Life

You Learn To Fly By Falling

Nature is often the best teacher. 

Not to put you to sleep, but do you remember learning about birds?

One minute they’re the cutest creatures in the world, bald babies tucked away in a nest.

Then…

Like a playground bully hopped up on crayons, the mother bird swoops in and pushes her babies right out of the nest.

Just BAM. 

And for a fleeting moment, you’re like, “what the fuck did I just witness? This poor thing is going to die!” as you watch the bird spiral to the cold hard ground. 

But soon, wings start to twitch, feathers begin to flutter, and birds start to fly.

Which can only mean one thing:

You learn to fly by falling. 

Or in other words, you have to take the leap to hit your goals. 

You Can’t Avoid The Plummet

After launching my own business, writing my first book, and directing my first movie, I have a confession. 

I thought I could beat the system. I thought I could avoid the pain of plummeting.

As a personal development junkie, I’ve heard the advice.

“Start before you’re ready.”

“You’ll never have it completely figured out.” 

“It doesn’t matter how hard you plan; there’s always the unknown.” 

To which I rolled my eyes and thought, yeah-maybe-for-you, but certainly not for me.

Because selfishly, I thought I was special. 

With all the technology, people, and connections at my fingertips, I can certainly muster up a way to hit my goals without the pain.

I’m different. I’m unique. I’ll beat the odds.

So I studied, planned, and plotted my course. 

Unfortunately, the closer I thought I was coming to finally start my new journey, in reality, the more cemented and further away I became. 

I had confused progress with procrastination, and the worst part was, I felt good about it.

And after years of studying how to achieve certain dreams, I knew more about the topic but didn’t actually move closer to achieving them.

Because the fact of the matter is, even if you have a plan (and you should have some plan), nothing happens until you jump.

You can’t out clever action. 

You can only jump into it.

The Fall

Whether you roll out the red carpet for your next venture announcing to the world your plans or silently say “fuck it” and carry on, one thing happens after you take the leap.

Your next steps become clear. 

Falling puts you into hyperfocus. You figure out what you must do next when you have no other choice. 

For instance:

If you’re running a business, you figure out how to get customers much quicker when you need them to put food on your table.

When you’re writing a book, you discover your characters and their personalities only after writing in flow.

When you start a new job or career path, you figure out the ins and outs of the industry from being in the world.

And that’s the whole fucking gambit.

Life and progress are only experienced by living. It’s the doing that moves the needle, not the thinking. 

You can’t taste food by looking at photos, no matter how many filters are applied.

You can’t lose weight by watching fitness videos or having motivation rammed down your throat.

You can’t read about a celebrity’s happy relationship and live it yourself.

It’s taking action that will always make the difference.

Perhaps that’s why some of the richest people in the world aren’t the ones who went to college but are the ones who took massive action.

Some of the best writers have never been formally trained but have been tempered with consistency and reps.

Some of the best artists never went to conventional art school and instead spent years teaching themselves through action.

Because the best teacher is real-world experience, and that takes courage to do.

You learn to fly by falling.

All you have to do is jump.

Please like, comment, share, and tell me what you think. What have you been putting off?

58 thoughts on “You Learn To Fly By Falling”

  3. Couldn’t agree more Anthony! 💯💯👍👍 You learn by doing not thinking! As you can think yourself out of doing things! I never trained to be a poet or a writer yet that’s what I do.

    Reply

  6. Seems everybody craves an “Influencer” nowadays when they were there all along. There’s no better influencer than a Mum, a Dad, or a good teacher, and especially that influencer who gives the push out of the nest!

    Reply

  11. I have followed your blog for some time. You inspire me. I just finished Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic. Yes. Action invites the art. Motion draws the muse. We must do the next right thing, whatever that is for us. Best to you.

    Reply
  12. Pingback: On writing: ready to fly? : Black Tortoise Press

  13. I really love this! I am a person who loves to write and I want to write my own book about inspirations, but I, myself is not yet successful. I do not know how it will turn into reality. All I know is I have big dreams yet I am still at my lowest point in life today.

    I continue writing even if no one is reading it. hahaha! It’s my happiness!

    Thank you for writing this, it gives me the strength to move on and take action on my dreams!

    Reply

    1. That’s wonderful! We’ll I don’t think you should measure success in outcomes, you should measure it on outcomes, you should write the book because the act in doing it itself is success

      Reply

  14. I loved this post! People are always trying to hack shortcuts to avoid the pain. I don’t blame them, but in the end, you’re gonna have to go through fire to get to the gold (most of the time.)

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  15. Pingback: You Learn To Fly By Falling - A Little TOO Picture Imperfect

  22. Thanks! What a nice insight. I get my spirit again when I thought every thing in my life is such a mess and I found this post! Short, but such an inspiration ✨

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  24. Pingback: Jump then fall – Tiêu đề

  25. This is so, so true. I was unemployed (still technically am) for years because of my disabilities and I was always looking for work for disabled people, then I decided one day “fuck it, what if I coursed my own path?”, so I sat down and I started off a blog. I had nothing to go by, no experience, no topics, nothing.

    Fast forward four years and writing about my interests and life, Kinky With A Twist now consistently appears in the first pages of Google searches, I’m growing everyday and, after a big setback (I lost my Dad to cancer in 2019 and experienced complicated grief made worse by being separated from my family by lockdown), I’m now writing my first book. Hell yes it’s scary, sure I don’t know whether it will do well or be a flop but, and as you quite rightly say, we can sit on the ledge and shuffle all we want, but sooner or later you have to take the plunge. A great post, thank you for the inspiring read.

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  26. I relate so much at what you wrote here. I too thought I was somehow special and don’t need yo put the work in as I thought things are just going to come my way. I couldn’t have been more wrong. No matter what you’re dreams are if you don’t start moving towards them nothing will happen. And sometimes is necessary to fall to become stronger and I learned tye best when I fell. Ohhh the mystery of life and its lessons. 😆💙

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  30. Unlike the bird, It can be easy to hit the ground after taking action. Instant success on a broad scale is only for the one percent. It takes time and persistent to perfect any craft. The best road to success is to enjoy the process.

    Reply

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