“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford

I just landed in Asia.

24 years ago, I did the same. Only that time, I came to Hong Kong looking for a job. 
No one wanted me. 

I failed over and over again.

Finally, I decided to drop the script and be brutally honest. The next call was to Merrill Lynch. 

I told the woman who answered, “I just flew 18 hours with a backpack and a dream. I didn’t go to Harvard or Princeton or Yale. In fact, you’ve probably never heard of my school, and that’s ok.  All I’m asking for is one cup of coffee and a conversation to hear my story.”

She laughed. It worked.

That led to an interview with a man named Brent Robinson.
He looked at me and said, “You know we don’t hire from non-Ivy League schools, right?”
I nodded. 

He smiled and said…

“Good, because I didn’t go to an Ivy League school either.”

We bonded over finance, football, and failure. 
2 underdogs connected by the courage to be bold when the odds are long and the hopes are high. 

I got the job.

24 years later, I’m back in Asia. 
Not for a job interview but to give a keynote speech on Courageous Leadership to his company. You can’t make this up.

Looking back, every failure was just foreshadowing.

Every rejection,
Every closed door,
Every “no” I heard back then…
Was just a down payment on this moment right now.

That’s the Math of Regret.
Failure costs you pride.
Regret costs you possibility. 

Dash of Courage
As we head into a new month in November, don’t run from the thing that might fail, run towards it.
Make the call.
Send the email.
Start the thing you’ve been avoiding.

You can recover from failure.
You can’t outrun regret.

Courage over Comfort,
Garrett