I was at a friend’s cabin last year and he wanted to hang a tire swing for his children to use. Since I was bumming a place to hang out for the weekend with my family, I agreed to help.

He had a very large swing, a tall ladder and a very heavy cable to hold it all up.

We chose a tall tree to put our cable and realized that the ladder would reach. So, we started throwing a line with a rock at the end.

That didn’t work.

We used a fishing rod and line.

That didn’t work.

We got a bow and arrow. Finally got a line over the right branch and then lost it.

After a few hours, we realized that this plan simply wasn’t going to work. We subsequently chose a new branch and, after a bit more trial and error, the tire swing was in place.

The reality in this experience was that we failed far more than we succeeded. However, we never would have succeeded without failing. We had never hung a tire swing before and certainly not on these trees. We had a great plan but had to modify it as we went.

If you aren’t willing to fail and then make adjustments, you’ll never succeed.