Mastery From Failure
and Near Wins

From TED.com

Sarah Lewis is curator, historian and the author of  the book “The Rise”.  This inspiring book talks about finding success even in failures and near misses. She says that even failures can help us to obtain success. Because almost all of us surrender when we face trials.

Sarah compares success to learning and perfecting archery. One just has to keep on aiming at the target even if you miss on first try, the second, the third and so on. Success is determined by your persistence and how much you are determined to reach that elusive target. No matter how tired you are, how weary you are, you have to just keep sending off those arrows until the arrow hits its target. Make failure your stepping stone in your dreams, but not as a burden that will keep you out  of the game. Because true victors always know their target and what their end game is.

    Now watch the TED Video

 

TITLE: Sarah Lewis: Embrace the near win

TED2014 · 11:41 · Filmed Mar 2014 

At her first museum job, art historian Sarah Lewis noticed something important about an artist she was studying: Not every artwork was a total masterpiece. She asks us to consider the role of the almost-failure, the near win, in our own lives. In our pursuit of success and mastery, is it actually our near wins that push us forward?

Art historian and critic Sarah Lewis celebrates creativity and shows how it can lead us through fear and failure to ultimate success.

Why you should listen

Curator and critic Sarah Lewis has emerged as a cultural powerhouse for her fresh perspectives on the dialogue between culture, history, and identity. In 2010, she co-curated the groundbreaking SITE Santa Fe biennial, a platform celebrating artists melding the “homespun and the high-tech.” She has served on Obama’s National Arts Policy Committee, and as a curatorial advisor for Brooklyn’s high-profile Barclays Center. 

Her debut book The Rise analyzes the idea of failure, focusing on case studies that reveal how setbacks can become a tool enabling us to master our destinies. As she says: “The creative process is actually how we fashion our lives and follow other pursuits. Failure is not something that might be helpful; it actually is the process.” –Art21.org, 

What others say

“Sarah Lewis is applying her turbocharged intellect to bridging the gap between art and social policy.” — Vogue, May 2010