Episode #886
January 24, 2026
If you can’t win for losing
you may be trapped by your own constructs.
If losing is a defeating result, winning becomes exponentially more difficult. You will become trapped by circumstance, bad luck, or the unintended consequences of your own efforts.
Start by thinking through a project to determine the risks. Unintended consequences are simply unforeseen risks.
Shape the parameters of your environment. Clear work surfaces. Determine and acquire the necessary parts – lay them out logically. Know where the tools are that you will use. Conscript help for those tasks that you cannot do yourself. Plan on three or four trips to the hardware store – they are just part of the process. Negative circumstances are a consequence of planning shortfalls.
There is no bad luck, only unexpected plot twists.
If everything goes smoothly, we may assume our understanding is complete. Mistakes expose blind spots, misconceptions, or missing skills that would otherwise remain hidden. In the face of errors, the mind shifts into diagnostic mode (troubleshooting), creating stronger, more durable learning. Much more effective than passive learning is the combination of surprise and correction.
When asked why he failed to make a working light bulb after 10,000 tries, Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
A journey will always be fraught with obstacles, challenges, and forks in the road. When driving down that road, look ahead a quarter mile. Everything in between will arrive with enough warning. It is the destination that matters; the minutiae are just life.
Choices, destinations, and processes are all important, but the journey, no matter how challenging, is the reward.
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
— Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken.
So, maybe the phrase, “You can’t win for losing,”
should be “You can’t lose for winning.”
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I love that quote “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Me too. It is the definative of trial and error.
I have just sent the quote “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,00 ways that won’t work” to my granddaughters. One is working on her PhD at MIT and the other, with disabilities, is mightily struggling with her freshman year of college. Those words apply to both. Thank you and your blog.
4 trips to Home Depot is exactly right. Exactly.