Recently, Bill Burr was on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. [1. You can listen to the JRE podcast with Bill Burr here. The first hour especially is definitely worthwhile.] He and Joe were riffing over Bill’s wide array of interests, ranging from comedy to flying helicopters and even to baking pies (which coincidentally is the funniest and most random part of the episode).
Joe asked him how he was able to get his hands in so many things and Bill had a simple answer:
F–k it up, then fix it.
The only real secret to being able to figure out something new is to be willing to go all out and screw something up – and then fix it.
- Get on stage. Tell a few jokes. Bomb.
- Bake a pie. Screw it up. Throw it away.
- Take apart an engine. Put it back together.
It’s basic, but it works…as long as you’re not afraid to look like an idiot.
If you want to be good at something, F— It Up and then fix it.
Repeat until you get to where you want to be.
Love that quote. Taking action and learning from your mistakes are the only ways to grow and progress.
The thing is, when it comes to flying helicopters, you usually only get one chance to eff it up, and fewer opportunities to fix it! ;-p