Without Fail

Failure is defined as a “Lack of success”. I love this definition so much because in no words do they define failure as being a part of a person. It’s not a characteristic or clothing item either, so why is it that many people define themselves as failures or wear the word failure wherever they go? Surprising isn’t it? Not really, a lot of people make this mistake and a lot of them live by this. I’m here to tell you that failure is a lack of success, nothing more nothing less. You are not a failure, what you did happened to fail but the great thing is that you can always try and try again. Failure is not the end, it’s the beginning. Yeah sure many of us would rather not fail but whether you fail or not does it really change your destination? No it doesn’t, all it does is delay it and a delay is not a stop, it’s a pause. That’s why the experts always tell you to deal with your failure, reflect on what you could’ve done different or better and how you’re going to get back on your feet. So what have we learnt? Failure doesn’t define you. Failure is a mistake you had to learn. Failure is a big part of the learning process.

The few famous failures you know:

• Steve Jobs – Got fired from Apple.
• J.K Rowling – Short lived marriage, she was jobless, a lone parent and as poor as it was possible.
• Michael Jordan – Jordan was overlooked by some basketball coaches because he didn’t reach the minimum height standard.
• Bill Gates – Dropped out of Harvard and his first startup went under.
• Albert Einstein – Expelled from school and refused entrance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.
• Abraham Lincoln – Lost 5 elections before being elected president.

The many famous failures you didn’t know about:

• Henry Ford – His early businesses failed and left him broke 5 times before he founded the successful Ford Motor Company.
• Charles Darwin – Father insulted and ridiculed his, dreams and intellect and told him he was lazy.
• Walt Disney – He was fired by a newspaper editor because “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” First business didn’t go well and he ended up bankrupt.
• Thomas Edison – Fired from first 2 jobs for not being productive enough. 1000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing a light bulb.
• Winston Churchill – Struggled at school and failed 6th grade. He was defeated in every election for public office until he became the Prime Minister at 62 years old.
• Oprah Winfrey – Endured a rough and abusive childhood, career setbacks and she was fired as a television reporter.
• Marilyn Monroe – Had a rough upbringing and was denied being a model by modeling agencies..
• Elvis Presley – He was fired by manager of the Grande Ole Opry and insulted. He told him to quit the singing and go drive trucks.
• The Beatles – A recording company rejected them saying they didn’t like their sound and guitar music is on the way out so it wouldn’t sell.
• Ludwig van Beethoven – His teachers felt he was hopeless at composing and would never succeed with the violin or in composing.
• Vincent Van Gogh – Only sold one painting when he was alive.

Here’s how you can turn your failure into success:

1. Reflect on what you could’ve done differently or better.
2. Use failure as a lesson.
3. Say no to fear.
4. Accept responsibility.
5. Use your imagination.
6. Never give up.

My story:

I had failed anatomy in my second year of medicine and this literally devastated me. I wasn’t use to failure so this took me by surprise. So I too like the many men and women out there went into a minor depressive state. I blamed myself and broke myself down until I was sure I had felt the punishment. A few months went by and then I woke up one morning fed up of the self-hate I was experiencing. I was done crying, done making an excuse and done not dealing with it. So I faced it head on and I acknowledged my role in everything and took responsibility for it. I worked hard and did things differently. I found ways to make anatomy easier and more fun. And more importantly I never gave up even when it would’ve been easier to do so. Once I was stable and content I then thought to myself that if I’m going through this how many other people are too. So I started this blog Giant Leaps To Success to help and motivate people to go after their dreams, that they are responsible for their success and that they can do anything they set their minds to. I used my failure to help others and to inspire others and that for me is success.

Below is a ‘Without fail’ infographic. This is the source of my information and the inspiration to this post. Click here for the original post and for many more informative and rocking infographics.

I would love to read about how you turned your failure into success, comment below and motivate someone today.

Peace. Happiness. Success.

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(Source for ‘Famous failures you didn’t know about’ above is: Bud Bilanich)