In an interview, Elon Musk was asked: “How did you figure you were going to start a car company and be successful at it?”
He replied: “Well, I didn’t really think Tesla would be successful. I thought we would most likely fail.”
Interviewer: “But you say you didn’t expect the company to be successful. Then why try?”
He makes a profound statement: “If something is ‘important’ enough, you should try. Even if the probable outcome is failure.”
He sees a failure. Or a need.
He knows fixing it would be helpful to humanity.
He starts to seek the possibility of a solution—exploring, experimenting, discovering, course-correcting.
Here’s what it taught me: Successful pursuits are more about seeking possibilities, not results. And that’s based on the question below:
Is it important enough?
Because
“When the why gets stronger, the how gets easier.” — Jim Rohn
For Edison, it was too important that it made him say “I’ve not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
That’s the intensity of purpose.
It’s what compels successful people to embrace and explore uncertainty.
It’s what drives them to take risks, and stay hopeful, curious, resilient, trusting the dots will connect.
It’s what motivates them to fail more than you.
“If I fail more than you do, I win.” — Seth Godin
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