DON'T LET FAILURE MAKE YOU A COWARD

When you know in your own mind that you've given something your very best effort and you didn't succeed, don't quit. Simply start another project. A close friend involved me in a business transaction involving a gadget which didn't sell. Fortunately, I got out before the roof caved in. My friend, however, lost several thousand dollars. When it was all over, he philosophically stated, "You know, Zig, I hate to lose the money, but the thing that really concerns me is the fear that this will make me overly cautious and a financial coward regarding other business opportunities. If that happens, then my loss will be multiplied many times over." How true, how true. 

One young man didn't let this happen to him. He was involved in an oil venture and ran out of money, so he sold his interest to his partners who stuck with it. After much time and effort, they got their break and hit a gusher. The company later became Cities Service, and we know it today as CITGO. The young man, who withdrew, later got involved in the clothing business and fared even worse than he had in the oil business. As a matter of fact, he went broke. Still, he wasn't discouraged. Later on he got into politics. Historians are already saying kind things about Harry S. Truman, the two-time failure who kept getting back up until he became President of the United States. 

Failure has been correctly identified as the line of least persistence, whereas success is often a question of simply sticking to the job and working and believing while you are sticking. If your particular job is harder than you might wish, just remember you can't sharpen a razor on a piece of velvet and you can't sharpen a man by spoon-feeding him. 

Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation. Many times it is just over the hill or around the corner. Sometimes it takes that extra push to climb that hill or round that curve. The wit was right when he said, "If you have enough push you don't have to worry about pull." 

President Calvin Coolidge wrote, "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence, determination and hard work makes the difference."

From: See You at the Top, by Zig Ziglar