I stumbled upon Ewin Chia’s article that focused on his own
experience of overcoming failure. He explained that failure is a challenge in
itself that can make someone more resilient in bouncing back from defeat or
hardships. Chia provides 3 pointers he used to overcome personal setbacks:
> Admit that you are not perfect and mistakes are bound
to happen in life whether you like it or not. What matters more is to use the
learning experience from the mistake to propel you to greater success.
> Never give up on your endeavor, no matter how big the
blunder was. Think about the benefits and keep pushing yourself towards your
goal. Use mental imagery of how satisfied and fulfilled you will be when you
have accomplished it.
> Always remind yourself that you can succeed. It is
through self-assurance that many have become successful in their chosen fields
or careers.
Here are a few inspirational “failure to success” stories
that were compiled from two excellent books by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen:
“Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul” and “A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul:”
> “Colonel Sanders had the construction of a new road put
him out of business in 1967. He went to over 1,000 places trying to sell his
chicken recipe before he found a buyer interested in his 11 herbs and spices.
Seven years later, at the age of 75, Colonel Sanders sold his fried chicken
company for a finger-lickin' $15 million!"
> “Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred
playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher
called him hopeless as a composer.”
> “Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack
of ideas. Disney also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.”
> “Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years
old and didn't read until he was seven. His teacher described him as ‘mentally
slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.’ He was expelled and
refused admittance to Zurich Polytechnic School. The University of Bern turned
down his Ph.D. dissertation as being irrelevant and fanciful.”
> “The movie Star Wars was rejected by every movie studio
in Hollywood before 20th-Century Fox finally produced it. It went on to be one
of the largest grossing movies in film history.”
> “When NFL running back Herschel Walker was in junior
high school, he wanted to play football, but the coach told him he was too
small. He advised young Herschel to go out for track instead. Never one to give
up, he ignored the coach's advice and began an intensive training program to
build himself up. Only a few years later, Herschel Walker won the Heisman
trophy.”
> “The father of the sculptor Rodin [The Thinker Statue]
said, ‘I have an idiot for a son.’ Described as the worst pupil in the school, Rodin
failed three times to secure admittance to the school of art. His uncle called
him uneducable.”
> “Babe Ruth, considered by sports historians to be the
greatest athlete of all time and famous for setting the home run record, also
holds the record for strikeouts.”
> “When the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book was
completed, it was turned down by thirty-three publishers in New York and
another ninety at the American Booksellers Association convention in Anaheim,
California, before Health Communications, Inc., finally agreed to publish it.
The major New York publishers said, ‘It is too nicey-nice’ and ‘Nobody wants to
read a book of short little stories.’ Since that time more than 8 million
copies of the original Chicken Soup for the Soul book have been sold. The
series, which has grown to thirty-two titles, in thirty-one languages, has sold
more than 53 million copies.”
Every failure brings you one step closer to success. Never
give up believing in yourself!
Best Regards,
Cenon (jgteam)
(Photo courtesy of deliverfreedom.com)
