There are moments in our lives when feelings of doubt or fears of failure discourage us from following our dreams or striving toward goals. In fact, many of the world’s greatest success stories failed countless times before finally achieving success and notoriety. McKay Christensen opens today’s podcast with Garth Brooks’ origin story, so to speak. He details the failure and discouragement that inevitably forced Brooks to abandon music in Nashville for the comforts of his home in Oklahoma. After returning to Stillwater, OK, however, he realized that he no longer belonged in the town he used to find solace in. So, only after heading back to Nashville for the second time and enduring additional bouts of failure and rejection, did Garth finally find success. In the wake of signing to Capitol Records, Garth Brooks became a household name and the top selling act of the past two decades.

McKay goes on to remind us that, like Brooks, there is a right time and place for each of us to find what we’re looking for so long as we don’t give up. He says that people often quit too soon because of hurdles and daunting challenges. Christensen urges us to stop asking God to remove obstacles and tests from our lives, because they serve to hone our skills and strengthen us in the end. After all, success is a marathon, not a sprint. He then goes on to talk about snowboarding Olympian, Lindsey Jacobellis, who, after doing a trick that cost her a gold medal in 2006, she had to endure over a decade of failure until she finally won Olympic gold in the 2022 winter games. McKay says that things rarely go as planned. He looks back at who he thought he would become at the age of 20 and finds that he’s far from where he expected himself to be; and he sees this as a good thing. Life is full of uncertainties, and failure is a necessary component for success. Without it, McKay says we lack the mental toughness and wisdom that inevitably propel us to reach our goals in the end.

The Finer Details of this Episode:

Garth Brooks’ bouts of failure and doubt before finally achieving music stardom
People often give up before their inevitable breakthrough
How tests help us find positive outcomes
Playing the long game is important (like the stock market)
Ingrid Olsen’s story of praying for God to stop the wind
Why we shouldn’t pray for obstacles to cease
The beauty in life’s uncertainty
Thomas Adams’ struggle to find a use for chicle
Why failure is a learning experience
How Lindsey Jacobellis won gold at 36 years of age in the 2022 Olympics after over a decade of failure

Quotes:

“One of the truths we all learn in life is that much of the good that comes our way comes our way in its own time.”

“Never give up. Keep trying. There’s a reason you are where you are.”

“If massive good didn’t come from grief and loss and even stupid mistakes, God wouldn’t allow grief and loss and stupid mistakes.”

“Too often, we look so long and so longingly at the closed door that we don’t see the one that is opening.”

“Because of the loss we’ve had or our mistakes, we feel unworthy to even think that the best is yet to come, and those limiting beliefs hold us back from what God has intended for us. So let yourself believe that you are of immense worth, and your time will indeed arrive soon enough.”

“When we’re under pressure, we never know what we really believe until our beliefs are tested. We don’t know our capabilities until they are tested. And perhaps in those tests, we are learning that we can do hard things.”

“So tests are good for us, because they affirm strengths and reveal weaknesses.”

“If you’re trying to do something remarkable, offenses and reasons to take offense will come your way. Too many of us get stuck or sidetracked, because we can’t let go of what someone else said or did. Get over it.”

“Trust your own voice. This is extremely hard to do when you look around and make comparisons with others or when others are critical of your lack of success or make light of your dreams. Trusting your own voice and not letting what people say or do affect your determination is essential for your mental well being.”

“Gilda Radner said, ‘I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned the hard way that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. And life is about not knowing, having to change and taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing.’”

“Now for me, I am not the man I thought I was going to be when I was 20. I’m more flawed. I’m more imperfect, and I still have challenges that come my way in life, but I’m grateful most days for those falls. The person I’m becoming because of those imperfections is someone more complicated and capable than who I thought I would be.”

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s really quite simple. Double your rate of failure. If you’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success, it isn’t. You can be discouraged by failure, or you can learn from it.”

Show Links:

Open Your Eyes with McKay Christensen

S4E41 - Your Time Will Come