Lessons through Failure: How to Become a Legend
Earlier last month we discussed the blessings of failures and how really, failures are actually opportunities! Today we discuss failures even more, and take a peak at one of the most famous men in the history of the United States, and how despite his many set backs and failures, he became a legend…
Have you ever been disappointed in your life because you failed at something? How about because you had a tough set back?
What was your reaction?
- Did you give up?
- Did you let go of your dreams?
- Did you give into the belief that happiness and success is meant for some people and not for others?
No matter what, everyone is going to face disappointment at some time in their life. Knowing that it is inevitable, the question we must ask ourselves before it happens is “what am I going to do when that disappointment occurs? What am I going to do when I have that set back?”
Let’s consider our mystery man for today: one of the most famous people in the history of the United States who had a tremendous amount of setbacks we would consider terrible!
Who is this mystery man? Let’s see if you can guess…
At age 7 his family was forced from their home and he had to help support them.
At age 9 his mother died.
At age 21 he failed in business.
At age 22 he ran for legislature and lost; lost his job; and was turned down when he applied to law school.
At age 23 he started another business on borrowed money but by age 24 went bankrupt.
At age 25 he was engaged to be married and his fiancé died.
At age 26 he had a nervous breakdown and was in bed for 6 months.
At age 28 he was defeated as speaker of the state legislature.
At age 33 he ran for congress and lost.
At age 38 he ran for congress again and lost.
At age 44 he ran for the U.S. senate and lost.
At age 46 he tried for his party’s vice president nomination and received less than 100 votes and lost.
At age 48 he ran for the U.S. senate again and lost.
At age 50 he was elected the president of the United States of America.
Who is he?
Abraham Lincoln!
He is a man we have heard about many times through history lessons, documentaries, biographies, television shows and movies.
What would have happened if when his mother died he gave up hope in life, stopped taking care of himself, and became homeless?
What if at age 21 he realized that he was a failure and really shouldn’t try to do anything ‘big?’
What if at age 48, he decided to withdraw from politics?
Really think about that for a moment. Literally. Imagine how different life would be if this one man did not exist in the history of the United States and the world.
Now think about yourself. How different might the world be 200 years from now, if you give up on your goals and dreams?
Really think about THAT for a moment. Literally. Imagine how different the lives of our descendants would be if this one man, or this one woman…YOU, did not exist…if YOU gave up, and did not pursue your life’s purpose.
Next time you have a setback, I recommend you remind yourself of Abe! Then ask yourself, “have I persisted as much as Lincoln did?” … if the answer is no, I suggest you keep moving forward!
You want to know how to become a legend? You never give up. Ever.
Credits: Thank you to Alex Mandossian who referred to Abraham Lincolns successes and failures on one of his teleseminar secrets modules — and thank you to the person who had a website with these Abraham Lincoln facts, whom which I unfortunately can’t remember the location of the site (I copied and pasted the Lincoln facts into a word document months ago and did not keep track of the link)
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Butterfly effect, Dreams, Failures, Goals, Legend, Success
I’m curious, who are other ‘legends’ you know of who if they gave up early in life, would never have inspired so many people, and created such extraordinary things? Any celebrities? Thought leaders? Politicians? Leaders? Who can you think of?
Thomas Edison is another great example of never giving up.
My favorite, though, is Winston Churchill who led Great Britain through their darkest hour during the nightly bombings by the Germans and stymied pending invasion.
To lead and hold the psyche of an entire nation in your hands during an enormous crisis of epic proportion and succeed is remarkable and most commendable. He was a brilliant leader.
Hey Tom!
Yes! Great point. I love the story of Thomas Edison and how he tried something like 10,000 different ways to invent the light bulb! What if he gave up at 9,999? hmmm!
Interesting about Winston Churchill! I’ll have to learn and study about him at some point! Thanks for sharing!
–Sean Patrick Simpson
**The Mindset Apprentice**
Connecting Voracious Learners to the Wisdom of Thought LeadersTwitter ID @vpsean
Thomas Edison is a good one, but is almost the cliche icon for overcoming failure.
Someone who most of us do not know much about is the American tennis star, James Blake.
He had just the most tragic story. Already pro for a few years, Blake broke his neck by running into a net post in 2004. Ouch! In the same year, he lost his father, as well.
The result of these two tragedies caused him to get shingles, paralyzing half of his face and blurring his sight.
He wasn’t sure if he would ever play professional tennis again. However, he mustered up the strength and courage to return the next summer, defeating the number two seed, Rafael Nadal and he is currently ranked 5th in the world.
If James Blake can overcome tragedies like that, what excuse does anyone else have?
Chris Gray
Twitter: @goglobalwebs
Great addition to the discussion Chris! Thanks for adding!
Sean,
Abraham Lincoln is a mythic figure - larger than life and inspirational - as much because of the trials he faced as because of the way he led our country at its most difficult time. Nearly every person - young and old - male and female - from almost every social, ethnic and economic group can find something to give them hope in the Lincoln legacy. His rising up and overcoming adversity, I do believe, truly does make him so endearing. Thanks for a nice blog post.
Best wishes,
Ann Tracy Mueller
Lincoln Buff 2
Ann,
Thank you for adding your two cents on that! It’s great to hear from a Lincoln history buff on the post!