What About the Failure Stories?

We love stories about people overcoming adversity.

Michael Jordan – Cut from his high school basketball team, but went on to become the greatest NBA player of all time.

Lionel Messi – Diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, but went on to become the greatest soccer player of all time.

Anthony Robles – Born without a right leg, but went on to win the 2011 NCAA wrestling championship at 125 pounds.

Serena Williams – A black woman in a white male dominated sport, facing racism and sexism, goes on to become the greatest women’s tennis player of all time.

Tom Brady – Drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round, but went on to become the greatest NFL player of all time.

Muhammad Ali – Stripped of his heavyweight boxing title because of his refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War, but went to become the greatest boxer of all time.

But what about Hank Fornieles or Sarah Ashford*? They worked just as hard, if not harder, than the people above, but they never made it to the show, the big league, or primetime.

Four Quadrants

How to Proceed

There is no way to know ahead of time if you work hard whether you’ll end up in the Disney Movie or WTF quadrant. So what should you do? Never try (maybe you’ll get lucky)? Try without guaranteed results?

It’s kind of a trick question. While it’s nice to achieve goals, true success comes from the process. When you work hard, you are building habits, systems, and structures. That is the success, because those habits, systems, and structures enable you to achieve a variety of goals.

Only Two Quadrants

While we are never guaranteed results, personal development from hard work will always put us in a better position to accomplish whatever our goals are.

*I have no idea who Hank and Sarah are, but I’m sure they put in a ton of hard work and effort.

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