Failure is the Price We Pay to Grow
Do. Fail. Learn.
Hey everyone! This week, I’m handing things over to James Warren Taylor. He’s been instrumental in helping put the newsletter together and curating all the great links you see each week. Take it away, James!
- Zack
There’s an unfortunate truth: no matter what we pursue in life, to truly excel, we have to fail a bit first. But even if we can convince ourselves that failure is necessary, there’s still a strong aversion to it that keeps us from pursuing things.
Failure stings—it bruises our ego, shakes our confidence, and leaves us vulnerable. We all dread it, yet it’s the price of growth. While writing this, I’m having my own worries about failure: What if my ideas don’t pan out? What if I never get to do the work I’m passionate about? What if this very article on failure turns out to be a failure?
Thoughts like these often race through my mind and cling to me like bugs splattering on a windshield—they’re stuck there, obstructing my view, and just plain unsettling.
But what if we could reframe our aversion to failure?
I was recently inspired by the Second Nature podcast when this quote from the book Build - By Tony Fadell was read.
"Assume that for much of your twenties your choices will not work out and the companies you join or start will likely fail. Early adulthood is about watching your dreams go up in flames and learning as much as you can from the ashes. Do, fail, learn. The rest will follow."
— Tony Fadell, designer of the iPod
Is that really the purpose of my twenties? To watch my ideas crash and burn while I scramble to salvage what’s left of my confidence?
This thought has lingered with me, and I’ve returned to it time and again over the past week. The fear of failure holds us back from so much. But if we simply do—knowing failure is part of the process—we can learn and actually start to make progress towards our goals.
Failure will always be a possibility, lurking in the shadows, ready to strike when we misstep. But maybe that’s the point.
Failure might actually be the way we get to where we’re trying to go, yet we spend so much time and energy trying to avoid it. I’m not suggesting we should let our ideas fail just to move on to the next one. But when our best efforts come to nothing, the lessons we learn might be more valuable than if everything had gone according to plan.
In the opening of Tony Fadell’s book, he says,
"I tried to build the iPhone twice. Everybody knows about the second time, the time we succeeded. Few people know about the first."
Behind every success lies a series of failures we rarely get to see—trial and error that remains hidden from the public eye. It’s often said that Thomas Edison made 10,000 versions of the light bulb before achieving success. If there’s anything truly worth creating, failure is an inevitable part of the process.
You have to take a chance on yourself and your ideas. If your ideas turn out to be failures, don’t let that stop you from learning and trying again.
Creativity is like a muscle, and like all muscles, in order to grow, it has to be trained to failure. I’m learning to ignore the fear of failure because no matter how I fail, I know I can learn from it. Nothing comes easy, so if failure is unavoidable, I might as well get out there and get it over with. Do. Fail. Learn. The rest will follow.
Keep creating and repeating.
-James
On this week’s podcast, I’m joined once again by my wife and co-founder, Morgan Evans. We dive into the topic of comparison—how it sneaks into our lives, kills relationships, stalls momentum, and stifles creativity. Together, we unpack how to break free from it and stay focused on your own path.
Links keeping us creative:
🖌️ Archives.design: A digital archive of graphic design related items that are available on the Internet Archives.
🍽️ Plates: Plates functions as a journal exploring innovative food culture, sharing the stories of creatives in the food industry.
✍️ Design Manifestos: A list of design manifestos collected for academic use by design scholars and practitioners.
📝 Anson's Notes App - Advice: A list of helpful quotes on taste, living, people, and work.
Create.Repeat is a community for creatives.
The Create.Repeat Substack is a project designed to be a weekly diary on creativity. Sharing inspiration for artists to keep creating and repeating.
Written and curated by Zack Evans & James Warren Taylor
Each week we will be sharing recent thoughts on creativity, some links helping us stay creative, and soon will be including a talent show featuring an artist from the community. Thank you for engaging with us.
History repeats. Create the future.
Some Final Links:
Check Out The Podcast - Episode #3 Out Now! 🔄
Recommended watch on the subject: General Magic
This is the story of one of history’s most talented technology teams. From the first smartphones to social media, e-commerce, eBay, and even emojis, the ideas that now dominate the tech industry and our day-to-day lives were born at General Magic, a 1989 Silicon Valley startup that you've never heard of.
The award-winning documentary tells how a great vision and an epic failure can change the world—featuring members of the original 1984 Macintosh team and the creators of the iPhone, Android, and eBay. These designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs saw the future decades before it happened.
The film captures the spirit of those of us who dare to dream big and the life-changing consequences when we fail, fail again, fail better, and ultimately succeed.
→ General Magic is available to rent or purchase on Vimeo: vimeo.com/ondemand/generalmagic