I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
Michael Jordan sums up three things you must do to be successful at anything.
These crucial ingredients of success apply to every kind of goal – enjoying happy relationships, getting ahead in career or business, achieving weight loss – or whatever matters to you.
1. You Must Try. A Lot.
Whether it’s 10,000 shots or 10,000 hours, to be successful you need to put in lots of time and effort.
Dipping your toe in the water is only good for wetting your toe.
To achieve something challenging, something worth having, you have to get seriously wet.
2. You Must Fail.
Success is never a straight line.
Or, to put it visually:
Expect the inevitable obstacles, false starts and failures.
They are part of the journey.
3. You Must Persist.
Jordan doesn’t say he failed repeatedly and yet he’s a success.
He says he failed repeatedly and that’s why he’s a success.
Persisting beyond all the failing is what makes you succeed.
Try, Fail, Persist
Is there something challenging you want to succeed at?
Are you doing all three of these essentials? Putting in lots of time and effort? Accepting that failure is part of the journey? Persisting anyway?
Does Jordan’s quote make you want to change anything about your approach?
Please tell me what you think!
thanks for posting the quotes. it is very good . quote
Very encouraging.
To make a situation successful one has to analize the matter carefully and thoroughly – some how the idea shows a light a end of the tunnel – then ‘hu-la-la’ we have arrived.
I don’t know, I think the trying is important. Doing it implies you’ve succeeded in completing the task. Trying means you keep at it even if you don’t manage to do it the first or third or sixth time. Perhaps Persisting is what we’re after, aiming for improvement whether we succeed or fail.
That’s it! I’d just change point 1. to Do, rather than try….
A great reminder that succes is less about what we are doing and more about who we are being.
Note to self: check spelling before hitting publish!
Well said Ali!
We learn from our failures. When we fail analyze the situation. Turn this into an educational lesson and this will help you combat failures as they happen or eliminate them.
Worth meditation.
I agree Marjarine. 🙂
True, somewhat!
One of the greatest ‘failures’ was Abraham Lincoln. If you look at how many times he failed, most people would have given up and gone into major depression. He persisted in his efforts instead and ended up one of histories greatest political figures. As I teach my children, sometimes the only way to learn is to ‘fail’ because then you know one more way that doesn’t work.
Good point Gwen. Thomas Edison is another example of someone whose failures were integral to his eventual, massive success. 🙂