July 4, 2025 • 33 mins
Failure isn't the opposite of success - lack of failure is. Understanding this distinction can be the key to unlocking your greatest potential and achievements.
• Failure ingredients like disappointment, letdown, and catastrophe are actually critical components of success
• Thomas J Watson's formula for success: double your rate of failure
• Failure is temporary only if you decide it is
• Stories of famous "failures" like Bill Gates, Abraham Lincoln, and Henry Ford who became legendary successes
• Michael Jordan missed 9,000 shots and lost almost 300 games in his career
• The inspiring 14-year journey of astronaut Mike Fossum, who was rejected from NASA six times before success
• Muscle only grows by being torn down - both physically and metaphorically
• Every failure brings you closer to success by eliminating wrong solutions
Head over to terrielfossum.com to pick up your free gifts and so much more.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
If you've been stuck in fear, self-doubt, your past
failures and you're ready tobreak through your comfort zones
to finally reach the pinnacleof success in every area of your
life, then this podcast is foryou.
Here's your host Terry L FossumL Fossum.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Bolt.
Number three that may have heldyou back in the past is not
embracing failure.
Now I'm not just talking aboutnot having a fear of failure.
I'm talking about somethingmuch further than that.
We already talked about fearsand all of that, but I'm talking
about actually learning to lovefailure, to be happy when you
(00:46):
fail, because then, and onlythen, are you on the right path.
Let's get started.
Calvin Coolidge once saidnothing in this world can take
the place of persistence.
Talent will not.
Nothing is more common thanunsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not.
(01:08):
Unrewarded genius is almost aproverb.
Education will not.
The world is full of educatedderelicts.
Persistence and determinationalone are omnipotent.
So let me ask you a questionwhat's the opposite of success?
What's the opposite of success?
Did you say failure?
(01:29):
Well, sure, most people do.
In fact, I went to a thesaurusand requested an antonym for
success, and the first thingthat came up was failure.
So I went a step further and Iasked for synonyms for failure,
and it came up with a whole listof scary things Disappointment,
letdown, catastrophe, bombfiasco, disaster, botch flop,
(01:51):
crash, collapse, even ruin.
But I'm here to tell you thatthis just isn't true.
Failure is not the opposite ofsuccess at all.
In fact, I'll go yet anotherstep and say that lack of
failure is the opposite ofsuccess at all.
In fact, I'll go yet anotherstep and say that lack of
failure is the opposite ofsuccess.
Let me say that again Lack offailure is the opposite of
(02:14):
success.
That's right.
Write that down if you're able.
It's that important.
In fact, every one of thosethings that I mentioned
disappointment, letdown, flop,etc.
Are absolutely critical tosuccess.
If you were able to bake asuccess pie, these would all be
ingredients.
Wait a minute, you say You'retrying to tell me that
(02:36):
disappointment, letdown,catastrophe, bomb fiasco,
disaster, botch, flop, crash,collapse, even ruin are
ingredients to success,absolutely Without question.
Thomas J Watson built IBM tothe behemoth that it is today.
I love his view on the subject.
Would you like me to give you aformula for success?
(02:59):
It's quite simple.
Really, double your rate offailure.
You are thinking of failure asthe enemy of success, but it
isn't at all.
You can be discouraged byfailure or you can learn from it
.
So go ahead and make mistakes.
Make all you can, because,remember, that's where you will
(03:19):
find success.
That's a pretty great quotefrom a pretty great man.
By the end of this recording,you're going to have a whole
different mindset on failure.
You're going to welcome failure.
You're going to be excitedabout failure.
In fact, if you're not failing,you're going to think that
something's wrong.
See, I believe there hasn'tbeen a single person in the
(03:41):
history of the world that hasaccomplished anything of
greatness without failingseveral times first.
Therefore, if you are notfailing, you're simply not on
your way to greatness.
The great Winston Churchillsaid success consists of walking
from failure to failure withoutloss of enthusiasm.
So if you are feeling fantastic, you're on your way to
(04:07):
greatness.
I did a solo backpacking tripdeep into the Arctic Circle.
Afterwards I came south andspent some time in the Yukon and
hung around some of the goldminers where the stories are
legendary about the man whoworked his claim, worked his
claim, worked his claim to noavail.
Finally, tired, filthy anddisgusted, he threw down his
(04:28):
pickaxe for the final time andhanded his deed to his neighbor,
saying it's all urine.
I've tried and tried.
There ain't no gold here.
I ain't gonna try no more.
Just after he walked away, hisneighbor picks up his pickaxe,
gives it a good swing anduncovered the biggest nugget
you've ever seen.
(04:48):
If only the previous ownerwould have given it just one
more swing, but he'll never knowhow close he came.
The Yukon and the businessworld is filled with stories of
people who gave up and failedand others who kept going and
succeeded.
Let me give you one of my many,many personal examples of
(05:10):
failing miserably.
While still an officer in theUnited States Air Force, I
started in direct sales.
I was terrible at it.
Imagine this my degree was inmechanical engineering Now
engineers aren't exactly knownfor our personalities, much less
sales skills, and my job in theAir Force was basically a
(05:31):
nuclear warfare officer.
What I had to sell, no onewanted.
But no, I decided I was goingto give direct sales a try.
To say I was terrible at it islike saying the Titanic suffered
a fender bender, but I went forit and failed miserably.
I would go two steps forwardand four steps back.
(05:52):
I had so many doors slammed tomy face that I had a permanent
nosebleed.
Okay, I heard the word no, somuch.
Well, I thought I was datingagain, but I kept trying and
kept trying and kept trying.
After months and months of hardwork and disappointments, I
finally got to the point wherethe income from my business was
more than I was making as anofficer in the Air Force.
(06:14):
Do you know what that meant forme?
Freedom Now, I loved my role inthe Air Force.
Do you know what that meant forme?
Freedom Now, I loved my role inthe Air Force.
I really did.
But I had some other ideas inmy head, of things I wanted to
accomplish and this would makeit possible for me.
Freedom I could finally resignmy commission and go full time
into my new business.
I could work toward my goalsand make my dreams come true.
(06:37):
I was there, I made it.
And then it happened Literallyovernight.
Literally overnight, I lostthree-fourths of my distribution
channels.
Literally overnight, I lostthree-fourths of my income that
went with them.
Literally overnight, all ofthat hard work, all that blood,
(07:00):
sweat and tears of months andmonths and months of hard work
completely went away.
I was devastated.
Look, obviously this isn't forme.
I thought.
Obviously I just don't havewhat it takes.
I've tried and I failed andtried and failed and tried and
(07:21):
failed.
When I finally got so close tomy goal, I could finally taste
it.
I fell down again.
I fell down hard.
There was tears, I'll admit it.
I wanted to quit.
I wanted to give it up once andfor all.
I don't have the energy left.
I'm done.
And then I remembered four wordsthat kept me going.
(07:43):
Four words gave me the strengthto keep going.
Words may be the most powerfulthing in the world, because
words cause emotion and emotioncauses actions, sometimes
superhuman actions, sometimes inthe simplest of ways.
Those four words caused me toget back up.
(08:05):
These four words caused me tobrush myself off and simply get
up one more time, because that'sthe whole secret to success,
isn't it?
To get up just one more time,then you're knocked down.
To get up just one more time,then you're knocked down.
That's the whole secret tosuccess.
(08:28):
To get up just one more time,then you're knocked down.
And what were those four littlewords, those four life-changing
words?
Get ready, here they are.
This too shall pass, that'sright.
(08:49):
This too shall pass.
Four simple words, but fourincredibly powerful words if you
believe in them.
See, those four simple wordsreminded me that, no matter how
bad things are, that no matterhow bad things are, they will
pass.
The pain will eventually ease.
Circumstances will change ifyou make them change and you,
(09:10):
and only you, have the power todo so.
Keep on failing until yousucceed.
If you've ever been in aposition of deep pain, of deep
discouragement, of thedepression that comes with the
disappointment, you know that itdoesn't feel like it will ever
change.
At the time it feels like yoursituation is permanent, like
it's never going to change.
(09:30):
But it will.
If you decide it will.
If you decide it won't, itwon't.
If you decide you're going towallow in self-pity about how
things didn't work out, thenunderstand this You're making
the decision to be powerless,but you have in you more power
(09:52):
than even you know.
I found that out for myself onthe coldest backpacking trip I
have ever been on.
It was wintertime in the greatnorthwest, with severe cold
warnings.
Stay inside.
The news said it's going todrop into the sub-zero
temperature range, especially inthe higher elevations.
(10:12):
It's very dangerous to beoutside.
It's going to be in thedouble-digit sub-zero
temperature range.
Now most people were smartenough to stay indoors.
I went backpacking.
I drove my four-wheel drive asfar up into the mountains as I
could and then throw on mysnowshoes and backpack from
there.
With the severe cold I packedan especially heavy pack and was
(10:34):
completely exhausted a shortways into the trip.
I had to keep going, thoughthere was no level ground on the
side of the mountain I wasclimbing and the side of the
mountain wasn't my goal.
Anyway, the top was.
So I kept going and kept going,each step even worse than the
one before it, literallyscreaming out as I tried to lift
(10:56):
my heavy burden over theobstacles in the way.
Literally screaming out.
When I finally reached the top,hours later, I completely
collapsed.
I didn't take my backpack off,I didn't take my snowshoes off,
I just collapsed into the deepsnow.
I couldn't move a muscle, evenbreathing was difficult,
(11:16):
Seriously.
And then then I looked over themountain range across from me
and I saw there was a severeblizzard going on.
And as I watched it in myexhaustion, laying there in the
snow, I realized the worst casescenario was about to happen.
The blizzard was heading righttowards me where, moments before
(11:37):
, I didn't think I had anotherounce of energy left.
Suddenly I knew I could findmore.
I had to find more.
I had no choice.
My survival instincts clickedin and I knew I had to have
shelter or I could very easilydie.
I used what I now knew was mylast sparks of energy to find a
way to construct my tent, tryingto make it ready for the
(11:59):
impending storm.
Painstakingly, I set it up andsecured it strongly to the trees
around me so it could withstandthe winds and dumping snow that
a blizzard can bring.
Now I was really done,completely drained.
Nothing left, that's it, exceptthat if I didn't have a fire,
it was going to be a long, cold,lonely night.
(12:22):
Now there isn't that muchsunlight in the dead of winter,
making the nights long to beginwith.
But nights seem especially darkwhen you're by yourself in the
mountains and the temperatureswould be well below zero.
Tonight I could stay in mysleeping bag for you know, lots
of hours the long night as itturned into a cold day, or I
could try to do something aboutit.
(12:44):
Okay, maybe I can squeeze alittle energy out of somewhere,
but I certainly didn't knowwhere I'd really like a fire
Fire.
Okay, there's a problem here.
Nearly any wood supply iscovered by about three feet of
snow.
Anything sticking up above thesnow was covered in heavy frost
(13:05):
and frozen solid, making itnearly impossible to light.
Okay, I know the problems.
It's time to look for thesolutions.
I used my backpacking saw to cutanything I could find and dug
through the snow to try to findmore.
I cut off the outside bark, thewet bark, to try to reach the
dry wood beneath it.
Rather adept at starting a firewith flint and steel, I got to
(13:27):
work and work and work.
See, fire needs three things tostart Oxygen Okay, it's a
little light up here.
I'm pretty high up in theelevation, but it's good enough
to start a fire.
Second, fuel, such as wood.
Well, all of my fuel iswaterlogged and frozen, but it's
all I've got, and if I'm goingto start a fire I need to make
(13:50):
it work.
Third, heat Heat.
Okay, crap, it's way below zeroup here.
That makes it very hard tostart a fire, but hard means
it's possible, so let's figureout a way.
So I finally gave up the switchfrom flint and steel and went to
(14:10):
matches.
That should work.
Okay, nope, that did not work.
But I always carry a lighter.
Let's use that.
Nope, that didn't work either.
I hate using fire starters.
That's cheating to me, but Icarry some with me in my pack
for an emergency situation.
This was reaching that point.
So I finally broke down andused one of those.
Not even that was working.
(14:32):
Nothing was catching thiswaterlogged, frozen wood on fire
, so I used another fire starter, and another, and another.
I tried every method I knew andnothing was working.
So, completely exhausted andusing absolutely the last ounce
of any energy reserves that Itruly had in my body, I finally
(14:56):
collapsed in the snow by my cold, lifeless fire lay.
That was it.
I'd done the last strike.
It was going to be a long, coldnight, cold days up in those
mountains, and the fire started.
It started.
I couldn't believe it.
(15:16):
I was absolutely blown away.
See, all my efforts had driedout the wood.
I didn't realize I was makingprogress with each failure.
Let me say that again, I didn'trealize I was making progress
with each failure.
It didn't seem like I wasmaking progress with each
failure.
I certainly couldn't see anypositive results, just me
failing and failing and failingagain.
(15:37):
That's all I saw.
But each time I tried, I wasreally making progress by drying
out the wood a little bit more,a little bit more, a little bit
more.
Each time I failed I wasgetting a little bit closer to
success.
And that last tiny bit of flame, that last bit of energy I had,
was enough to start it up.
(15:58):
Okay, that and a lot of prayer,not necessarily in that order.
If I had stopped one more timebefore that, I wouldn't have
succeeded.
Everything I tried failed untilit succeeded.
Each failure led to another one, and that failure led to
another, and to another, and toanother, until eventually they
(16:22):
led to success.
Keep on failing until yousucceed.
Another difference between thesuccessful people and the
unsuccessful people are that theunsuccessful ones see failure
as permanent and the successfulones well, they see it as
temporary.
If failure is permanent, whybother getting up?
(16:43):
Why bother trying again?
I failed, for goodness sake.
What I tried didn't work.
It can't be done.
No, maybe it can't be done theway you're doing it, but it can
be done.
It can be done if you decide itcan.
It will, because you get up onemore time than you're being
knocked down.
Keep on failing until yousucceed.
(17:05):
Now I told you how I had amajor setback in business and
lost three-fourths of mybusiness income overnight.
But you know what that's howbusiness is.
That's how success is.
My story isn't unique.
I wasn't part of a minoritythat didn't get it right the
first time.
(17:26):
I was part of the vast,overwhelming majority of people
that failed the first time andthe second, and on and on and on
.
But because I viewed thatfailure as temporary, on and on
and on.
But because I viewed thatfailure as temporary, had my
little pity party dusted myselfoff, got back to work.
I failed many more times andeventually succeeded, building
(17:47):
distribution channels literallyaround the globe.
I talk a lot about Bill Gatesbecause he's such a great
success story, but did you knowthat Bill Gates was actually a
failure?
That's right.
He was a failure, a terriblefailure.
He started a company calledTrafoData.
Ever heard of it?
No, and neither has anyone else.
(18:08):
Okay, well, one guy did.
One guy the guy who laughedBill Gates and his partner Paul
Allen, out of his office becausethe machine they were showing
him trying to sell him wouldn'teven work.
Now I take that back.
Bill Gates was absolutely not afailure.
Listen, his product was afailure, but he was not.
(18:32):
He didn't fail because he keptgoing.
If he would have given up onhis business altogether, picked
up a will work for food sign,well then maybe, but that's not
what Bill did, is it?
He got up one more time than hewas knocked down.
He kept on failing until hesucceeded.
Abraham Lincoln may be one ofthe biggest failures in US
(18:55):
political history.
He lost his job, he had anervous breakdown, he went to
war a captain and returned alowly private.
He failed nine times inpolitics alone.
But guess what?
He tried ten times and thattenth time made him one of the
most known.
One of the greatest presidentsin the history of our country.
(19:19):
Was Abraham Lincoln a failure?
Hardly, he could have been, buthe chose not to.
He chose to get up one moretime than he was knocked down.
Henry Ford lost everything onfive different business ventures
lost everything.
Vince Lombardi, one of thegreatest coaches in history, was
(19:41):
told that he possesses minimalfootball knowledge and lacks
motivation.
The founder of FedEx, fred Smith, outlined his entire business
plan in a college paper, forwhich he received a C, and was
told, and I quote the concept isinteresting and well-informed,
but in order to earn better thana C grade, your ideas also have
(20:04):
to be feasible.
How about them apples?
One of the greatest basketballplayers of all times, michael
Jordan, admits I've missed morethan 9,000 shots in my career.
I've lost almost 300 games.
26 times I've been entrusted totake the game-winning shot and
missed.
I have failed over and over andover again in my life and
(20:28):
that's why I succeed.
I'm going to tell you one laststory here, but before I do, I
need to make sure you understandNot every story has a happy
ending, but we can learn from it.
Okay, let me say it again Notevery story has a happy ending,
but we can learn from it.
Okay, here we go.
(20:49):
You heard where I grew up andthat my brothers and I were
expected to never grow up to beanything, and that's the quote.
Well, my brother, mike, sentout to prove them right.
Well, he didn't mean to.
But not every story has a happyending.
Okay, so check this out.
(21:10):
He decided he wanted to be.
Are you ready for this?
Okay, here it goes.
He wanted to be an astronaut,that's right, an astronaut from
our neighborhood, heck, from ourfamily, our family, the Fossums
.
Okay, but get this.
He went for it.
Yeah, him and several thousandother people.
And guess what happened?
You're right, he didn't make it.
(21:33):
Yeah, go figure.
Remember, not every story has ahappy ending, but we can learn
from it.
He didn't make it.
So now he understands he's notgoing to be an astronaut, right,
pick door number two.
No see, he's the stubbornbrother.
So he actually tried for itagain, now understanding that
trying for it is actually atwo-year process.
(21:55):
It's not just sending NASA apostcard Dear NASA, I'd like to
be an astronaut.
No, it's two years of applying,obtaining a higher level degree
, rebuilding your resume evenfurther, going through the
mental testing, psychologicaltesting, the physical testing,
all of this to get your hopes upagain.
And guess what happened thistime?
Yep, he didn't make it,remember?
(22:18):
Not?
Every story is a happy ending.
So that's four years of failing.
Now, right, two years trying ittwice, four years of failing.
And I love telling this storyto high school classes and
asking them could you fail atsomething for four years
straight, your entire highschool career, and keep going?
Kind of puts it in perspective,doesn't it?
I'll ask you the same questionCould you continue to fail and
(22:42):
fail for four years straight andkeep going?
Well, now Mike finallyunderstands he's not going to be
an astronaut, right?
No, he goes for it again andfails.
So he goes for it again, andfails, and again, and fails, and
again.
Wow, how many years of failureis that?
(23:04):
Now let's see six times two.
12 years of failure.
12 years, and I've got to tellyou that that hurt.
It was terrible.
Imagine that each time, gettingyour hopes up, this was going
to be the time You're finallygoing to do it Hoping, praying,
picking yourself up from theground time and time again, all
(23:25):
of your friends watching,rooting for you, only to be
slammed down again for the 12thyear in a row.
Man, I can tell you that Mikeused to joke about not going
near a high place when he gotthe rejection letter or a phone
call or for fear of what hemight do.
(23:45):
I'm not sure he was joking,guys.
It was so horribly demoralizing.
And you know there was tears.
And you know there was tears.
And you know there wasdepression and maybe even anger.
How could there not be 12 yearsof going for this, only to be
shot down again?
(24:06):
I warned you from the beginningthat not every story has a
happy ending, but we can learnfrom it.
But it got worse.
It got worse when his friendfrom across the street made it.
Someone who hadn't been goingfor it for nearly as long as
Mike not nearly as long made itParty going on across the street
(24:28):
, not at Mike's house.
But it got worse.
In fact, it got a lot worse.
It got a lot worse when Mike'sboss at NASA called him into his
office and said basically, mike, you understand now that you're
not going to be an astronaut,right?
We've been trying to tell youfor over a decade that you're
not good enough.
You don't cut the mustard,buddy.
You understand now.
(24:49):
You're never going to be anastronaut, right?
Man?
That's horrible, but it goteven worse when he continued.
You need to understand thatyou're too old.
Now You're past the window.
Nasa doesn't accept astronautsat your age.
It's no longer highlyimprobable.
It's now impossible.
(25:09):
There's absolutely no wayyou're ever going to be an
astronaut.
That's it.
Not a chance in the world.
The dream was over, believe itor not.
It got even worse than that.
It got worse when he continued.
Mike, for over a decade we'vebeen trying to tell you you're
(25:29):
not good enough to be anastronaut.
For over a decade, you've beencontinuing to work towards that
foolhardy goal instead ofworking your career for your
career progression and doing theright career moves.
You need to do an about faceimmediately or you're going to
lose your job here at NASA.
(25:50):
Mike was completely devastated.
Keep in mind, guys, this is mybrother we're talking about here
.
Okay, this isn't something Iread about or heard about.
This is my brother, and mybrother, who I love, was
completely devastated.
His lifelong dream was nolonger improbable.
(26:11):
It was now impossible.
That was the end.
Not every story has a happyending, but we can learn from it
.
And when I found out that Mikewas going for it again, even
when it was completelyimpossible, impossible, I called
(26:33):
him up and I told him I want tomake sure you understand
something, mike, I don't care.
And I told him I want to makesure you understand something,
mike, I don't care, I don't careif you make astronaut.
I could not care less.
I don't care, because there'sno way in the world I could be
more proud of you than I amright now.
God, I get emotional even doingthis recording.
God, I get emotional even doingthis recording.
(26:57):
And we got the phone call.
He knew right away by the toneof the voice on the other side
of the line when the guy saidMike, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
14 years of trying, 14 years ofhopes and dreams, of prayers
and devastation, 14 years oftears and falling down and
getting back up again, to bekilled with two words I'm sorry.
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I'm sorry when Mike was ingrade school.
In grade school he got a bookon space and wrote in it someday
I will touch the stars.
In grade school, to be killedwith two words Mike, I'm sorry.
What the gentleman said nextliterally dropped Mike to his
knees when he said Mike, I'msorry, you need to come clean
(27:42):
out your desk.
We try to tell you you nolonger work here.
You no longer work here becauseyou've been selected to be a US
(28:04):
astronaut.
He did it.
Mike not only went up in spaceonce, he went up three times.
The third time he stayed forsix months as the commander of
the International Space Station.
Get this.
Mike is currently number 12 inUS history for number of hours
walking in space.
You remember that man who saidwe'd never grow up to be
(28:26):
anything?
Well, we do too, and it's okay.
It's okay, but he probablystill has to bite his tongue
pretty much every day when hehears about Michael E Fossum
Middle School in McAllen, texas.
That's right.
My brother has a school namedafter him, the mighty Fossum
Falcons.
Isn't that amazing, see?
(28:47):
Mike failed over and over andover again and that's why he
succeeded.
Every time he failed, heactually succeeded because he
learned something from it eachtime and he applied that
knowledge and re-approached thesame challenge from a different
angle, with more experience,with more know-how, instead of
(29:08):
it wearing him down.
Listen to this.
Instead of it wearing him down,it made him stronger.
Muscle only grows by being torndown.
I want you to write that down.
Muscle only grows by being torndown.
We all hear about people'ssuccesses and yet we really see
what they went through to getthere.
(29:28):
Behind any glory, behind anyaccomplishment, is sweat and
exhaustion, tears and sorrow,disbelief and maybe even
depression.
So if you're going through anyof that at any point, I want you
to remember the path to successleads through failure.
It can't be avoided.
(29:50):
You don't want to avoid it.
It is the path to success.
You don't stay there, you don'twallow in it.
You look around long enough tolearn the lessons you're
supposed to learn from it andyou keep forging forward on your
path to success.
So now it's time for theself-examination portion.
It's time for the action step.
(30:12):
Do this when have you failed inthe past?
Seriously, think of some of thetimes you failed.
Was it temporary or permanent?
Who decided whether it wastemporary or permanent?
If you answered anything otherthan I did, I want you to go
(30:33):
back to the recording on excusesright now.
And what's holding you back inthe future.
What's going to hold you backin the future From now on?
When you failed, I don't wantyou to cry.
I want you to rejoice Right on.
I failed.
Everyone who has succeeded hasfailed.
So I'm on the right path.
(30:53):
I know there's a way.
There's always a way.
It merely becomes my job tofind that way.
I've eliminated one of thewrong solutions.
Now it's time to keepeliminating others until I find
the one that works.
I'm going to fail and fail andfail as many times as it takes
(31:13):
until I succeed.
And I'd like to leave you withone last thought as we end this
recording.
This is something I wrote aboutfailure after it knocked me
down several times and I keptgetting up until I succeeded.
If you don't mind, I'd like toshare it with you right now
(31:35):
Failure.
Failure is not something tocower from or fear.
Failure is not some great giantthat can overpower you and take
away your will to fight.
You will stand up strong in theface of failure and scream with
all of your courage and might.
You may have seized the moment,but you will not seize the day
(31:56):
as long as there is breath in mylungs and blood in my veins.
I have been given the power tosucceed and succeed I will.
You cannot conquer my hope.
You cannot smother my dreams.
I accept and I takeresponsibility for my actions or
inactions.
That gave you power temporarily.
(32:17):
Now I take back that powerbecause it's mine to wield and
no one else's.
I know you will follow me on myjourney to success, tempting me
to stumble and hoping that I do.
But if I fall, I will get upand press on.
If I rest, it will be only togain my strength for the next
mountain I must climb.
(32:37):
And if I look back to see you,it will only be to give me the
steel of will to press on, nomatter the obstacles you put in
my way.
I see you and I rebuke you.
Now get behind me so I may seemy way once again to victory.
When it comes to not embracingfailure, it's time to embrace it
(33:04):
.
It's time to love it.
It's time to blow that bolt.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
So that's it for today's episode of the Comeback
Chronicles.
It's time to blow that bolt toreach the pinnacle of success in
every area of your life.
Head over to terrielfawesomecomto pick up your free gifts and
so much more.
We'll see you next week on theComeback Chronicles podcast.
If you've been stuck in fear, self-doubt, your past
failures and you're ready tobreak through your comfort zones
to finally reach the pinnacleof success in every area of your
life, then this podcast is foryou.
Here's your host Terry L FossumL Fossum.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Bolt.
Number three that may have heldyou back in the past is not
embracing failure.
Now I'm not just talking aboutnot having a fear of failure.
I'm talking about somethingmuch further than that.
We already talked about fearsand all of that, but I'm talking
about actually learning to lovefailure, to be happy when you
(00:46):
fail, because then, and onlythen, are you on the right path.
Let's get started.
Calvin Coolidge once saidnothing in this world can take
the place of persistence.
Talent will not.
Nothing is more common thanunsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not.
(01:08):
Unrewarded genius is almost aproverb.
Education will not.
The world is full of educatedderelicts.
Persistence and determinationalone are omnipotent.
So let me ask you a questionwhat's the opposite of success?
What's the opposite of success?
Did you say failure?
(01:29):
Well, sure, most people do.
In fact, I went to a thesaurusand requested an antonym for
success, and the first thingthat came up was failure.
So I went a step further and Iasked for synonyms for failure,
and it came up with a whole listof scary things Disappointment,
letdown, catastrophe, bombfiasco, disaster, botch flop,
(01:51):
crash, collapse, even ruin.
But I'm here to tell you thatthis just isn't true.
Failure is not the opposite ofsuccess at all.
In fact, I'll go yet anotherstep and say that lack of
failure is the opposite ofsuccess at all.
In fact, I'll go yet anotherstep and say that lack of
failure is the opposite ofsuccess.
Let me say that again Lack offailure is the opposite of
(02:14):
success.
That's right.
Write that down if you're able.
It's that important.
In fact, every one of thosethings that I mentioned
disappointment, letdown, flop,etc.
Are absolutely critical tosuccess.
If you were able to bake asuccess pie, these would all be
ingredients.
Wait a minute, you say You'retrying to tell me that
(02:36):
disappointment, letdown,catastrophe, bomb fiasco,
disaster, botch, flop, crash,collapse, even ruin are
ingredients to success,absolutely Without question.
Thomas J Watson built IBM tothe behemoth that it is today.
I love his view on the subject.
Would you like me to give you aformula for success?
(02:59):
It's quite simple.
Really, double your rate offailure.
You are thinking of failure asthe enemy of success, but it
isn't at all.
You can be discouraged byfailure or you can learn from it
.
So go ahead and make mistakes.
Make all you can, because,remember, that's where you will
(03:19):
find success.
That's a pretty great quotefrom a pretty great man.
By the end of this recording,you're going to have a whole
different mindset on failure.
You're going to welcome failure.
You're going to be excitedabout failure.
In fact, if you're not failing,you're going to think that
something's wrong.
See, I believe there hasn'tbeen a single person in the
(03:41):
history of the world that hasaccomplished anything of
greatness without failingseveral times first.
Therefore, if you are notfailing, you're simply not on
your way to greatness.
The great Winston Churchillsaid success consists of walking
from failure to failure withoutloss of enthusiasm.
So if you are feeling fantastic, you're on your way to
(04:07):
greatness.
I did a solo backpacking tripdeep into the Arctic Circle.
Afterwards I came south andspent some time in the Yukon and
hung around some of the goldminers where the stories are
legendary about the man whoworked his claim, worked his
claim, worked his claim to noavail.
Finally, tired, filthy anddisgusted, he threw down his
(04:28):
pickaxe for the final time andhanded his deed to his neighbor,
saying it's all urine.
I've tried and tried.
There ain't no gold here.
I ain't gonna try no more.
Just after he walked away, hisneighbor picks up his pickaxe,
gives it a good swing anduncovered the biggest nugget
you've ever seen.
(04:48):
If only the previous ownerwould have given it just one
more swing, but he'll never knowhow close he came.
The Yukon and the businessworld is filled with stories of
people who gave up and failedand others who kept going and
succeeded.
Let me give you one of my many,many personal examples of
(05:10):
failing miserably.
While still an officer in theUnited States Air Force, I
started in direct sales.
I was terrible at it.
Imagine this my degree was inmechanical engineering Now
engineers aren't exactly knownfor our personalities, much less
sales skills, and my job in theAir Force was basically a
(05:31):
nuclear warfare officer.
What I had to sell, no onewanted.
But no, I decided I was goingto give direct sales a try.
To say I was terrible at it islike saying the Titanic suffered
a fender bender, but I went forit and failed miserably.
I would go two steps forwardand four steps back.
(05:52):
I had so many doors slammed tomy face that I had a permanent
nosebleed.
Okay, I heard the word no, somuch.
Well, I thought I was datingagain, but I kept trying and
kept trying and kept trying.
After months and months of hardwork and disappointments, I
finally got to the point wherethe income from my business was
more than I was making as anofficer in the Air Force.
(06:14):
Do you know what that meant forme?
Freedom Now, I loved my role inthe Air Force.
Do you know what that meant forme?
Freedom Now, I loved my role inthe Air Force.
I really did.
But I had some other ideas inmy head, of things I wanted to
accomplish and this would makeit possible for me.
Freedom I could finally resignmy commission and go full time
into my new business.
I could work toward my goalsand make my dreams come true.
(06:37):
I was there, I made it.
And then it happened Literallyovernight.
Literally overnight, I lostthree-fourths of my distribution
channels.
Literally overnight, I lostthree-fourths of my income that
went with them.
Literally overnight, all ofthat hard work, all that blood,
(07:00):
sweat and tears of months andmonths and months of hard work
completely went away.
I was devastated.
Look, obviously this isn't forme.
I thought.
Obviously I just don't havewhat it takes.
I've tried and I failed andtried and failed and tried and
(07:21):
failed.
When I finally got so close tomy goal, I could finally taste
it.
I fell down again.
I fell down hard.
There was tears, I'll admit it.
I wanted to quit.
I wanted to give it up once andfor all.
I don't have the energy left.
I'm done.
And then I remembered four wordsthat kept me going.
(07:43):
Four words gave me the strengthto keep going.
Words may be the most powerfulthing in the world, because
words cause emotion and emotioncauses actions, sometimes
superhuman actions, sometimes inthe simplest of ways.
Those four words caused me toget back up.
(08:05):
These four words caused me tobrush myself off and simply get
up one more time, because that'sthe whole secret to success,
isn't it?
To get up just one more time,then you're knocked down.
To get up just one more time,then you're knocked down.
That's the whole secret tosuccess.
(08:28):
To get up just one more time,then you're knocked down.
And what were those four littlewords, those four life-changing
words?
Get ready, here they are.
This too shall pass, that'sright.
(08:49):
This too shall pass.
Four simple words, but fourincredibly powerful words if you
believe in them.
See, those four simple wordsreminded me that, no matter how
bad things are, that no matterhow bad things are, they will
pass.
The pain will eventually ease.
Circumstances will change ifyou make them change and you,
(09:10):
and only you, have the power todo so.
Keep on failing until yousucceed.
If you've ever been in aposition of deep pain, of deep
discouragement, of thedepression that comes with the
disappointment, you know that itdoesn't feel like it will ever
change.
At the time it feels like yoursituation is permanent, like
it's never going to change.
(09:30):
But it will.
If you decide it will.
If you decide it won't, itwon't.
If you decide you're going towallow in self-pity about how
things didn't work out, thenunderstand this You're making
the decision to be powerless,but you have in you more power
(09:52):
than even you know.
I found that out for myself onthe coldest backpacking trip I
have ever been on.
It was wintertime in the greatnorthwest, with severe cold
warnings.
Stay inside.
The news said it's going todrop into the sub-zero
temperature range, especially inthe higher elevations.
(10:12):
It's very dangerous to beoutside.
It's going to be in thedouble-digit sub-zero
temperature range.
Now most people were smartenough to stay indoors.
I went backpacking.
I drove my four-wheel drive asfar up into the mountains as I
could and then throw on mysnowshoes and backpack from
there.
With the severe cold I packedan especially heavy pack and was
(10:34):
completely exhausted a shortways into the trip.
I had to keep going, thoughthere was no level ground on the
side of the mountain I wasclimbing and the side of the
mountain wasn't my goal.
Anyway, the top was.
So I kept going and kept going,each step even worse than the
one before it, literallyscreaming out as I tried to lift
(10:56):
my heavy burden over theobstacles in the way.
Literally screaming out.
When I finally reached the top,hours later, I completely
collapsed.
I didn't take my backpack off,I didn't take my snowshoes off,
I just collapsed into the deepsnow.
I couldn't move a muscle, evenbreathing was difficult,
(11:16):
Seriously.
And then then I looked over themountain range across from me
and I saw there was a severeblizzard going on.
And as I watched it in myexhaustion, laying there in the
snow, I realized the worst casescenario was about to happen.
The blizzard was heading righttowards me where, moments before
(11:37):
, I didn't think I had anotherounce of energy left.
Suddenly I knew I could findmore.
I had to find more.
I had no choice.
My survival instincts clickedin and I knew I had to have
shelter or I could very easilydie.
I used what I now knew was mylast sparks of energy to find a
way to construct my tent, tryingto make it ready for the
(11:59):
impending storm.
Painstakingly, I set it up andsecured it strongly to the trees
around me so it could withstandthe winds and dumping snow that
a blizzard can bring.
Now I was really done,completely drained.
Nothing left, that's it, exceptthat if I didn't have a fire,
it was going to be a long, cold,lonely night.
(12:22):
Now there isn't that muchsunlight in the dead of winter,
making the nights long to beginwith.
But nights seem especially darkwhen you're by yourself in the
mountains and the temperatureswould be well below zero.
Tonight I could stay in mysleeping bag for you know, lots
of hours the long night as itturned into a cold day, or I
could try to do something aboutit.
(12:44):
Okay, maybe I can squeeze alittle energy out of somewhere,
but I certainly didn't knowwhere I'd really like a fire
Fire.
Okay, there's a problem here.
Nearly any wood supply iscovered by about three feet of
snow.
Anything sticking up above thesnow was covered in heavy frost
(13:05):
and frozen solid, making itnearly impossible to light.
Okay, I know the problems.
It's time to look for thesolutions.
I used my backpacking saw to cutanything I could find and dug
through the snow to try to findmore.
I cut off the outside bark, thewet bark, to try to reach the
dry wood beneath it.
Rather adept at starting a firewith flint and steel, I got to
(13:27):
work and work and work.
See, fire needs three things tostart Oxygen Okay, it's a
little light up here.
I'm pretty high up in theelevation, but it's good enough
to start a fire.
Second, fuel, such as wood.
Well, all of my fuel iswaterlogged and frozen, but it's
all I've got, and if I'm goingto start a fire I need to make
(13:50):
it work.
Third, heat Heat.
Okay, crap, it's way below zeroup here.
That makes it very hard tostart a fire, but hard means
it's possible, so let's figureout a way.
So I finally gave up the switchfrom flint and steel and went to
(14:10):
matches.
That should work.
Okay, nope, that did not work.
But I always carry a lighter.
Let's use that.
Nope, that didn't work either.
I hate using fire starters.
That's cheating to me, but Icarry some with me in my pack
for an emergency situation.
This was reaching that point.
So I finally broke down andused one of those.
Not even that was working.
(14:32):
Nothing was catching thiswaterlogged, frozen wood on fire
, so I used another fire starter, and another, and another.
I tried every method I knew andnothing was working.
So, completely exhausted andusing absolutely the last ounce
of any energy reserves that Itruly had in my body, I finally
(14:56):
collapsed in the snow by my cold, lifeless fire lay.
That was it.
I'd done the last strike.
It was going to be a long, coldnight, cold days up in those
mountains, and the fire started.
It started.
I couldn't believe it.
(15:16):
I was absolutely blown away.
See, all my efforts had driedout the wood.
I didn't realize I was makingprogress with each failure.
Let me say that again, I didn'trealize I was making progress
with each failure.
It didn't seem like I wasmaking progress with each
failure.
I certainly couldn't see anypositive results, just me
failing and failing and failingagain.
(15:37):
That's all I saw.
But each time I tried, I wasreally making progress by drying
out the wood a little bit more,a little bit more, a little bit
more.
Each time I failed I wasgetting a little bit closer to
success.
And that last tiny bit of flame, that last bit of energy I had,
was enough to start it up.
(15:58):
Okay, that and a lot of prayer,not necessarily in that order.
If I had stopped one more timebefore that, I wouldn't have
succeeded.
Everything I tried failed untilit succeeded.
Each failure led to another one, and that failure led to
another, and to another, and toanother, until eventually they
(16:22):
led to success.
Keep on failing until yousucceed.
Another difference between thesuccessful people and the
unsuccessful people are that theunsuccessful ones see failure
as permanent and the successfulones well, they see it as
temporary.
If failure is permanent, whybother getting up?
(16:43):
Why bother trying again?
I failed, for goodness sake.
What I tried didn't work.
It can't be done.
No, maybe it can't be done theway you're doing it, but it can
be done.
It can be done if you decide itcan.
It will, because you get up onemore time than you're being
knocked down.
Keep on failing until yousucceed.
(17:05):
Now I told you how I had amajor setback in business and
lost three-fourths of mybusiness income overnight.
But you know what that's howbusiness is.
That's how success is.
My story isn't unique.
I wasn't part of a minoritythat didn't get it right the
first time.
(17:26):
I was part of the vast,overwhelming majority of people
that failed the first time andthe second, and on and on and on
.
But because I viewed thatfailure as temporary, on and on
and on.
But because I viewed thatfailure as temporary, had my
little pity party dusted myselfoff, got back to work.
I failed many more times andeventually succeeded, building
(17:47):
distribution channels literallyaround the globe.
I talk a lot about Bill Gatesbecause he's such a great
success story, but did you knowthat Bill Gates was actually a
failure?
That's right.
He was a failure, a terriblefailure.
He started a company calledTrafoData.
Ever heard of it?
No, and neither has anyone else.
(18:08):
Okay, well, one guy did.
One guy the guy who laughedBill Gates and his partner Paul
Allen, out of his office becausethe machine they were showing
him trying to sell him wouldn'teven work.
Now I take that back.
Bill Gates was absolutely not afailure.
Listen, his product was afailure, but he was not.
(18:32):
He didn't fail because he keptgoing.
If he would have given up onhis business altogether, picked
up a will work for food sign,well then maybe, but that's not
what Bill did, is it?
He got up one more time than hewas knocked down.
He kept on failing until hesucceeded.
Abraham Lincoln may be one ofthe biggest failures in US
(18:55):
political history.
He lost his job, he had anervous breakdown, he went to
war a captain and returned alowly private.
He failed nine times inpolitics alone.
But guess what?
He tried ten times and thattenth time made him one of the
most known.
One of the greatest presidentsin the history of our country.
(19:19):
Was Abraham Lincoln a failure?
Hardly, he could have been, buthe chose not to.
He chose to get up one moretime than he was knocked down.
Henry Ford lost everything onfive different business ventures
lost everything.
Vince Lombardi, one of thegreatest coaches in history, was
(19:41):
told that he possesses minimalfootball knowledge and lacks
motivation.
The founder of FedEx, fred Smith, outlined his entire business
plan in a college paper, forwhich he received a C, and was
told, and I quote the concept isinteresting and well-informed,
but in order to earn better thana C grade, your ideas also have
(20:04):
to be feasible.
How about them apples?
One of the greatest basketballplayers of all times, michael
Jordan, admits I've missed morethan 9,000 shots in my career.
I've lost almost 300 games.
26 times I've been entrusted totake the game-winning shot and
missed.
I have failed over and over andover again in my life and
(20:28):
that's why I succeed.
I'm going to tell you one laststory here, but before I do, I
need to make sure you understandNot every story has a happy
ending, but we can learn from it.
Okay, let me say it again Notevery story has a happy ending,
but we can learn from it.
Okay, here we go.
(20:49):
You heard where I grew up andthat my brothers and I were
expected to never grow up to beanything, and that's the quote.
Well, my brother, mike, sentout to prove them right.
Well, he didn't mean to.
But not every story has a happyending.
Okay, so check this out.
(21:10):
He decided he wanted to be.
Are you ready for this?
Okay, here it goes.
He wanted to be an astronaut,that's right, an astronaut from
our neighborhood, heck, from ourfamily, our family, the Fossums
.
Okay, but get this.
He went for it.
Yeah, him and several thousandother people.
And guess what happened?
You're right, he didn't make it.
(21:33):
Yeah, go figure.
Remember, not every story has ahappy ending, but we can learn
from it.
He didn't make it.
So now he understands he's notgoing to be an astronaut, right,
pick door number two.
No see, he's the stubbornbrother.
So he actually tried for itagain, now understanding that
trying for it is actually atwo-year process.
(21:55):
It's not just sending NASA apostcard Dear NASA, I'd like to
be an astronaut.
No, it's two years of applying,obtaining a higher level degree
, rebuilding your resume evenfurther, going through the
mental testing, psychologicaltesting, the physical testing,
all of this to get your hopes upagain.
And guess what happened thistime?
Yep, he didn't make it,remember?
(22:18):
Not?
Every story is a happy ending.
So that's four years of failing.
Now, right, two years trying ittwice, four years of failing.
And I love telling this storyto high school classes and
asking them could you fail atsomething for four years
straight, your entire highschool career, and keep going?
Kind of puts it in perspective,doesn't it?
I'll ask you the same questionCould you continue to fail and
(22:42):
fail for four years straight andkeep going?
Well, now Mike finallyunderstands he's not going to be
an astronaut, right?
No, he goes for it again andfails.
So he goes for it again, andfails, and again, and fails, and
again.
Wow, how many years of failureis that?
(23:04):
Now let's see six times two.
12 years of failure.
12 years, and I've got to tellyou that that hurt.
It was terrible.
Imagine that each time, gettingyour hopes up, this was going
to be the time You're finallygoing to do it Hoping, praying,
picking yourself up from theground time and time again, all
(23:25):
of your friends watching,rooting for you, only to be
slammed down again for the 12thyear in a row.
Man, I can tell you that Mikeused to joke about not going
near a high place when he gotthe rejection letter or a phone
call or for fear of what hemight do.
(23:45):
I'm not sure he was joking,guys.
It was so horribly demoralizing.
And you know there was tears.
And you know there was tears.
And you know there wasdepression and maybe even anger.
How could there not be 12 yearsof going for this, only to be
shot down again?
(24:06):
I warned you from the beginningthat not every story has a
happy ending, but we can learnfrom it.
But it got worse.
It got worse when his friendfrom across the street made it.
Someone who hadn't been goingfor it for nearly as long as
Mike not nearly as long made itParty going on across the street
(24:28):
, not at Mike's house.
But it got worse.
In fact, it got a lot worse.
It got a lot worse when Mike'sboss at NASA called him into his
office and said basically, mike, you understand now that you're
not going to be an astronaut,right?
We've been trying to tell youfor over a decade that you're
not good enough.
You don't cut the mustard,buddy.
You understand now.
(24:49):
You're never going to be anastronaut, right?
Man?
That's horrible, but it goteven worse when he continued.
You need to understand thatyou're too old.
Now You're past the window.
Nasa doesn't accept astronautsat your age.
It's no longer highlyimprobable.
It's now impossible.
(25:09):
There's absolutely no wayyou're ever going to be an
astronaut.
That's it.
Not a chance in the world.
The dream was over, believe itor not.
It got even worse than that.
It got worse when he continued.
Mike, for over a decade we'vebeen trying to tell you you're
(25:29):
not good enough to be anastronaut.
For over a decade, you've beencontinuing to work towards that
foolhardy goal instead ofworking your career for your
career progression and doing theright career moves.
You need to do an about faceimmediately or you're going to
lose your job here at NASA.
(25:50):
Mike was completely devastated.
Keep in mind, guys, this is mybrother we're talking about here
.
Okay, this isn't something Iread about or heard about.
This is my brother, and mybrother, who I love, was
completely devastated.
His lifelong dream was nolonger improbable.
(26:11):
It was now impossible.
That was the end.
Not every story has a happyending, but we can learn from it
.
And when I found out that Mikewas going for it again, even
when it was completelyimpossible, impossible, I called
(26:33):
him up and I told him I want tomake sure you understand
something, mike, I don't care.
And I told him I want to makesure you understand something,
mike, I don't care, I don't careif you make astronaut.
I could not care less.
I don't care, because there'sno way in the world I could be
more proud of you than I amright now.
God, I get emotional even doingthis recording.
God, I get emotional even doingthis recording.
(26:57):
And we got the phone call.
He knew right away by the toneof the voice on the other side
of the line when the guy saidMike, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
14 years of trying, 14 years ofhopes and dreams, of prayers
and devastation, 14 years oftears and falling down and
getting back up again, to bekilled with two words I'm sorry.
(27:19):
I'm sorry when Mike was ingrade school.
In grade school he got a bookon space and wrote in it someday
I will touch the stars.
In grade school, to be killedwith two words Mike, I'm sorry.
What the gentleman said nextliterally dropped Mike to his
knees when he said Mike, I'msorry, you need to come clean
(27:42):
out your desk.
We try to tell you you nolonger work here.
You no longer work here becauseyou've been selected to be a US
(28:04):
astronaut.
He did it.
Mike not only went up in spaceonce, he went up three times.
The third time he stayed forsix months as the commander of
the International Space Station.
Get this.
Mike is currently number 12 inUS history for number of hours
walking in space.
You remember that man who saidwe'd never grow up to be
(28:26):
anything?
Well, we do too, and it's okay.
It's okay, but he probablystill has to bite his tongue
pretty much every day when hehears about Michael E Fossum
Middle School in McAllen, texas.
That's right.
My brother has a school namedafter him, the mighty Fossum
Falcons.
Isn't that amazing, see?
(28:47):
Mike failed over and over andover again and that's why he
succeeded.
Every time he failed, heactually succeeded because he
learned something from it eachtime and he applied that
knowledge and re-approached thesame challenge from a different
angle, with more experience,with more know-how, instead of
(29:08):
it wearing him down.
Listen to this.
Instead of it wearing him down,it made him stronger.
Muscle only grows by being torndown.
I want you to write that down.
Muscle only grows by being torndown.
We all hear about people'ssuccesses and yet we really see
what they went through to getthere.
(29:28):
Behind any glory, behind anyaccomplishment, is sweat and
exhaustion, tears and sorrow,disbelief and maybe even
depression.
So if you're going through anyof that at any point, I want you
to remember the path to successleads through failure.
It can't be avoided.
(29:50):
You don't want to avoid it.
It is the path to success.
You don't stay there, you don'twallow in it.
You look around long enough tolearn the lessons you're
supposed to learn from it andyou keep forging forward on your
path to success.
So now it's time for theself-examination portion.
It's time for the action step.
(30:12):
Do this when have you failed inthe past?
Seriously, think of some of thetimes you failed.
Was it temporary or permanent?
Who decided whether it wastemporary or permanent?
If you answered anything otherthan I did, I want you to go
(30:33):
back to the recording on excusesright now.
And what's holding you back inthe future.
What's going to hold you backin the future From now on?
When you failed, I don't wantyou to cry.
I want you to rejoice Right on.
I failed.
Everyone who has succeeded hasfailed.
So I'm on the right path.
(30:53):
I know there's a way.
There's always a way.
It merely becomes my job tofind that way.
I've eliminated one of thewrong solutions.
Now it's time to keepeliminating others until I find
the one that works.
I'm going to fail and fail andfail as many times as it takes
(31:13):
until I succeed.
And I'd like to leave you withone last thought as we end this
recording.
This is something I wrote aboutfailure after it knocked me
down several times and I keptgetting up until I succeeded.
If you don't mind, I'd like toshare it with you right now
(31:35):
Failure.
Failure is not something tocower from or fear.
Failure is not some great giantthat can overpower you and take
away your will to fight.
You will stand up strong in theface of failure and scream with
all of your courage and might.
You may have seized the moment,but you will not seize the day
(31:56):
as long as there is breath in mylungs and blood in my veins.
I have been given the power tosucceed and succeed I will.
You cannot conquer my hope.
You cannot smother my dreams.
I accept and I takeresponsibility for my actions or
inactions.
That gave you power temporarily.
(32:17):
Now I take back that powerbecause it's mine to wield and
no one else's.
I know you will follow me on myjourney to success, tempting me
to stumble and hoping that I do.
But if I fall, I will get upand press on.
If I rest, it will be only togain my strength for the next
mountain I must climb.
(32:37):
And if I look back to see you,it will only be to give me the
steel of will to press on, nomatter the obstacles you put in
my way.
I see you and I rebuke you.
Now get behind me so I may seemy way once again to victory.
When it comes to not embracingfailure, it's time to embrace it
(33:04):
.
It's time to love it.
It's time to blow that bolt.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
So that's it for today's episode of the Comeback
Chronicles.
It's time to blow that bolt toreach the pinnacle of success in
every area of your life.
Head over to terrielfawesomecomto pick up your free gifts and
so much more.
We'll see you next week on theComeback Chronicles podcast.
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