How do you handle Failure?

We live in a competitive world that measures success by winners and losers, and insists that every victory creates a loss of equal dimension.

If one person wins, it seems logical that someone else must lose. In reality, the only competition that matters is the one in which you compete with yourself. When your standard of performance is based upon being the best you can be — for yourself — you will never lose. You will only improve.

Make it a practice to objectively review your performance from time to time. When you fall short, assess the situation and ask yourself: “Is there anything I would or could have done to change the outcome?” If the answer is “no,” if you are satisfied that you’ve done your best, don’t waste time reliving the past. Simply learn what you can from the experience, and then get into action again. If you consistently do your best, your temporary failures will take care of themselves.

Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is almost with reach. Failure is not a disgrace if you have sincerely done your best.

One of the great mysteries of life is why some people who seem to have all the advantages — the right connections, education, and experience — never seem to amount to much while others who have had to struggle for everything they have reach incredible heights of success. It hinges on determination. If you have the will to succeed, you will somehow find a way, regardless of the obstacles you encounter.

Do you use all of your assets to achieve your goals, or are you handicapped by your lack of ambition? No other person can create in you a desire to succeed. With enough motivation, you will see things all around you that will help you reach your objectives, things that you may have overlooked many times before. 

A blind boy paid his way to a master’s degree at Northwestern University by taking notes on class lectures in Braille, typing them, and selling copies to classmates who had stronger eyes but weak ambition.

Truly, “thoughts are things,” and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for their translation into riches, or other material objects.