You will never be more successful than failure and that is a good thing
SportsWe will never be more successful than failure
How do you define success? Think about your response to the overcoming paragraphs, as our thoughts on success may not be entirely accurate. For example, most people believe that success consists of winning and fewer failures, when in fact the opposite is true.
I was watching American TV presenter Steve Harvey, who recently said, “I’ve failed far more times than I’ve succeeded. You’ll never succeed more than you fail… That’s just not how it works. I’ve launched over 200 show ideas in Hollywood, of those 200 they have chosen 5 in 33 years of presentation”.
So what Harvey tells us is that his success rate over the last 33 years of pitching ideas to Hollywood is 2.5%. However, he is one of the most successful television hosts and comedians, with a net worth of $200 million dollars.
To present a similar example, consider the following quote from basketball legend Michael Jordan: “I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost nearly 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been entrusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Do you have the feeling that success is not about repeated victories, but about not giving up until you achieve your goals or dreams? And you? Have you experienced the success that changed your life?
I’m not referring to fame or financial windfalls, but to the success we experience with our health, relationships, career, or finances. The only common denominator, as Steve Harvey points out, is that we will never be more successful than failed; and that’s a good thing. We have to be working on our goal, to have any chance of success.
Failure sharpens the saw of our character
In a recent documentary hosted by David Attenborough, a pride of lions living in Africa was followed by a camera crew for twelve months. In it, he mentions that a lion will miss 9 times out of 10 when hunting prey. Many things can go wrong during a kill, forcing the lion to abandon the hunt.
Therefore, you need to try more often to feed yourself and the herd. Success is the same where commitment and perseverance is required to achieve our goals. Even then, there are no guarantees that we will prevail. It takes a strong mindset to achieve success. If we experience repeated failures and setbacks, it can affect our self-esteem.
Have you experienced this for a purpose, be it personal or professional? It is my experience coaching people over the years; it’s rare to find someone who has the resilience to keep going in the face of defeat. We need to have a powerful vision for our lives if we want to be successful. Failures and setbacks will most likely stop us in our tracks if we don’t commit enough.
To paint another example, the Navy Seal BUD/S program is designed to weed out those unfit to serve on the front lines. The dropout rate is 80% or higher, and that’s just the selection process to get into the program.
The dropout rate is high because the program aims to select those who are mentally, emotionally, and physically fit for front-line warfare. I appreciate that our lives are not as demanding as the Navy Seals program, but success also has a high dropout rate due to the resilience required to succeed.
According to American author Stephen Covey, failure sharpens the saw of our character because it fuels our personal growth and resilience. Covey spoke of the need to establish strong habits, which is why he called it sharpening the saw.
success leaves clues
Do you get the feeling that success is about who we become, which determines whether we succeed? Zig Ziglar said: “It is your attitude, not your aptitude that will determine your altitude.” Those we consider successful have accumulated a lifetime of personal growth to get to where they are.
When I read their biographies, the common denominator is the setbacks they experienced, such as repeated failures, setbacks, and insurmountable odds to reach the top of their field.
What stands out the most is their strength of character and the resilience on which they build their lives. We must fail, and fail often, if we are to achieve any form of success. Furthermore, we must examine our failures to see if we are growing in proportion to them.
However, we should not consider ourselves a failure because failing is not indicative of our self-esteem.. Failure is a sign that we are trying and the more we try, the better our chances of success. It bears repeating: we have to be doing the work to have any chance of success. We have to be in the arena doing the hard work that no one sees or praises us for.
Knowing this, I invite you to consider an area of your life in which you hope to be successful. What do you think is holding you back? It could say economic conditions, the coronavirus pandemic, or something else. Let me remind you that Jeff Bezos’ wealth grew by $90.1 billion during the pandemic. The personal fortunes of Bill Gates and other notable billionaires have also grown during the pandemic.
The point I want to make is that even during a global crisis, successful people thrive and we can use that to propel us forward. So, get out your journal and write down 3-5 recent failures you’ve experienced, whether personal or professional. What have you learned from them? Write how you can use the growth to be successful in the future.
There is a well known quote attributed to Tony Robbins who said: “Success leaves clues.” So what clues is success leaving you? Could it be that your failures are sharpening the saw of your character? Write your responses in a journal and take an introspective look within yourself to see where the opportunities exist. After all, you will never have more success than failure because life makes us the person we want to be, when success finally arrives at our doorstep.