Failure & Uncertainty

Anyone who has ever achieved success, has achieved it because they kept trying until they succeeded. Any large goal will have obstacles and failures along the way. It is critical that you don’t let these come in your way, and you keep trying until you succeed.

Advice from Masters: Quotes & Tips on Dealing with Failure & Uncertainty

Dedication quote by Grant Cardone - There are no shortages of how many times you can get up and continue!

Never blame luck: Instead of blaming luck, research those setbacks. If you lose, learn. Lots of folks go through life explaining their mediocrity with “hard luck,” “tough luck,” “sour luck,” “bad luck.” These people are still like children, immature, searching for sympathy. Without realizing it, they fail to see opportunities to grow bigger, stronger, more self-reliant.

Think defeat: The real problem is that when most people hit the TAR (Things Are Rough) barrier, they think only defeat and so they are defeated.

Value of persistence: All it took was a persistent man who never thought he was defeated.

Failure is inevitable: It is not possible to win high-level success without meeting opposition, hardship, and setback.

Learn from setbacks: leaders in  every field follow this success principle: salvage something from every setback.

Be flexible to try new approaches: Many ambitious people go through life with admirable persistence and show of ambition, but they fail to succeed because they don’t experiment with new approaches. Stay with your goal. Don’t waver an inch from it. But don’t beat your head against a wall. If you aren’t getting results, try a new approach.

Belief: When you believe there is a way you automatically convert negative energy (let’s quit, let’s go back) into positive energy (let’s keep going, let’s move ahead).

Start afresh: Back off and start afresh. Often we stay so close to a problem for so long that we can’t see new solutions or new approaches. When you hit a snag, don’t throw up the whole project. Instead, back off, get mentally refreshed. Try something as simple as playing some music or taking a walk or a short nap. Then, when you tackle it again, the solution often comes almost before you know it.

David J Schwartz – The Magic of Thinking Big

I’ve learned it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve failed, you only have to be right once.

Mark Cuban
Dedication quote by John C. Maxwell - Every successful person is someone who failed, yet never regarded himself as a failure.

Fail better: ‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’ You won’t believe what you can accomplish by attempting the impossible with the courage to repeatedly fail better.”

Tim Ferris – Author – 4-hour workweek / Tools of Titans / Tribe of Mentors

When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.

Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is almost within reach.

Napoleon Hill – Author – Think and Grow Rich / Law of Success / Outwitting the Devil

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.

Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.

Paul Coelho – Author – The Alchemist

Imagine that in order to have a great life you have to cross a dangerous jungle. You can stay safe where you are and have an ordinary life, or you can risk crossing the jungle to have a terrific life. How would you approach that choice? Take a moment to think about it because it is the sort of choice that, in one form or another, we all have to make.

Ray Dalio – Author, Billionaire Investor – Principles: Life and Work

Top 10 Books on Dealing with Uncertainty & Failure

The road to success is filled with obstacles, uncertainty and failure. These 10 books will help equip you to better deal with such barriers and continue onwards towards fulfilling your goals.

Top Videos on Dealing with Uncertainty & Failure

Inspiring Heather Dorniden Takes a Fall But Still Wins the Race

A truly inspiring example of never giving up. Watch Heather Dorniden win a race despite taking a fall.

What I learned from 100 days of rejection | Jia Jiang

Jia Jiang’s TED Talk on his 100-day experiment with Rejection Therapy – actively seeking rejection for a period of time, to overcome the fear of rejection. Discover his remarkable experience and the invaluable life lessons trying to borrow $100 from a stranger, requesting a burger refill, buying Olympic ring doughnuts and more.

Other concepts on Dedication

Commitment & Perseverance

Perseverance is the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. You are sure to come up against obstacles, challenges, doubts and failures as you progress towards your goals. People who succeed persevere with their efforts no matter how hard the challenges, while others give up on their dreams once the going gets too tough.

small steps

Small Steps

We often see success and excellence post-facto, and it appears the sheer magnitude of what has been achieved seems impossible to replicate. What is not appreciated is that it was not any one major accomplishment, but a series of small steps taken consistently and persistently over a period of time that added up to something great.