As a young entrepreneur I have always wanted to try and change the world and make it a better place. Sometimes though people assume that because I am young I don’t understand how the world works. I have come up against and been subject to all kinds of stigma when it comes to running a business;
What do you know about business? You must only just have come out of school? You have no idea how the real world works…
Believe it or not, these are things that I have actually been told during the last 5 years or so – not only as a leader within a large corporation but more recently in the world of small business and being an entrepreneur. It would be a lie if I said that at the time I wasn’t extremely hurt by the comments, but over time I have learnt that fortunately other people don’t determine your future, you do.
Through my blog I hope to inspire young people to become leaders and entrepreneurs in whatever field they are passionate. Through my podcast series I hope to empower people by sharing stories with other successful young leaders and entrepreneurs in the hope people will take action they may not have otherwise. Finally, through my teaching I hope to guide people to their success helping them overcome their challenges.
During my blog and my podcast – when the latter launches on the 8th August (commitment statement here!) I hope people will not only learn through my writing but also through the links to other material that I publish. In every blog I will link in a video that inspired me for the blog and in the podcast I will discuss a book with my guest, that I recommend you read (or if you are like me download off audible!) that will help explore the topics we discuss further.
I hope you enjoy reading and please share with someone you think might get value from this blog!
Failure
One of the things I want to talk about in my first blog post is failure. Specifically because this is the third time I have actually tried to launch a blog with the first two being total failures, maybe third time lucky is a thing after all…
My first two blogs were awful, I mean the first one remained as an idea in my head for 3 months before I convinced myself it was a bad idea, so you could say this doesn’t even count. As for my second (a twitter based blog), well that failed miserably when I put no effort into keeping it regular! The remnants of this second one can still be seen on my twitter page here (you may as well give me a follow whilst you are there 😉 ..)
However, the important thing I learnt from these experiences and why it gave me the motivation and determination to start the Future Mavericks Blog, was that to be successful in anything, you have to do what you are passionate about. Although I knew that I was passionate about helping others and took great pride in seeing other young people succeed, I didn’t believe I could really help and add value to people, that was until I came across the wise words of Robert Collier;
A post shared by Future Mavericks (@futuremavericks) on Jun 3, 2019 at 5:21am PDT
I realised that I needed to believe in myself that I could help others and that I do have value to give. That quote alone is what has given me the confidence that this blog WILL add value to people, my upcoming podcast WILL inspire people to create change and my guidance WILL empower people to continue on in spite of failure they may face.
When I look back, there are clear examples that show that I do have a story to tell, which people want to hear, and a clear obligation to communicate it to the masses in the hope that it will help other young people find their place in the world. I have held talks and run workshops in schools about my story, the path I have chosen to take and what I have learnt along the way, I just never realised the impact it could have. I do now and I am determined to do something about it!
Since looking over my experiences of failure, including my two previous failed blogs, and comparing these with others I have seem to notice a pattern, and it seems to be on a national scale….
*DISCLAIMER*
Firstly I do have a disclaimer, I do actually think the U.K is very special and although we have our challenges I believe we will get through them together, hell that’s why I am writing this blog to inspire us to do so!
However, it seems to me that as a country we seem to take pleasure in watching people fail. When you are trying to accomplish something out of the ordinary or something that has never been done before, people wanting you to fail (and sometimes going out of their way to watch you do so…) can be incredibly demoralising.
Unfortunately, this can be seen throughout all parts of our society. In schools, we are punished for failing and making mistakes. Within the workplace, failing can lead to isolation and being side-lined as well as a lack of progression or even getting fired. Even in our communities, failure can even lead to ridicule and mockery. No one ever tells you about failure when you grow up, instead we are subconsciously manipulated into believing that failure should be avoided at all costs – this however, couldn’t be further from the truth! Will Smith summarises this excellently in the video below, I think we all know that Will Smith is incredibly successful against many different success criteria and he follows this mantra – so maybe we all should too…
FAIL EARLY, FAIL OFTEN & FAIL FORWARD
Failure is a massive part of being successful, you have to be comfortable with failure… failure is where all the lessons are. Will Smith
I think it is important that as a young leader or entrepreneur you don’t lose sight of your reason ‘why’. Often this is what allows you to progress despite any failure that may come your way. Failure is good!
Remembering some wise words from Sir Winston Churchill;
Success is the ability to move from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm Sir Winston Churchill
What’s coming next…
I feel it is my duty to inspire, empower and guide young people toward individual success, which in turn leads to the greater success of our society and at a macro level helps to solve the UN Global Goals, which can be found here. In my next blog Why young people must act now: It’s their duty , I will explore in more depth the 17 UN Global Goals and how every one of us regardless of our background, experiences or knowledge can create something to help change the world for the better. I will share what I am doing to contribute to these goals and why I think it is our duty to do so.
In a few weeks’ time there will be a special 5-part series called ‘Breaking New Ground’ where I will be discussing five topics from the climate to A.I (Artificial Intelligence), where young entrepreneurs and leaders are changing the world and what we can learn from them to better ourselves.
Thank you for reading and I hope you will join me on this journey.
Until next time, Be More Maverick.
Luca
p.s. I hope you fail
June 28, 2019
July 6, 2019