Don’t get emotional over it.
November 15, 2026
This morning, I met an old colleague after decades. He was sprightly and gung-ho. I clearly was not. He asked me if I had retired. I have not. I rely on the kindness of strangers and friends to give me work, which I do with gusto. I do not fear failure. If someone has trusted me, the risk is his, not mine. I must honour the trust and make good on it to get more work. It works.
I recall my dad and many of his colleagues waiting for the day when they could retire. They had a pension plan. No bosses looking over their shoulder. Or having to shoulder the politics of their work environment. Now they get paid for living without working.
Some inherit wealth when they are young. Lacking the industrious gene, they live without working. Their bank deposits work for them. Some don’t work but live on the kindness of strangers and friends. So do I, as mentioned.
I tried my hand at business. I wanted to build an enterprise that would live on even when I am six feet under, reduced to a rubble of bones. Not that the wealth I created would help me any. My surviving family, yes. I should think I would not require any material comfort down there. The creatures I feared when I was alive would have free rein on my body, starting with my clothes. Makes you consider cremation as a preferred choice. Who is to decide?
As a struggling businessman, I discovered that I was really a corporate stooge. Those working for the government, notwithstanding their good heart for service, are pension stooges. I liked the freebies and the assured salary. Matching wits with people of the same grain to gain promotion and boost one’s income and ego, with every step up, more direct reports to boss over. Actually, do work that is appreciated; more rewarding than the money itself.
Depending on the business, the owner is often an island, closeted in the corner room, with a set of people executing instructions, but none to challenge his idiocy that could lead to business failure. The challenges come from customers who may take your goods and not pay you. Then you pine for the corporate life. The liability is on the company. If every client on your watch is not paying, then there is a good chance a boot is inches from your hind.
Whether in business or corporate life, failure is part of the package. No matter what self-help books say, “to succeed, one must fail”, failure is often punished, not rewarded. Unless you’re Edison, the inventor of the light bulb who failed 999 times, but succeeded on the 1000th try. He was self-funded. Patient capital is only a concept. It also has an expiry date.
Failure is a feeling. It is dreaded. If you have never spoken publicly. You will never speak publicly. If you attempted to sing, but instead croaked or choked, chances are you will never croak or choke again. You will not attempt to sing to know the repeat effect. You fear to try.
If you burn a dish at the first attempt at cooking, you may have to eat it to hide the evidence. There is no shame in it. No one knows it. You can try again on low heat and end up eating raw meat. No one is watching, except your stomach, convinced of the futility of writing the recommendation letter to the Chef at a Michelin-starred hotel for a stint in the kitchen.
The feeling of failure dogs many, as in the Parable of the Talents (Mt 25: 14-30). The owner of the estate entrusted the property to three of his lieutenants based on his perception of their talent, gave one five talents, another two talents, and the third, one talent. One talent was a lot of money. Enough to trade, buy and sell, and invest for a good return.
Any return on investment comes with an in-built risk. Nine out of ten people who started businesses learn this fact the hard way. Not only did they lose their investment, but they also incurred severe debt. To repay, they often had to sell the house pledged as collateral. The expression, “don’t stake your house”, is not an idle ditty. It is for real.
Business is like passing through a tunnel or climbing a mountain. One cannot see the end of the tunnel or mountain summit. Some see the summit and return from the base camp to the comfort of their home. Few persist and stand on the summit, but their return is not guaranteed. These are those who have experienced success and forgot the way down, stymied by hubris. What they needed was humility. They forgot what got them there. Forgot the safe way down. The ones in the tunnel who persist will see sunlight or searchlights, but light.
The third person with one talent was risk-averse. The other two weren’t and returned a handsome return to the master. I have always wondered what the master would have done to them if they lost the principal. That would have grievously harmed their master. Five talents were a huge amount of money; two talents relatively less, but still huge. The risk-averse person who hid the coin in the field did not even put it in the bank, the height of risk-aversion.
This brings us to the gift or wisdom of talent discovery. If you are in Human Resources, it is your singular asset and a seminal contribution to the company; true of the CEO too, to nab great talent. The master knew the ability of the first two. They validated his trust. The third never demonstrated much initiative, yet the master was willing to take a chance on him. He failed for he lacked faith in his master and in himself. Our faith walk often is no different. We miss many opportunities created for us. By the Master. We are inhibited by the feeling of failure, discouraging us from even trying. My presumptive loss is the business I did not pursue to build an asset - my pension fund - to live without working.
The person with one talent feared failing so much that succeeding did not enter his head as a possibility. Habits are formed. Both the urge to succeed and fear of failure. We say ‘No’ more often when faced with an ‘unknown’ than say ‘Yes’ and work to make it happen. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb 11:1 Every day we fail our Master in heaven when we do not move in faith to fulfil his ambition for us.
- Mathew Anthony
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