In case it wasn’t obvious, we’re The Try Guys—the lovable quartet best known for our videos in which

we, well, try

things. From zapping our bellies to simulate the pains of childbirth, to sparring with professional UFC fighters
(whose stupid idea was that?), we’ve done everything in our power to push—nay—annihilate our comfort zones
and better understand the people and world around us. Now we’re here to pay it forward. Our latest try? This
book you’re holding (or listening to if you’re an audiophile).

But this book is not about succeeding, and it’s certainly not about perfection. It’s a book about living, about
pushing boundaries, and about challenging yourself to reach heights once thought to be impossible. This is a book
about embracing failure and riding it on a bumpy but ultimately upward trajectory. Because if our crazy journey
has taught us anything, it’s that success isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, the only way to truly experience all
the wonderful, bizarre, satisfying, life-changing, mind-melting, Instagram-doesn’t-even-do-it-justice things this
world has to offer, is to fail.

In the pages that follow, we’re going to share a collection of philosophies that have guided us through making
videos and, somewhere along the way, transformed us into better people. We’ll also be sharing some stories from
our past for the first time ever, carefully handpicked to showcase just how much we’ve fucked up on our way to
becoming the mostly well-adjusted gentlemen you see before you today. Together, we’ll all become the best
versions of ourselves. Identifying your insecurities is the first step to self-improvement.

Listen, it’s okay to not be cool. Believe it or not, we’re not cool either; see rest of book. But stick with us here: not
being cool is what makes you cool. Where most “self-help” books are going to teach you how to be someone else,
we’re going to teach you how to embrace who you already are. And then we’re going to lovingly knock you right
out of your comfort zone. Together, we’ll reassemble ourselves with the full potential we’ve always possessed.
Watch out world, because the sky’s the limit, and even then we can go further.

For most of our young lives, we have zero responsibilities and develop amazing habits like not exercising, eating
like crap, never cleaning up after ourselves, and procrastinating whenever given the opportunity (read: always).
And then one day, BAM!, you wake up and realize your friends have all replaced their movie posters with framed
art, the government is asking you to pay something called taxes, and you’re just expected to know how to cook
without burning the house down. But how, though? When did everyone learn how to live? Did we miss some
clandestine meeting where everyone discovered the secrets of the universe? If you feel this way, you’re not alone.
We all do! And it might just get worse before it gets better.

Welcome to life. You’re going to fail

We believe failure is the most powerful tool in your arsenal to grow and change and learn. Failure is the building
block of everything you want to achieve in life. If “Try New Things” is something we’ve been told since elementary
school, we invite you to Fail On Purpose.

Remember “The More You Know,” those public service announcements that taught you about the dangers of crack
cocaine or dry drowning? We try to live by the opposite credo: The Less You Know. You see, the more you think
you know, the less you want to learn—and learning leads to trying, trying leads to failing, and failing leads to
growth. So anytime we think we know it all, we just try to step back and remind ourselves we’re idiots. Trust us,
this is good advice.

The fear of failure is something we’ve all internalized over the years and it’s something we all need to unlearn.
Think about how debilitating it is to take standardized tests or audition for a school musical or tell your crush how
you feel. You aren’t afraid of the action itself—you’re afraid of not doing well, of being vulnerable. That’s why it’s
even scarier when you’re looking at that cast list or finally get a text back. For a moment, you’re powerless to the
whims of the world. But we move past it. And when failure motivates us to do better, that’s when you really
succeed. It’s only when failure scares us away from trying again that we’ve truly been beaten. We have to work to
change our perspective: failure is a step forward, not a step back.
It’s helpful to remember that some of the greatest writers, thinkers, athletes, and musicians of our day are not
special in any way whatsoever, except that they learned how to fail and get back up again. No one is born great.
Have you seen babies? They can’t even hold pencils, those dummies. Greatness isn’t something ordained—it’s
something you work your ass off for, despite failing over and over again.

Listen, we love Yoda. He’s inspirational, he’s green. He’s like a woke Kermit the Frog. But Yoda’s most famous
advice was “Do or do not, there is no try.” Sorry, but this is complete and total BS. (As is the idea that Luke can
become a Jedi Master after only training for a few days, but that’s another story.) Trying is everything! You can’t do
without try! You’ll never get anywhere without try! No wonder that dude lived alone in a swamp. That is what this
book is about: trying as a form of succeeding, so that you never end up living alone in a swamp like that bastard
Yoda.

Excerpt from THE HIDDEN POWER OF F*CKING UP by the Try Guys. Copyright © 2019 by 2 nd Try LLC. Used with
permission by Dey Street Books. All rights reserved.