Failure stepping
stone to success
Success: The achieving of the results wanted or
hoped for
We all want to
be successful in whatever we do but does success really mean to us?
To many success
means achieving something we dream.
1. Youth – excel
in studies maximum grade in exam. Go to best university to pursue the dream
course
2. Career – professional,
entrepreneur, make a lot of money- nobody wants to be poor, low jobs
3. Status – wealth,
big house, big car, luxurious life, many servants etc.
4. Beauty - famous
and glamorous
5. Go to heaven –
spiritually inclined and do many things to get closer to God
In short we want
to win all the time. We do all sorts of things to succeed and what we hate most
is failure.
But very great
men and women had a different view of success and failure. Many of them view
failure as being necessary for success later. In fact many of the great people
who became successful had failed miserably in the earlier part of their lives.
In fact most them considered themselves as stupid not genius which they turned
up to be later.
Although there
are thousands of them today I like to share with you six such people who had
impressed me with their failures and success.
Famously Successful People Who Failed At First
Albert Einstein: Most
of us take Einstein's name as synonymous with genius, but he didn't always show
such promise especially earlier in life.
Einstein
did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing
his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and
anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance
to the Zurich Polytechnic School.
It
might have taken him a bit longer, but most people would agree that he caught
on pretty well in the end, winning the Nobel Prize and changing the face of
modern physics.Here are some of his sayings on success.
“If A is success
in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping
your mouth shut”
Thomas Edison: In
his early years, teachers told Edison he was "too stupid to learn
anything." Work was no better, as he was fired from his first two jobs for
not being productive enough.
Even
as an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light
bulb. Of course, all those unsuccessful attempts finally resulted in the design
that worked.
This
what he had to say about failure.
“I have not
failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
“Our greatest weakness lies in
giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time.”
Winston
Churchill: This Nobel
Prize-winning, twice-elected Prime Minster of the United Kingdom wasn't always
as well regarded as he is today.
Churchill
struggled in school and failed the sixth grade. After school he faced many
years of political failures, as he was defeated in every election for public
office until he finally became the Prime Minister at the ripe old age of 62.He
turned out to be one of the best PM Britain ever had.
Churchill
had this to say about success which belongs to only the optimists.
“A pessimist
sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in
every difficulty”.
Success consists
of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
Abraham
Lincoln: While today he
is remembered as one of the greatest presidents of USA, Lincoln's life wasn't
so easy.
In
his youth he went to war a captain and returned a private. He spent years
studying law. Lincoln didn't stop failing there, however. He started numerous
failed businesses and was defeated in numerous runs he made for public office.
Finally
he won and became one of the best presidents the US ever had. He had the
courage to do something that not many would have dared - abolished slavery.
Lincoln’s
believes that made him great.
“My concern is
not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for
God is always right.”
“Success is
going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution
to succeed is more important than any one thing.”
Oprah
Winfrey: Most people
know Oprah as one of the most iconic faces on TV as well as one of the richest
and most successful women in the world.
Oprah
faced a hard road to get to that position, however, enduring a rough and often
abusive childhood as well as numerous career setbacks including being fired
from her job as a television reporter because she was "unfit for TV."Her
TV shows became one of the most watched throughout the world.
Oprah’s
take on failure ,which she says needs to
be enjoyed.
"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up
having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever
have enough."
"Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to
fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness."
"I do not believe in failure. It is not failure
if you enjoyed the process."
Steve Jobs : Founder of Apple.Creator of iPhone, iPad and iMac
Childood
– no father, adopted parents, dropped out of school – most right decision in
his life
Hard
work and in right environment – became the CEO of Apple Corporation. At the
time of death his assets estimated about USD8billion.
When he was 17, he read a quote that changed
his life: "If you live each
day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."
It made an impression on him, and since then, for the past 33 years, he
looked in the mirror every morning and asked himself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I
am about to do today? And whenever
the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to
change something”
He had always challenged himself to
create new lives and meaning.
He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
when he was 48 and the doctor told him that he should expect to live no longer
than three to six months.
He did not give up and while trying to
prolong his life, he continued to grow, and iPhone and iPad were the results.
He died on 5.10.11 at the age of 56.
Life lessons learned from these inspirational success stories
Certainly
these success stories are not told for the sake of entertainment but they are
told in order to inspire, motivate and encourage people to succeed in work,
business or life.
The
most precious lessons you should come up with from these inspirational success
stories are:
- Rejection should never stop you
- Failure is not a problem at all
- People who reject you know nothing
- Believing in yourself is the key to success in life
- Faith in God especially when things do go your way – continue doing the right thing despite failure
What
does success mean to you? To me success in
the satisfaction and joy that I obtain in
the process of striving to achieve something dear to me, doesn’t matter whether I really achieve
it or not.
Two
other motivational quotes for your reflection
"Unless
you're willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won't
happen." Phillip Adams
"The
difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength,
not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." Vincent T.
Lombardi
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