Persistence and the Story of Abraham Lincoln

“Success is not measured by how high you jump, but by how high you bounce back.” ~JP

I was snowboarding 2 weekends ago at Mount Windham. I had just gotten a new board and I went on my first run. Less than 20 seconds into the run, I clipped an edge and I took a bad tumble. I laid their for a few seconds waiting for the pain to subside. All of a sudden a kid about 7-8 years old stopped right next to me and asked me if I was OK.

I told him I was fine, he then proceeded to say, “Every time you fall, you’re learning.” Such a simple principle seems to be forgotten by most adults.

Why do people settle for just being average? It’s because they have conditioned themselves to fear failure. So when they fail, they stop trying. They have been taught that winning is good and losing is bad. But that logic is false. The more failures you have the better you become.

Think of an incident in your life where you grew as a person…..

Chances are it was a result of some sort of rejection, failure or loss. These are the times when you grow the most. So it is important to try your best to push your limits so you fail often and continue to grow as a person

When things are going well, no one bothers to change. Even when things are going poorly, most people know they should change, but they push it off. Only when they hit rock bottom, does change begin to occur. That is why drug addicts can’t quit until they hit the very bottom or that most obese people don’t change until they suffer a heart attack or medical emergency.

So if you have a great business idea, a desire to improve a skill, a bad habit to quit or just want to accomplish a goal the only way to do it is to try, try and try again until you have succeeded. Remember that every time you fail, you take one step closer to your goal. So….

NEVER GIVE UP.

How did Abraham Lincoln develop the character to become one of the greatest presidents in our history? It sure wasn’t from luck or a privileged life. Take a moment and read the sequence of events in this man’s life and his path to greatness.

Event	Year
He had to work to support his family after they were forced out of their home.	1816
His mother died.	1818
Failed in business.	1831
Was defeated for legislature.	1832
Lost his job and couldn’t get into law school.	1832
Declared bankruptcy, and spent the next 17 years of his life paying off the money he borrowed from friends to start his business.	1833
Was defeated for legislature again.	1834
Was engaged to be married, but his sweetheart died and his heart was broken.	1835
Had a nervous breakdown and spent the next six months in bed.	1836
Was defeated in becoming the speaker of the state legislature.	1838
Was defeated in becoming elector.	1840
Was defeated for Congress	1843
Was defeated for Congress.	1846
Was defeated for Congress again.	1848
Was rejected for the job of Land Officer in his home state.	1849
Was defeated for Senate.	1854
Was defeated for Vice-President — got less than 100 votes.	1856
Was defeated for Senate for the third time.	1858
Was elected President of the United States.	1860

After seeing all the tragedy and failures throughout his life, I now understand why he is now considered one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country. So start your path to greatness today and push your comfort zone and learn from your experience. Persistence is the key to making your dreams a reality.