Recently I was speaking to a group of young adults about success principles and I asked them how many loved to win. Without hesitation, their hands thrust high into the air and screamed a collective, “I DO!” Then I asked, “How many of you like to fail?” Needless to say, this question was followed by such a silence, you could hear a pin drop. They were all startled and confused by my next statement, “If you don’t know how to fail, you’ll never be a winner.”
In the great U.S. of A, winning seems to be everything. We are the most powerful, wealthy and successful country the world has ever seen. Winning has become so important to most, they will do anything to achieve it. The recent revelations of steroids in sports, corporate corruption, political shenanigans, and win-at-all-cost attitudes have brought down many of our most esteemed examples of “success.” The paradox true winners understand is, in order to win, you better be familiar with failure. Success and failure are like night and day—you can’t have one without the other.
History is littered with world-class failures. I mean, look at the list of this motley crew:
- Thomas Edison
- Abraham Lincoln
- Henry Ford
- Steve Jobs
- Bill Gates
Talk about a bunch of losers!
Thomas Edison was such a dimwitted failure it took him over 10,000 times to figure out the simple light bulb! Illinois' very own Honest Abe…where do we start? The failed business, nervous breakdown, political career, death of his sweetheart—take your pick. Henry Ford, hoo boy, how many times do you have to get oil all over your kitchen to figure out, “no one wants a dang motorized carriage, buddy?” Steve Jobs, (a.k.a., nut job to some), couldn’t even get through college AND he was fired from the company HE started. Bill Gates was such an idiot that he dropped out of Harvard. Who does that and gets anywhere in life?
Pretty unimpressive group up there, huh? I don’t know about you but despite their failures, they’ve all seemed to have done alright for themselves. And no surprise, we’ve all benefitted greatly from the failures that led to great success. Like night and day—can’t have one without the other.
At Chiro One Wellness Centers, we look to these “failures” as a source of inspiration—and we are up to something BIG. I’m talking, “that ALL human beings discover their full potential.” FYI, that means you, me and the other 7.2 billion people on the planet.
I know it sounds crazy, but it doesn’t take a lot to make a big difference. Look at Edison; one light bulb and the world can see in the dark (without burning down our homes). All we need are a few people willing to be world-class failures so that the entire human race can win.
I’m all in…how about you?
Brett Penager, Founding Partner