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Practical Advice By Lt. Col. Frank Slade For Tango And Life

By alik levin

August 8th, 2008 | Motivation


Are you afraid to fail? Everybody is. You are no different. I am afraid of failure too. The question here is how you cope with this fear.

I’ve got the answers from Lt. Col. Frank Slade.

PD Tango Show 2007 by Topo ..

by Topo .

What If I Fail?

“I think I’d be a little afraid.”  - Donna
”Of what ?”  - Frank
”Afraid of making a mistake.”  - Donna
”No mistakes in the tango, not like life. It’s simple. That’s what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, get all tangled up, just tango on. Why don’t you try ?”  - Frank.

THE Answer To All “I-am-stuck” Situations

The following quote is my guiding light when I get stuck.(Emphasis is mine):

“Any particular beer ?” – Waiter.
"Schlitz. No Schlitz ? Blatz. No Blatz ? Improvise." - Lt.Col. Frank Slade

Another one that I really like is by JD Meier as he writes in his Start with something simple:

Start with what you know.
What you know, don’t know, need to know next.

What’s Next?

“Would you like to learn to tango, Donna ?” – Frank
”Right now? “ – Donna
”I’m offering you my services… free of charge. What do you say ?“ – Frank

Meet Lt. Col. Frank Slade (Al Pacino in “Scent of a Woman”)

Would you like to learn to live?
Take your life for a test drive. Do not be afraid to fail.

Improvise.

Self Test

  • Do you dream to do things you afraid to fail?
  • Do you really really want it?
  • How do you cope with the fear of failure?
  • How do you cope with the failure?


9 comments ↓

#1 Vered on 08.08.08 at 7:10 pm

“If you make a mistake, get all tangled up, just tango on. Why don’t you try ?”

I love love LOVE it!

Great quote, great inspiration.

#2 alik levin on 08.08.08 at 7:22 pm

hoo, hah! :)

#3 Marelisa on 08.09.08 at 12:59 am

Alik: I love everything about this post. Begin with what you know, or with what you don’t know. I saw the original “Profumo di Donna” when I lived in Italy, but the one with Al Pacino is also fantastic.

#4 alik levin on 08.09.08 at 4:59 am

Marelisa,
Where can I read more about your experience while you were in Italy?

#5 Shilpan | successsoul.com on 08.09.08 at 2:56 pm

Life is like a baseball game. Hit many balls to hit a homer once in a while. That’s all it takes. Focus on the home run.

I love this quote,””No mistakes in the tango, not like life. It’s simple. That’s what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, get all tangled up, just tango on. Why don’t you try ?” - Frank.

Just fabulous.

Shilpan

#6 J.D. Meier on 08.20.08 at 7:53 am

I always liked the question — what would you do, if you knew you couldn’t fail?

#7 alik levin on 08.24.08 at 6:39 pm

JD,
I never thought this way…. wow. I think life would be
real boredom… huh?

this angle is very helpful for me especially these days.
Thanks

#8 Liara Covert on 01.31.09 at 1:35 am

This film reference and the underlying message also triggers recollections of the film, Take the Lead with actor Antonio Bandaras.Check this out: http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Movies/2006/04/Dance-Is-Transformative.aspx

#9 alik levin on 01.31.09 at 5:17 am

Liara,
I have seen that movie too - it seriously moved me. Actually I started to think how I can make a similar move. I am software engineer … and father. I see my kids go to school and I see how the education system suffers - it completely lack of role model and high quality professional teachers. I can sit doing nothing complaining on bad education system or like in Bandera’s movie make a move - take the Lead. But what’s the best move to make?

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