Uncategorized Alex Shalman | 03 Jul 2008 06:00 am
Failure Plus Persistence Equals Success
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Bill Riddell.
It seems extremely counter-intuitive, but being a failure is one of the greatest keys to success. The power of persistence is just as vital, fail then try again until success takes hold.
Rather than my thoughts on the issue let’s look at some of the world’s most successful people and their words of wisdom.
In the realm of business Richard Branson epitomizes this equation for success. Branson has endured his share of failures. His Virgin group has controlled hundreds of businesses, the vast majority lose money, have been closed or sold – despite them he once said “…the challenge of learning and trying to do something better than in the past, is irresistible.”
Indeed from those hundreds of companies Branson has a pretty bad track record where only a handful of them have enjoyed great successes, yet he is worth approximately US$8 billion. Who would have thought being such a monumental failure could be so rewarding?
Being a politician is an incredibly difficult position, particularly as a countries leader.
Winston Churchill was undeniably England’s greatest Prime Minister and did so during the nation’s toughest period in modern history. His predecessor had appeased Hitler and buckled under pressure losing support of his people as WWII erupted, Churchill was the man they turned too.
Before leading his country he first overcame a terrible stutter and lisp to become one of history’s greatest speakers, his words as much as his policy leading his people through the hard times of WWII. Amongst his many great quotes comes, “Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.”
Another leader, Calvin Coolidge, the 30th American President singled out persistence as the most important attribute you can have.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Few other sports stars have been as successful as Michael Jordan, yet by his own admission he has been a huge failure.
“I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot… and missed. And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why… I succeed.”
Pablo Picasso was mocked by critics and other artists for his art. He is also believed to have been his own worst critic. When asked by others which of his paintings was his favorite he would typically reply “…the next one.”
He answered his critics and inner doubts about his talent by continuing to paint and striving to improve. Had he stopped painting he would have proved the others right.
In the realms of science and invention there are probably none more prominent then Einstein and Edison.
Albert Einstein’s explanation for his successful discoveries was “…not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” By persisting with a problem, often for years, he would make discoveries that eluded so many others.
Thomas Edison was one of the most prolific inventors with over 1000 patents. Despite the fact that so many were flops he continued, leaving as a legacy the light bulb, X-Ray technology, the microphone, the phonograph (the first true form for recording and playing music) and more.
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up,” Edison once said. This summarizes things perfectly.
Failures are simply people who have given up on themselves before reaching success. The only way you can truly fail is to stop trying.
So get out there and start failing, success can’t be far away.
—
Bill Riddell is 22 year old from Australia, beginning a career as a freelance journalist and blogger. Having overcome serious illness in his teens he now pursues his dreams and goals. His passions include reading, writing, car racing and self improvement. His recently launched blog can be found at http://billriddell.com/.
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©2008 by Alex Shalman.
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