I wonder how many times people have
been on the cusp of a great breakthrough, been discouraged and gave up? How
many wonderful achievements were squashed before they became reality because
somebody gave up? How many individual dreams were never realised because people
were afraid of failure?
Thomas Edison, the great inventor, was one of
the biggest failures of all time. He failed time and time again, learned from
every mistake, and went on to triumph. I love this quote from Edison, which
aptly sums it up: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain
way to succeed is always to try just one more time.“
“You can always make capital out of disaster,” he
said. “We’ve just cleared out a bunch of old rubbish! We’ll build bigger and
better on these ruins.” He didn’t give up. He tried one more time. And,
eventually, he succeeded, and changed the world.
It
is good to think about your weaknesses every now and then, evaluate them and
devise plans to overcome them. But don’t dwell on weaknesses. Rather, see them
as opportunities for improvement. See them as chances to try again in a new
way. One more time.