Failure isn’t not being accepted onto the team, failure is not showing up for tryouts. We let fear hold us back from trying new things, telling ourselves if we don’t succeed we’re failures. Fear lies.

Failure is to success as an empty glass is to a full one. Filling it halfway isn’t failure – it’s more success than leaving it empty and less success than filling it up all the way.

I can speak a little bit of French (un peu). I know some basics of cooking and can follow instructions to make a meal. I have more success in French than I did before I tried to learn it. I have more success in cooking than before I started cooking.

The message isn’t that trying is the same as winning. It’s that trying is better than not trying. If your problem is getting started, you just need to start. If your problem is going from good to great, you are past the stage of just trying and should keep working to fill your glass more and more.