, he has already made mistakes, he has already lost money. But every mistake taught him something and he's improving. Michael started college. Is it difficult? Yes. Are there times when he thinks about giving up? Of course. But he continues, because now he knows, difficulty is not failure, it's growth. And the most incredible thing, Michael became a role model for his friends. Those same friends who saw him trapped, scared, stagnant. Now they see him living and they ask, dude, what's changed about you? And Michael replies simply, I stopped being afraid of failing and I started being afraid of not trying. A behavioral psychologist who studies human motivation made an incredible discovery. There is a pattern among people who achieve their dreams. And it has nothing to do with talent, nothing to do with IQ. It has nothing to do with luck. It has to do with a simple characteristic. Tolerance to discomfort. The people who managed to achieve their dreams are those who can tolerate the discomfort of uncertainty. The discomfort of fear, the discomfort of not knowing if it will work out. And these people still act like that. And what about people who don't achieve their dreams? These are the ones that prioritize comfort above all else. They prefer the safety of mediocrity than the discomfort of greatness. And ultimately it's not about ability, it's about choice. You choose the temporary discomfort of trying. Or do you choose the permanent comfort of regret? A researcher studied successful entrepreneurs for 15 years and he discovered that on average, a successful entrepreneur failed in 3.8 businesses before succeeding. Four deals, four attempts, four failures before success. What is the difference between them and the people who gave up after the first mistake? Simple. They kept trying. They understood that each failure was not the end of the road, it was part of the journey. Shippai wa Seikou no Moto, failure is the foundation of success, literally. So back to you now, what are you afraid of? What are you not doing because you're afraid of failing? What business are you not opening? What course are you not taking? Who is the person you're not calling? What investment are you not making? What is the dream that you are killing out of fear? Because I need you to understand one thing, failure is temporary. But regret, regret is permanent. You can fail today and try again tomorrow. But if you don't try today, and tomorrow will come and you'll be in the same place. And what about in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years? You won't regret the things you tried that didn't work out. You'll regret the things you never tried. Michael discovered this when he was 22 years old and it changed his life completely. How old are you? And more importantly, how much longer are you going to wait? Shippai wa Seikou no Moto, failure is the foundation of success. Don't be afraid to fail, be afraid of never trying. Because in the end, the biggest failure isn't making mistakes, it's about never having the courage to begin. If you've watched this video this far, I invite you to subscribe to the channel. And if you'd like to support the channel, consider becoming a member. Members will have early access to content.
[34:15]Thank you very much for your attention and for all your support. Now comment below, what's the first step you're going to take today? What are you going to try that you were afraid to do? Don't wait any longer. Try, fail, learn, grow. But above all, live.
[34:44]And remember, be present, walk with honor, follow the path, until the next video.
