THE POWER & BENEFITS OF FAILURE: LESSONS FROM SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE

By Charles Segun Adegbite

There are two categories of successful people in the world:

#1. Those who learned how to succeed early in life, developed success habits quickly and keep on succeeding.

#2. Those who failed and failed and failed repeatedly but refused to give up, instead, learned from their failures and began to do things differently until they succeeded; and thereafter continue to succeed.

Some of the most successful people in the world are those who have failed over and over again before they finally succeed.

Failure has the power to teach you a lot of lessons; if you are willing to learn from them.

Failure also have the power to destroy you if you allow it to define who you are and discourage you; if you refuse to learn from the lessons.

If you have been battling with failures, don't give up.

Don't allow the failure to define you, because you are not a failure until you give up.

Learn the essential lessons from your failures and begin to do things differently.

That is how to fail forward, according to Dr John Maxwell in his book titled: "Failing Forward" 

Michael Jordan said: "I have failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed" 

Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots in his basketball career. 

As a professional basketball player, he played fifteen seasons in the American National  Basketball Association(NBA) championships and won six titles with the Chicago Bulls. He became NBA's greatest all-time player and the instrumental figure who popularised the sports in the last decade of 20th century.

Famous author, J.K. Rowling's book, Harry Potter was rejected 12times before it was finally accepted for publishing. However, over 500million copies of the book have been sold across the world since it was first published in 1997. He has published other eighteen books thereafter and become an outstanding author.

You can imagine what Rowling would have lost if he had given up, and not try again ,when the manuscript was rejected the 10th or 11th time.

Abraham Lincoln failed many times in politics before he eventually succeeded and became America President.

The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo had records of failures in business and politics. He at a time went bankrupt and had his property auctioned. 

He came out of bankruptcy, studied and became a lawyer and later became the first Premier of the defunct Western Region of Nigeria.

Those who are afraid of failure find it difficult to try new ideas, run away from taking risks, fear to go to new places or work with new people and consequently limits their scope and experience in life.

Have you failed in your business, schooling, politics, marriage, ministry or what have you? Turn your failures to fertilizer for success.

Try and try again. You will succeed, if you don't give up.

Above all, if what you are battling to achieve is what will bring sorrow to others and make this world a bad planet to live in, please stop it.

Be a blessing to others in this world and not a merchant of sorrow.

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