In February 1915, Winston Churchill helped to lead a campaign that cost 214,000 lives.
214,000 lives!
He resigned from the government.
How does a person keep going after such a catastrophic failure?
I personally can’t imagine how I could ever recover from such a catastrophic failure. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and poor decisions in my life, but as far as I know, none of them cost even one person’s life. Never mind 214,000!
Yet Churchill was one of the most influential people in history. His motivational speeches got people moving. They stirred people’s minds and hearts and got them to do the right thing when the right thing would be very costly.
Winston Churchill was resilient.
Imagine hearing this just as you are about to give up:
We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
Winston Churchill
Still feel like giving up?
Churchill didn’t give up, and he didn’t let others give up.
Resilience.
You fall down, you get back up.
You fall again, you get back up.
You fall again, you get back up!
That is the biggest thing that most influential people have in common. They didn’t become successful and influential overnight. They persevered. They kept trying. When they fell, they got right back up and tried again.
The poor decisions you have made in the past don’t have to stop your progress today.
Wise people remember their past failures only enough to learn from them. They learn what doesn’t work so they can figure out what does work.
Keep trying. Keep praying. Keep giving it your best effort.
Someday you’ll be one of the ones who has a great story to tell about all the times you failed before you became a great success.
You can read more about Winston Churchill here.