Growing up, we all make mistakes. We make the mistakes of going too fast around the corners, breaking hearts of young lovers, eating obnoxious combinations of food, missing scheduled events, and even over drafting our bank accounts. Mistakes are meant to happen; it’s a way we learn as humans. No successful person has ever made it to the top without making a mistake or failing in some way.
Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
Stephen Spielberg was rejected from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts multiple times.
R.H Macy started several businesses that failed before making it big.
Dr. Seuss had his first book rejected by 27 different publishers.
There are plenty of examples of people who have failed and made mistakes before striking gold. The list goes on for days. It’s inscribed in history that failing is a part of the human anatomy. Failing and making mistakes is our way of learning how to be successful. Trial-by-error is nothing but a learning process. Think about it: how many times did you fall before you could walk? How many times did you fail at coloring between the lines before you could master your skill? You fail thousands of times through your life (even if it’s literally falling), but that's okay because failing is a passage to success.
You may know the story of Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players and athletes of all time. Michael Jordan won six national titles with the Chicago Bulls and five MVP awards. He is a legend in the world of athletes, but Michael did not even make his high school varsity team as a sophomore. Who knew that he could become one of the world's greatest after not reaching a simple checkpoint? Not only that, but Michael Jordan failed at many other things too in his life, as he explains in his quote:
“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 shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Even he knows what it takes to be successful: It takes failure. It takes learning what to do better next time.
When starting a new job, you’re going to make mistakes. When starting a new business, you’re going to learn by doing things wrong or inefficiently. When learning a new language, you’re going to sound like a 2nd grader. When doing laundry, you're going to forget to check your pockets. When giving a speech, you're going to forget words. You're going to make mistakes - you're going to learn.
You may be in school right now or working on a project thinking, “there is no way I’m going to be successful.” Think again. Everyone fails at some point, and most likely multiple times. Keep your head up and keep marching forward. We’re all guilty of making mistakes and will continue to make them for years to come, it’s inevitable. But with failure comes knowledge, and with knowledge comes success. Learn what went wrong and try again. Learn what will work and make it happen. Learn the path to success.
Just for more connection, I want to leave you with a few other examples:
Bill Gates’ first business, Traf-O-Data, failed miserably.
Jim Carrey was homeless and living out of a van with his dad at one point in time.
Vera Wang did not make the US Olympic Ice Skating Team.
Benjamin Franklin’s parents could not afford school, which made him drop out at 10. He learned the rest on his own.
Oprah Winfrey was fired from a television reporting job because she was not fit to be on the screen.
Henry Ford’s first automobile company went out of business, he let go of his second, and the third one when down because of sales.
Jay-Z could not get one record label to sign him, so he made his own.
Stephen King’s first novel was rejected 30 times.
Will Smith owed the IRS 2.8 million in taxes before going on Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
Marilyn Monroe was let go from Columbia Pictures because she was not "pretty or talented enough to become an actress".
Dick Cheney failed out of Yale two times.
J.K. Rowling was divorced, unemployed, and raising one child on social security when she wrote the first novel of Harry Potter.
Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
Stephen Spielberg was rejected from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts multiple times.
R.H Macy started several businesses that failed before making it big.
Dr. Seuss had his first book rejected by 27 different publishers.
There are plenty of examples of people who have failed and made mistakes before striking gold. The list goes on for days. It’s inscribed in history that failing is a part of the human anatomy. Failing and making mistakes is our way of learning how to be successful. Trial-by-error is nothing but a learning process. Think about it: how many times did you fall before you could walk? How many times did you fail at coloring between the lines before you could master your skill? You fail thousands of times through your life (even if it’s literally falling), but that's okay because failing is a passage to success.
You may know the story of Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players and athletes of all time. Michael Jordan won six national titles with the Chicago Bulls and five MVP awards. He is a legend in the world of athletes, but Michael did not even make his high school varsity team as a sophomore. Who knew that he could become one of the world's greatest after not reaching a simple checkpoint? Not only that, but Michael Jordan failed at many other things too in his life, as he explains in his quote:
“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 shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Even he knows what it takes to be successful: It takes failure. It takes learning what to do better next time.
When starting a new job, you’re going to make mistakes. When starting a new business, you’re going to learn by doing things wrong or inefficiently. When learning a new language, you’re going to sound like a 2nd grader. When doing laundry, you're going to forget to check your pockets. When giving a speech, you're going to forget words. You're going to make mistakes - you're going to learn.
You may be in school right now or working on a project thinking, “there is no way I’m going to be successful.” Think again. Everyone fails at some point, and most likely multiple times. Keep your head up and keep marching forward. We’re all guilty of making mistakes and will continue to make them for years to come, it’s inevitable. But with failure comes knowledge, and with knowledge comes success. Learn what went wrong and try again. Learn what will work and make it happen. Learn the path to success.
Just for more connection, I want to leave you with a few other examples:
Bill Gates’ first business, Traf-O-Data, failed miserably.
Jim Carrey was homeless and living out of a van with his dad at one point in time.
Vera Wang did not make the US Olympic Ice Skating Team.
Benjamin Franklin’s parents could not afford school, which made him drop out at 10. He learned the rest on his own.
Oprah Winfrey was fired from a television reporting job because she was not fit to be on the screen.
Henry Ford’s first automobile company went out of business, he let go of his second, and the third one when down because of sales.
Jay-Z could not get one record label to sign him, so he made his own.
Stephen King’s first novel was rejected 30 times.
Will Smith owed the IRS 2.8 million in taxes before going on Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
Marilyn Monroe was let go from Columbia Pictures because she was not "pretty or talented enough to become an actress".
Dick Cheney failed out of Yale two times.
J.K. Rowling was divorced, unemployed, and raising one child on social security when she wrote the first novel of Harry Potter.