Defeat Is Not Failure

Defeat Is Not Failure

"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat." ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

When I was in college, one year I lost my financial aid because of an error in my financial aid application. I had to work two full-time jobs to pay rent. Work interfered with the classes and I struggled.

Petitioning the financial aid office didn't help. They offered me a student loan, which I stubbornly refused. I paid the tuition, but flunked out, because I wasn't physically and mentally able to juggle working sixty hours a week and take 15 hours of classes. I flunked out.

That summer, I went to work selling supplemental health insurance door to door. I failed.

"My advice is to find fuel in failure. Sometimes failure gets you closer to where you want to be." ~ Michael Jordan

I went back to college with a plan and borrowed a student loan to pay tuition. I got another job as a resident assistant in a dormitory on campus that paid room and board.

My failures fueled me to go back and succeed. I finally graduated once I could focus on the classes. What will your failures fuel you to do?

Have a great week,

Tony