I am usually too busy regretting the lost time to be embarrassed.
I always choose projects that, if they succeed, will become a launching point for something(s) larger. They represent the beginning of an exponential growth curve, where the x axis is the seconds I have to spend (before I cease to be) and the y axis is the derivative of accomplishment. A failed project represents a wasted fraction of those seconds, which pushes the exponential growth curve to the right (and some portion of it is pushed beyond my allotted lifespan, which is the right-hand limit of my integral). My integral is irreparably reduced.
You can expand your accomplishment-integral bound beyond your lifespan. Still, that axis is probably finite, and the integral will never catch up with where it could have reached had I/you not failed in the first place.
I always choose projects that, if they succeed, will become a launching point for something(s) larger. They represent the beginning of an exponential growth curve, where the x axis is the seconds I have to spend (before I cease to be) and the y axis is the derivative of accomplishment. A failed project represents a wasted fraction of those seconds, which pushes the exponential growth curve to the right (and some portion of it is pushed beyond my allotted lifespan, which is the right-hand limit of my integral). My integral is irreparably reduced.
You can expand your accomplishment-integral bound beyond your lifespan. Still, that axis is probably finite, and the integral will never catch up with where it could have reached had I/you not failed in the first place.