Success Tonic: How Errors (Failure) Build Successful People

Success Tonic: How Errors (Failure) Build Successful People

By Charles Segun Adegbite

Failure is often treated as a stigma or misfortune; something to hide, deny, or quickly move past. In many societies, especially achievement-driven ones, errors are seen as proof of incompetence rather than part of growth. Yet history tells a different story.

On October 24, 2025, world's richest man, Elon Musk lost $7.8billion at the stock market. Larry Ellison of Oracle, who was world's second richest person in September 2025, in one day lost $5.6billion at the same stock market. Jeff Bezos of Amazon, who was world's 4th richest person that day lost $345million, that same day, while Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook who was the the third richest person, gained $1.5bilion. 

These losing and winning are normal daily business occurrences that are reported from the world stock market by Forbes every day. They rise, fall, rise and fall, win and lose. Such is life. 

Across Nigeria and the world, many of the most successful people were shaped, refined, and redirected by their failures.

The truth is uncomfortable but undeniable: failure is not the opposite of success; it is one of its most reliable builders.

Failure as a Teacher, Not a Verdict
Failure is actually a feedback. It tells you that there are some things you have not known or not doing right.
Errors expose gaps; the gaps in knowledge, judgment, character, or preparation. While success can flatter and conceal weaknesses, failure has a way of revealing what truly needs work.

 
This is why people who have never failed often struggle when real pressure comes; they have not been tested deeply enough to grow.

Failure, when examined honestly, becomes a form of education, one that no classroom can fully replace.

Nigerian Examples: Rising After Setbacks
Nigeria’s success stories are rarely linear.

Consider Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man.
Long before the Dangote Group became a continental powerhouse, Dangote faced setbacks in logistics, supply chains, and market expansion. Some early ventures did not scale as planned. What distinguished him was not flawless execution but the ability to learn quickly, reinvest wisely, and correct errors decisively. Those early failures sharpened his business instincts and risk management skills.

Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, has spoken openly about early business struggles, including failed investments and difficult corporate transitions. His philosophy of Africapitalism—using long-term investments to drive social and economic development—was refined through years of trial, error, and recalibration.

In politics, late President Muhammadu Buhari contested and lost three times before he eventually in his fourth attempt, after loosing a lot of money while contesting.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s current president, experienced exile, and prolonged opposition years. Those setbacks were formative. They deepened his understanding of power, alliances, and long-term strategy. Without those difficult years, his eventual political ascent would likely have lacked the depth and resilience required for leadership at the highest level.

In the creative industry, Genevieve Nnaji faced early career skepticism and industry instability. Nollywood itself was once dismissed as amateur and unsustainable. Through repeated experimentation, missteps, and reinvention, she and her peers helped build an industry now studied globally. Errors did not diminish the vision; they clarified it.

Global Lessons: Failure on a World Stage
This pattern is not unique to Nigeria.
Thomas Edison, often celebrated for inventing the electric light bulb, reportedly failed thousands of times before succeeding. His perspective was famously pragmatic: he did not fail; he discovered ways that did not work. Each error narrowed the path toward success.

Steve Jobs was fired from Apple—the company he co-founded. At the time, it appeared to be a career-defining failure. Instead, it became a period of creative renewal. The companies he built afterward, including NeXT and Pixar, reshaped his leadership style and product philosophy. When he returned to Apple, those lessons fueled one of the most remarkable corporate turnarounds in history.

Oprah Winfrey was dismissed early in her broadcasting career for being “unfit for television.” Rather than internalize the rejection, she refined her voice, embraced authenticity, and built a media empire grounded in empathy and storytelling. The failure that once threatened her career became the catalyst for redefining it.

Why Failure Builds Stronger People
Failure contributes to success in several critical ways:

1. It Develops Judgment
Good judgment is rarely inherited; it is acquired through experience. Errors sharpen decision-making by revealing consequences. People who have failed tend to assess risks more realistically and act with greater foresight.

2. It Builds Emotional Resilience
Setbacks teach endurance. They help individuals manage disappointment, regulate emotions, and persist under pressure. This emotional strength is essential for leadership and long-term success.

3. It Encourages Humility and Learning
Failure disrupts arrogance. It forces reflection, openness to feedback, and willingness to learn from others. Many successful people attribute their growth to moments when failure humbled them enough to change.

4. It Refines Purpose
Setbacks often clarify direction. Careers, businesses, and personal lives frequently improve after people reassess their goals following failure. What seemed like loss becomes guidance.

The Danger of Avoiding Failure
As Archbishop Benson Idahosa once said, "It's risky not to take risks"
Ironically, the fear of failure can be more damaging than failure itself.
People who avoid risk often avoid growth. They choose safety over progress and familiarity over innovation.
In contrast, those willing to fail intelligently; learning and adapting, tend to move further over time.

This does not mean glorifying recklessness or poor preparation. Rather, it means accepting that meaningful progress almost always involves missteps.

From Error to Wisdom
One defining difference between those who stagnate and those who succeed is what they do after failure. Some deny it. Others blame circumstances or people. But successful individuals take responsibility, extract lessons, and adjust their approach.

Nelson Mandela once said, “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
His life, marked by imprisonment and political defeat, demonstrates how endurance and learning can turn apparent failure into historic impact.

Failure as a Building Block
Success stories often appear polished in retrospect, but they are usually built on unseen errors, rejected ideas, and difficult recoveries. Whether in Nigeria or across the world, the evidence is consistent: failure shapes perspective, strengthens character, and prepares people for sustainable success.

WARNING: This article is NOT to  encourage the lazy, careless and ignorant ones to continue in their failure habits. It's not meant to encourage them to continue with their self-deception that they can succeed without changing their waywardness, laziness and careless lifestyle.

It's to let the hardworking, resilient, goal getters and even hopeless, sinful and poor people know that they can succeed if they don't give up in trying to succeed and improving.

The goal, therefore, is not to avoid errors at all costs, but to respond to them wisely.
Failure does not disqualify people from success. In many cases, it qualifies them for it.
What ultimately matters is not how often one falls, but how intentionally one rises—better informed, more resilient, and more focused than before.