Have you ever heard the colloquialism “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”? If you are a scientist, this should be engrained in your DNA. Science is all about experimentation and learning, how can we learn if we never try?
As I look back on my life and career, I see a pattern of trying new things. I think that my background of essentially being on my own since I was a young teen, trying new things was the only way for me to learn. Usually, we have parents to help guide us and model what we are supposed to be when we grow up, but imagine if you didn’t have this, what would you be like?
If you have ever been around a child, you will see how they instinctively try new things, as an infant everything goes into their mouths. Maybe because the first thing we learn to do is eat. I remember my oldest son using chopsticks when he was about three or four. My youngest son shortly after learning to walk, climbed up on his rocker and balanced on it as if it was a surfboard. Part of the human condition is to try, and to learn, with no fear of failing. Somewhere along the line we develop the fear of failure, and while this fear does serve a purpose, I think that sometimes we overuse the skill of fear.
An interesting thing about fear is that the more you try and fail, the less scary things become. Every failure is a lesson that teaches us how not to fail next time. Sure, there will always be people who laugh when we fail, sometimes even hope for our failure. But as they watch you try, and learn and get better, they stop laughing, and they start admiring. They secretly wish that they were brave enough to try.
Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself”. We probably have all heard JFK saying this quote. But have we ever really thought about it? At the time when they said this, they were both facing an existential threat and wanted to inspire the idea that America can succeed in the face of adversity, which ultimately, we did.
The fact of the matter is that we rarely are faced with an existential threat, why then do we resist our nature and let fear stop us from trying? I mentioned before that my primary intended audience is my children, some day they will read these articles and learn a little about me. What I want them to know is that they are capable of anything they set their mind to, don’t let fear stop them. My other intended audience is my fellow scientist who spends their time in the lab, tirelessly searching for the best way to analyze something, searching for the most accurate data. The scientist that never gets the accolades, because they are always in the lab, and unfortunately, we tend to be heavy with analytical skills and light on communication skills. I hope that in some way, I inspire you to try.
Speaking of inspiration, I chose this topic because if you are following me, you might find me a little erratic. I had a friend of mine ask me; how do you do it? You are always coming up with some new ideas, writing articles, collaborating, inventing, where do you find the time? Well, I don’t really have any hobbies, this is just what I do, I guess this is my hobby. I like pushing the envelope, testing boundaries, and stretching my limitations. I have heard this same friend speak about me and quote me as saying “how hard could it be?”. I say this when attacking a problem and discussing a solution. When others stop because they have never done it before, I ask, how hard could it be, if others can do it, why can’t we?
So, I am now trying a new thing, I started a YouTube channel, “Innovative Analytical Insights”, where I will highlight innovations in the laboratory. But what you should know is that I don’t consider it my channel, I consider it OUR channel. I want it to be a platform where I can interview Instrument Manufacturers and present their products in a practical way that everyone can understand. I also want to interview scientists who are working on innovative techniques. I don’t know if something like this exists already, but I think I tend to bring something original in all that I do. What I do know is that there is a need to fill the gap, because the end user doesn’t care about how it works, they just want to know what they can do with it. And the people approving the budget needs to know why they should buy it, a resource like this could be very useful. Now I have never done video editing before or had a YouTube channel, but how hard could it be?
If you are interested in highlighting your product, something you are working on, or if you know someone working on something innovative and want them to share their story, reach out to me and let’s make it happen.
I have other ideas I will share with you soon, that you might find interesting. Stay tuned.... Until then, do something you have never done before, but always wanted to try, how hard could it be?