Success in life - 1 very important lesson from Guitar Hero

22 replies
1. To be the best, fail as fast as possible

This one struck me like a bolt of lightning, in the middle of a Guitar Hero game.

Let me back up a second.

About a year ago, I used to be a Guitar Hero fanatic, a top player. I won a bunch of competitions and some very cool prizes.

But then work and college got in the way, so I gradually stopped playing.

After about a year in IM, and a year of reading "success stuff" (like some threads in this forum), I played the game again.

What I didn't anticipate is how much my mindset shifted because of the things I've learned.

I quickly realized that achieving 5-star expert status on Guitar Hero was no easy feat - it was a big success.

And for the first time in my life, I analyzed exactly what I did to make myself a success at Guitar Hero, and how I could apply those factors to other areas in my life.

This different perspective challenged me into entirely new levels of thinking. As I was playing, I could actually SEE myself play and could see a pattern with all the mistakes I was making.

More importantly, I could see how the principles for success at Guitar Hero also apply to success in real life.

So, as I said before - the first take-away is to "fail as fast as possible".

It's not common advice. Yet when I play a song in Guitar Hero, the moment I miss that first note I get frustrated - because it means I won't achieve a 100% score - unless I start the game again.

Now that's common sense, but what really struck me was this - the moment I missed that first note - the rest of the song flowed smoothly. I could rip through every solo after the miss no problem.

So what's the lesson here? The lesson is that your biggest enemy is FEAR. Fear of missing that first note, fear of failure, fear of looking like a fool.

Do you see the distinction here? So many people want to get everything 100% right when they first attempt a new endeavor. They want it so bad that they literally CREATE FEAR out of thin air. They build up the importance of not failing so much, that anything less than 100% results is emotionally devastating to them.

Fear is irrational, so you cannot rationalize with it. You must confront it as it comes. This is why I say that "fail as fast as possible" is so important. Because in doing so, you will eradicate your fear because you will UNDERSTAND that failure is NOTHING like your mind conjured it up to be. It's really not that big of a deal.

Fail as fast as possible, so you can get over your biggest stumbling block - and ride the wave to success.

Regards,
Srdjan
#guitar #hero #important #lesson #life #success
  • Profile picture of the author RyanHaus
    Very good post. Many people have Fear that holds them back

    Fear of failure so they don't even try
    Fear of humiliation so they don't put themselves out there
    Fear of what they are actually capable of.

    Here is one of my favorite Nelson Mandella remarks regarding this toppic:

    YOUR DEEPEST FEAR

    Our deepest fear is not that we are
    inadequate, our deepest fear is that we
    are powerful beyond measure.

    It is our light, not our darkness that
    most frightens us. We ask ourselves,

    “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
    talented and fabulous?” Actually, who
    are you NOT to be?

    You are a child of God. Your playing
    small does NOT serve the world. There
    is nothing enlightened about shrinking
    so that other people won’t feel insecure
    around you.

    We were born to manifest the glory
    that is within us. And as we let our
    light shine we unconsciously give other
    people permission to do the same.

    As we are liberated from our own
    fear, our presence automatically
    liberates others.
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    • Profile picture of the author cynthea
      Originally Posted by RyanHaus View Post

      Here is one of my favorite Nelson Mandella remarks regarding this toppic:

      YOUR DEEPEST FEAR

      Our deepest fear is not that we are
      inadequate, our deepest fear is that we
      are powerful beyond measure.

      It is our light, not our darkness that
      most frightens us. We ask ourselves,

      "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
      talented and fabulous?" Actually, who
      are you NOT to be?

      You are a child of God. Your playing
      small does NOT serve the world. There
      is nothing enlightened about shrinking
      so that other people won't feel insecure
      around you.

      We were born to manifest the glory
      that is within us. And as we let our
      light shine we unconsciously give other
      people permission to do the same.

      As we are liberated from our own
      fear, our presence automatically
      liberates others.
      I love this quote!! Actually Marianne Williamson is the originator of these words ~ Nelson Mandela used Williamson's quote in a speech and so it is often attributed to him. But in the interests of giving credit where credit is due, just wanted to make this correction. Such a powerful quote, isn't it? Thanks for posting and remindin us to "MANIFEST THE GLORY THAT IS WITHIN US!"
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  • Profile picture of the author rahmat
    Thanks Srdjan,

    It is a great and motivating post.
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  • Profile picture of the author tobyR
    good post my friend - yep you're right not normal advice but sound advice definately - thanks
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    • Profile picture of the author Azlan
      thumbs up for this post!
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  • Profile picture of the author Nereah
    Fear is terrible, I remember I had a driving instructor who used to tell me, FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real, and the faster you get over it, the faster you will learn how to drive and its true Fear can really draw you backwards for no good reason.
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  • Profile picture of the author animesh
    Thanks for reminding this...

    The lesson is that your biggest enemy is FEAR. Fear of missing that first note, fear of failure, fear of looking like a fool.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vortex Creator
    Thanks for this one! It's amazing how one thing in one area of life can teach you about other areas, isn't it? Love life!

    The fear that is in our mind up until that point where we fail is really the only thing holding us back. Don't you see children experiencing the same? At first they are a little afraid of something new but as soon as they get over that initial fear they start LOVING it and jump in eagerly. We should definitely do the same on our level of playing the game of life
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  • Profile picture of the author jamepirc
    Great post. Really motivating!
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  • Profile picture of the author WAWarrior
    Great post, and very good example used!
    Fear is the thought of admitted inferiority.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adam J Wagner
    Damn, I was hoping for some Guitar Hero tips...
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  • Profile picture of the author BBryanB
    Fear is the thought of admitted inferiority is one that I agree with as well.

    Failing is not as bad as the thought of failure.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daryl Lim
    There Is a Hole in My Sidewalk
    Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
    By Portia Nelson

    Chapter One
    I walk down the street.
    There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
    I fall in.
    I am lost…I am helpless.
    It isn’t my fault.
    It takes forever to find a way out.

    Chapter Two
    I walk down the street.
    There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
    I pretend that I don’t see it.
    I fall in again.
    I can’t believe I am in this same place.
    But, it isn’t my fault.
    It still takes a long time to get out.

    Chapter Three
    I walk down the same street.
    There is a deep whole in the sidewalk.
    I see it is there.
    I still fall in…it’s a habit…but,
    My eyes are open
    I know where I am
    It is my fault.
    I get out immediately,

    Chapter Four
    I walk down the same street.
    There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
    I walk around it.

    Chapter Five
    I walk down another street.
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  • Profile picture of the author flyinghammers
    Nice post. I have taken the saying "If you are going to fail, fail fast" in order to conquer fear.
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  • Profile picture of the author Razarulz
    hehe...niz, play the game, learn from it...
    never read somenthing unique like this..
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  • Profile picture of the author alanabowe
    Great post!

    Those who fear failure should know that most successful people have failed one or more times in their lives. But what made the difference is how they learned from the failure and how they used failure to succeed in life. The real failures are those who fail once and then refuse to try anything ever again for fear that they might fail again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nereah
    You are right about failing fast,once you do you somehow overcome the fear which is a great enemy!
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  • Profile picture of the author hireava
    great post! I didn't know that there's a deeper meaning or lesson we could learn behind the game "guitar hero".

    thanks for sharing!
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    • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
      Yep!

      I went to a toy company once and found out that most people who go and see them with an idea, after failing 1 to 3 times, give up.

      A pity, because after l failed 7 times, l came up with a successful puzzle that make me $13,000 dollars over 5 years and was sold worldwide.

      Another interesting thing about fear, is when animals experience it they get conditioned to a point, so when the barrier is removed they wont budge.

      Or an example is when they put up a transparent barrier between a Barracuda, and its prey fish, they found that after repeated attempts of the Barracuda to try to catch the prey, (Tuna) it gave up.

      Then after the barrier was removed, the Barracuda still wouldn't go for the Tuna, even though it was now swimming around the Barracuda?

      I believe that this happens in animals and us, as a self preservation device. After all spending a long period of your life going for something that seems impossible, may make you go a little mad, unless your mind said that is was unachievable. The trick is to rationally get past this fear barrier, and keep going regardless of this fear, which is a natural thing your mind sets up, but isn't usually based on logic.

      They thought that Edison was mad, after failing thousands of times, but he proved them wrong and changed the world.

      Fear and intelligent thought and actions are too different things.

      Shane
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  • Profile picture of the author srdjank
    Just wanted to give this a big BUMP... its been over a year since I created this thread!

    It's been a fun trip down memory lane. Reading my post and the posts of the people that have contributed in this thread, really humbles me and reminds me of where I was a year ago, and how far I've come since then.

    I've no doubt in my mind its because I learned to look at fear in a new way.

    Thank you all for your posts! Its greatly appreciated.

    Now I hope some new Warriors will stumble upon this thread, and eradicate the fear within...
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  • Profile picture of the author richardthomas
    great thread
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