One Extraordinary Example of Failed Goals that Led to Amazing Success

New Year’s Resolutions? Goals for 2017? No, thanks; I’ve still got leftovers from 2016. If you’re feeling discouraged by past failures, you might want to read this one extraordinary example of failed goals that led to amazing success.

Historical Highlights

Try to identify this mystery man by the following highlights :

When I was seven years old, my family was forced out of our home because of a legal technicality.

I had to work to help support my family at age nine.

While still a backward, shy little boy, my mother died.

At age 22, I lost my job as a store clerk.

I wanted to go to law school, but my education was not good enough.

At 23 I went into debt to become a partner in a small store.

Three years later my partner died, leaving me a huge debt which took me years to repay.

At 28, after developing a romantic relationship with a young lady for four years, I asked her to marry me. She said, “No.”

At 37, on my third try, I was finally elected to the US Congress.

Two years later, I ran again and failed to be re-elected. At that time, I had a nervous breakdown.

At 41, adding additional heartache to an already unhappy marriage, my four-year-old son died.

The next year I ran for Land Office and lost.

At 45 I ran for Senate and lost.

A few years later, I ran for the Vice-Presidency and lost.

At 49, I ran for the Senate again and lost.

At 51, I was elected President of the United States.

Who am I? My name is Abraham Lincoln.

Application

When I heard the above list of highlights on a Christmas day episode of the Joyce Meyer Radio Podcast, I sat dumbfounded. How could the sixteenth president of the United States come from such a background of tragedy and failure?

I discovered three key points applicable to my life:

• Hard work pays off. From his youngest years, Abraham Lincoln earned a reputation for being a hard worker.

“You gotta pay your dues,” the professors at Grad School used to admonish us while asking for something seemingly unrelated to our career track. Such tasks carried the label, Character builder. Sounded to me like Abe experienced a lot of character building throughout his journey to the Oval Office.

• Dogged determination wins. While Abraham didn’t get to law school at the time he first sought an appointment, he didn’t give up. Ultimately, Abe earned a license to practice law.

In the political arena, Lincoln’s determination to speak for the people sent him on a roller coaster ride of victories and failures—until he achieved the highest office in the land.

• Prepare to fail. While he experienced failures in every aspect of life, Lincoln also celebrated successes. It appears he prepared to fail by setting his mind to keep trying until he reached his goal.

Let’s be honest: Nobody has to prepare to succeed. We know exactly what to do if we win.

But, what do I do if I fail? Give up? Move to Plan B? Head for the warehouse store where ice cream is sold in five-quart containers?

If achieving my goal is important, I’ll come up with more than one viable plan–just in case Plan A fails.

Conclusion

Whatever our goals for 2017, let’s be encouraged that succeeding isn’t everything. Many important lessons can be learned through failure.

If you’re wanting name-recognition like artists, authors, and politicians, even failures serve to give exposure.

My Number One resolution is simply to keep trying. Worked for Abraham Lincoln, right?

President Lincoln is one extraordinary example of failed goals that led to amazing success. Do you know any others you’d like to share in the comments section?