On April 3rd, 1910 Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech called, Citizenship in a Republic. There is a paragraph in that speech that has always inspired me to fail.
You read that correctly. There is a paragraph in the speech that has always inspired me to fail.
I think failure is one of the most important aspects of eventual success. When I was first trying to get my novel published I started to enjoy getting rejection letters from publishers and agents. After the hours and hours of work it took to create a story I sent letters out to publishers and literary agents trying to find someone who might be interested. I sent out dozens of inquiries and most of the time I heard nothing back. This happened so often that I started to look forward to the rare times I received a rejection letter. I saved every one. The letter that represented failure came to represent something else to me. It represented forward motion. I figured if I could collect enough rejection and failure then eventually I would find success.
My mindset on failure isn’t unique. Theodore Roosevelt said:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Here are five quick lessons I’ve gathered from his words:
It’s not the critic who counts
The world is full of critics these days. I’m pretty sure some people just cruise the internet looking for things and people to hate on. It’s sad that these critics would rather spend their time trying to tear something apart others are trying to build than to try to build something themselves. It’s sad that they don’t have a bigger purpose in life. If you come across a critic, ignore them. They don’t count. Stay focused on your purpose.
There is no effort without error and shortcoming
There is no success without failure. There is no effort without failure. Try to look at failure as a challenge. Look at it as a learning experience. Failure is an opportunity to try harder or to try another way. I won’t belabor the point because I talk more about this in two other blogs (The best thing about failing and How to fail correctly). The point is this: if you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying hard enough. All success lies on the other side of the river called failure. You can’t let failure sweep you away. You have to keep swimming.
Spend yourself in a worthy cause
One of the greatest weapons against failure is having your purpose firmly in mind. As they say, success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. The thing that will carry you from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm is purpose. Purpose will pick you up and drive you forward. Unfortunately many people’s only purpose is to argue. It’s to resist. It’s to try to bring others down. Don’t live like that. Make your purpose to pull others up. Make your purpose to promote instead of resisting. Make your purpose a worthy cause. Then spend yourself on it.
Fail while daring greatly
You are going to fail. Write that on your heart. It is a rock solid truth. No one is perfect. You are no exception. So, since you are going to fail anyway, why not fail while daring greatly? After all, no one was ever remembered for playing it safe. No one is awestruck by the status quo. No one changes the world by daring slightly. If you are going to dare, then dare greatly. If you are going to fail, then fail big.
Don’t be a cold and timid soul
Those who go through life playing it safe will never live a full life. Those who go through life living in their comfort zone will miss the best of what life has to offer. God built humans for adventure. He programmed us for excitement and joy. If you live life afraid of failure you will live as a cold and timid soul. That is not what God designed you for. He crafted you for an abundant life.
Don’t settle for a mediocre life.
Don’t sit on the sidelines anymore.
Get in the arena.
Click below to purchase the book dozens of publishers and literary agents rejected!
(Spoiler: it got published. Sometimes even publishers and agents fail!)
“This book would make a great movie! It’s a cohesive, fun ride through some of my most beloved topics- science, the super- natural, and the apocalypse.” – Actress Megan Fox
“An intense and exceptionally well crafted thriller implementing spiritual ideas, “The Nephilim Virus” is an inherently fascinating and truly riveting read from beginning to end.” –Midwest Book Review
