"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” - Robert F. Kennedy
Going through life, I have seen many limited in their pursuit of success and I've come to understand that they are limited by demotivators. Even when they get so pumped up with motivations, they go back and feed the demotivators which cripples their success journey.
There are basically two demotivators which everybody experiences in life. One of the demotivators is THE FEAR OF FAILURE. This demotivator is in itself the greatest obstacle to success, because there is practically no one who has known true success without failing at some point. As Paulo Coelho opines "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
Perhaps the reason for the above-mentioned demotivator is that we focus on the successes of other men and neglect the failures they had to face before arriving at success. Also, more often than not, the men who inspire us tell us more about the details of success and paint a picture of 'no failing times'. We should understand that "failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. However, It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success.” - J.K. Rowling
Failure is success if we learn from it. – Malcolm Forbes.
When you make mistakes again and again, you start to see new streams of opportunities. Your vision becomes clearer and you get the confidence to persevere. Always remember that Thomas Edison did it 1000 times before he had a breakthrough.
The second demotivator in life is the FEAR OF REJECTION, the fear of criticism, condemnation, and being dumped because of your idea.
The FEAR OF FAILURE is the twin of the FEAR OF Rejection; they walk hand-in-hand because failure is often associated with rejection. Look at it from the bright side though, and you would see that rejection actually creates room, gives you some alone time, to think through the failure and develop a "come back" plan, that will land you on the success lane.
You're on your path to success when you begin to embrace the truth that "A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success." -Bo Bennett. Don't give up when rejection stares you in the face, rather say to yourself "rejection is a challenge, a challenge to become the best I can be and will be". Then, begin to press forward and in pressing you'll realize that "Each rejection brings us closer to acceptance." -Ramesh Lohia.
THE DEMOTIVATOR ARE OBSTACLES...
“By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.”
The above are the words of J.K. Rowling, the author whose book series has been translated into 73 languages, sold millions of copies and accrued over $20 billion through movie adaptations and sponsorships. So why does she say she was a failure?
After sending her manuscript to 12 different publishers and getting rejected by every single one, Rowling began to lose confidence in her book. Finally, the editor at Bloomsbury Publishing company sat down to read the manuscript. And so did the editor’s 8-year-old daughter. The little girl loved the opening chapters and begged to read the whole thing. This made the publisher agree to publish Rowling’s novel. But Rowling was left with a piece of advice: that she should get a day job because she wouldn’t make any money writing children’s books. But she proved everyone wrong!
J.K. Rowling went from being a jobless single mother living on "unemployment benefits", to one of the best selling authors of all time. But it didn’t happen overnight. She faced rejection and constantly strived for success. She worked hard at her craft before anyone noticed her. That practise, along with strengthening herself against rejection, was what made her work unforgettable. Looking back, the Harry Potter series has earned over $400 million in book sales, and the last movie alone earned $476 million dollars in ticket sales, on the opening weekend. She was the first female to become a billionaire author, not that many authors make it that far in the first place.
Your life is yours to live. No matter how you choose to live it, never give in to the fear of failure nor rejection, and you will find yourself riding the wings of success. As Louis-Ferdinand Celine puts it "I think all great innovations are built on rejections."
Stay motivated!
