Just A Gentle Reminder: To Avoid Failure Is to Avoid Success
Lessons on failure from Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Bill Gates, Thomas Edison and co.
Failure is scary, uncomfortable, and oftentimes embarrassing. It can destroy our motivation, sap our energy, lower our self-esteem, and make us feel like total losers. Yeah, it sucks.
On the flip side, it’s also a necessary ingredient of any kind of achievement. For if we never fail, we deny ourselves the opportunity to succeed. Think about it, it’s simple math: The more times you try, the more you will both fail and succeed. To avoid failure is therefore to avoid success.
Here’s an example. If we’re afraid of failing in relationships, we simply won’t start any. If we don’t start a relationship, we avoid failure. And, unfortunately, by avoiding failure, we’re also avoiding success (having a good relationship).
To fail more means to succeed more. That’s why all the great success stories we hear about are also great stories of failure. Let me show you…
Great People Fail. Period.
Benjamin Franklin went broke before he rose to fame and fortune. Bill Gates’ first company failed. Henry Ford’s first car company failed miserably, too. Thomas Edison famously failed 10,000 times before he hit the jackpot. Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders was rejected 1,009 (!) times before he got a `yes`.
Michael Jordan, one of the greatest athletes of our time, credits his success to his countless failures, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Another example: Jerry Weintraub, producer of 22 films including the Ocean’s Trilogy (Ocean’s Eleven/Ocean’s Twelve/Ocean’s Thirteen) that has grossed more than 1.1 billion dollars. He represented, promoted, or worked with hundreds of singers, bands, actors, directors, and writers over the last five decades. The long, long list of the singers and bands he has promoted includes Bob Dylan, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Aerosmith, and Led Zeppelin.
In 1962, at age 25, Jerry Weintraub decided that he wanted to take Elvis Presley, then the biggest star in the world, on tour across America. He called Elvis Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, every day to ask if he could take Elvis on tour.
Every day the Colonel told him `no`, but Weintraub persisted and called and called and called for every single day for about a year until unexpectedly one day the Colonel called him back and asked him, “Do you still want to take my boy Elvis Presley on the road?” Jerry Weintraub agreed and managed to take Elvis Presley on tour. He failed over a hundred times before he succeeded. Without failing, there’s no chance in hell he could have enjoyed the success he’s had.
One of THE greatest examples is probably Abraham Lincoln, undoubtedly a successful fellow in his days. Yet, looking at the years leading up to his presidency in 1960, you could argue that his life was quite a failure…
- 1809 — Born February 12.
- 1816 — Abraham Lincoln’s family was forced out of their home and he needed to work to support his family.
- 1828 — His sister dies.
- 1831 — A business venture failed.
- 1832 — He ran for the State Legislature. He lost.
- 1832 — In the same year, he also lost his job. He decided he wanted to go to
law school but couldn’t get in.
- 1833 — He borrowed money from a friend to start a business. By the end of the year, he was bankrupt.
- 1834 — He ran for the State Legislature again. This time he won.
- 1835 — The year was looking better as he was engaged to be married. Unfortunately, his fiancee died and he was grief stricken.
- 1836 — This was the year he had a total nervous breakdown and for 6 months was bedridden.
- 1836 — He sought to become Speaker of the State Legislature. He was
defeated.
- 1840 — He sought to become Elector. He was defeated.
- 1842 — Marries Mary Todd. They have 4 boys but only one would live to
maturity.
- 1843 — He ran for Congress. He lost.
- 1846 — He ran for Congress again. He won and moved to Washington.
- 1848 — He ran for re-election to Congress. He lost.
- 1849 — He sought the job of Land Officer in his home state. He didn’t get the
job.
- 1850 — His son, Edward, dies.
- 1854 — He ran for the Senate of the United states. He lost.
- 1856 — He sought the Vice Presidential nomination at a national convention.
He got less than 100 votes.
- 1858 — He ran for the Senate again. He lost again.
- And in…
- 1860 — Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States
…Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States. What brought him there? A willingness to face defeat after defeat after defeat. Never giving up. Always willing to fail and always moving forward until he became the most powerful human being on the planet.
To succeed, we must be willing to fail.
So, go ahead and fail.
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