The Sunday News
It is not in each and every situation that you will succeed at whatever you will be doing. Believe it or not, failure will always be part and parcel of life. Your approach to failure is what will make the difference at the end of the day.
There are times that you think that you have done your best but you are shocked that things are not working or coming out the way you wanted them to be. Failure is not the of the road. There are a lot of people who have made history but have also experienced failures in their lives.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln who appears on the American $5 note experienced failure in and out but nevertheless rose to prominence. The following facts about him might be of inspiration to you.
He lost his job in 1832, was defeated for legislature in 1832, failed in business in 1833, elected to the legislature in 1834, his sweetheart, Ann Rutledge died in 1835, had nervous breakdown in 1836, defeated for speaker of Parliament in 1838 et cetera.
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln held on despite all these setbacks. He refused to give up. He then rose to become one of America’s greatest presidents in history. Don’t give up!
Michael Jordan
His name is synonymous with basketball. He is one of the most respected basketball players in the world. Michael Jordan himself realised the importance of failure. Jordan did not even qualify into his high school basketball team because of his lack of skill.
This did not stop him from pursuing a dream. In one of the adverts for Nike he had the following to say:
“I have missed more than 9 000 shots in my career, I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shots and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s why I succeed.”
Don’t lose heart. Failing is winning! If you fail, it means you were doing something. Dr Robert Schuler once said: “It’s better to attempt something and fail rather to do nothing and succeed.”
Bill Gates
The name Microsoft brings in memory of Bill Gates who’s the founder and chairman of Microsoft. It is no doubt that the man has changed the information technology industry with his products. This is Bill Gates for you.
He dropped out from Harvard University in 1970. He then moved into software industry by purchasing the software technology from one individual for US$50. He developed the product and rose to become the world’s richest person for close to a decade.
Bill Gates
His products are found in many computers throughout the world. Bill Gates story should not be used to justify dropping out of school. Bill Gates himself teaches about the importance of education and going to school. People are going to school to learn more and study software that were and are being developed by Bill Gates company.
Sir Isaac Newton
The name Sir Isaac Newton draws our attention to the law of gravity. He is the one of the respected Mathematicians to have lived on the planet. He was not a bright student as most people would want to believe. He performed poorly in school and his school teachers were even hopeless. He however, was not discouraged. He remained focused and rose to become one of the respected physicists in the world.
Winston Churchill
He’s one of the respected Leaders of the United Kingdom. His beginnings were not rosy. He failed his sixth grade. This did not discourage him from working hard and even harder.
He worked hard and managed to become the Prime Minister for the United Kingdom. A poll was conducted by the BBC in 2002 to identify the “100 Greatest Britons”. Those who partook in the poll chose Churchill as the most important of all.
Oprah Winfrey
The name of Oprah Winfrey is associated with television and amazing talk shows that she has done to date. I need not to mention that she is one of the richest and successful women in the world.
This was not always the case. She went through challenges before she could attain the position she has. Her childhood was abusive. She experienced a number of setbacks career wise including being fired from her job as a television reporter because she was “unfit for TV”.
All these personalities eventually were successful in life. Don’t be discouraged, remained focused and positive. Your session of success is coming.
l Manners Msongelwa is the president of History Teachers of Zimbabwe and a Teacher at Camelot College in Kwekwe.
