“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - Paulo Coelho, World-renown Brazilian author
Based on the title, you probably have a lot of friends now.
But before you found this new definition of failure, you probably had no friends.
Loser.
Now that I have your attention (I was only joking), ask anyone relatively successful if they became successful without failure.
All of them will say they've failed so many times in order to become successful.
But in the moment, no one will truly want failure.
That's because it hurts. It really hurts.
You get that gut-wrenching feeling of sadness and pain and find yourself in a distraught state.
You want to give up. You tell yourself that all your work up to that point was for naught.
Everyone gets that feeling at one point or another.
However, what separates the successful from the unsuccessful is what they do next.
Unfortunately, for some reason, most people will give up. They'll decide on turning their backs on their dreams and instead, walk on a path of mediocrity.
But you're not here for mediocrity. You're here for greatness. You're reading our work because you want greatness, and you want to stay on that path of purpose.
Now the success on the other hand, will turn that gut-wrenching pain into motivation.
They'll use their failure to fuel their passion for greatness even more.
Arguably, the greatest way to use failure beneficially is to persevere, the art of simply not knowing how to give up.
As stated above, most people will quit. They'll stop and complain, because they don't know how to handle failure.
Moreover, they lack the understanding of how failure can be your friend.
We understand it hurts. If failure was painless, the average masses would've achieved their dreams. But it isn't. It's painful, and only those who can persevere through the pain of failure will become the successful few, and will mark their names onto the wall of history's greatest people who have walked this earth."
Here are a few examples of successful people who history credits for the progress of the human race:
The first person who comes to mind is American Inventor and businessman Thomas Edison. Without him, we wouldn't have electricity as we know it. He is quoted to have said “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
Another person is the famed British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. He led the British Empire through World War II, and motivated the British public to ruthlessly persevere in the fight against fascism. He is quoted to have said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Last but not least is American author Napoleon Hill, arguably the greatest self-help author of all time. He is quoted to have said, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
Failure is your friend. Failure is trying to tell you what you messed up on, and how you can become better.
Pursue Alchemy