From the day we become conscious of our presence on this planet and others that care about us hold our finger to help us take our first steps constantly warn us. We are warned from experiencing. We wish to put our finger into the burning candle but we are warned. At every step, those who care about us the most are there to warn us, to protect us from getting hurt. As we grow older, we still continue to take numerous steps in our personal, professional and social domains and we are still warned. Whether it is in choosing a life partner or choosing a career, we are encouraged to reduce the number of failures along the way because it is believed that making mistakes and failing at any task in life brings unhappiness and as human beings are goal is to achieve the happiness. We are conditioned to achieve contentment through success in everything we do in any domain of our life. So I had to find what the life of a successful person was like.
In reading life stories of various socially successful people, whether it was the story of Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, it was evident that no two people had identical blue print of how they became successful. Every name had a unique story that only belonged to them. Even the products or services they offered were never not identical. You could always find two laptop computers from two different manufacturers, but they are both bound to have something unique about them.
Yet, the world seemed to measure the success of these inventors and creators by one common denominator. The amount of wealth they had created relative to the average Joe. It was still mind pondered. There still had to be one common criteria that led them all to become better than the average Joe. So I dived into the life of successful people whose interest was beyond creation of wealth. Some of the well-known names that I came across were Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. It was evident that none of these names were labeled as most successful stories of their times because of the billion dollar empires they created through their inventions. Yet, they were all considered success stories.
As I discovered these completely opposite spectrums of successful stories, one that was characterized by the wealth generated through their unique inventions and the other which had no link to creation of wealth but was solely driven by purpose. There was one common factor amongst every story across the board. Every successful name on both the lists had encountered failure along their journey. Failures that were also unique to them. Whether it was a journey to create a product or provide a service, or working towards a vision for humanity, undeniably there was failure in the equation to create success. All of them were relentless and continued on their path despite all odds against them.
Whether you dream of building the next generation of mobile device that will revolutionize the way the world communicates or you envision eliminating hunger or poverty from the planet, it is inevitable to embrace failure. The world around you conditions you to protect yourself from failing in your relationships or your career. But only when you feel in your heart that failure is your friend not your enemy, you are on a path to achieving your goals. When a thought of failing comes to you but that you no longer feel nervous, you have embraced failure and you will know that you are on a path to achieving what you desire.
