We remember inventors, explorers, and entrepreneurs by their successes instead of by their persistence in the face of uncertainty. The common elements that unite these groups is their willingness to take calculated risks and the perseverance to persist in spite of seeming failure. None of them went into any endeavor with the intent to fail but neither was success guaranteed. They knew the risks and were not deterred, ultimately they succeeded one more time than they failed. In our haste to obtain success can we afford to overlook the process that brought it about.
Today, we attempt to isolate ourselves from risk as much as possible while looking with distrust toward those who are willing to leave the refuge of certitude for an uncertain reward. From the vantage point of the past tense, we conveniently forget that those who altered our history, left their impact on industry, and shaped our culture did not foreknow the outcome of their actions.
Would history remember men like Marco Polo, Columbus, or Lewis and Clark if they had not dared to venture into the unknown. Whether pilgrim or pioneer, it was unnamed common people who risked everything to better themselves. Civilization followed the trails they blazed. What of the inventors like Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright brothers, and Thomas Edison who succeeded where others failed because they refused to qui? In the political realm, can we ignore men like Abraham Lincoln who overcame a string of failures to become president or Winston Churchill whose perseverance gave a beleaugered Engalnd the will to outlast the destruction of a dictator’s war machine? What of the entrepreneurs, both the infamous and the ignonimous, who made their fortunes through risk and then risked their fortunes again in order to increase them? Massive corporations were birthed into existence through the travail of those individuals who nurtured them through their humble beginnings. In every case, success was the indirect result of the persistence of individuals willing to take necessary risks.
By focusing only on obvious success and overlooking the process that included apparent failure we succumb to an unrealistic expectation that we are supposed to succeed without setback.
Perhaps then the destination is not as important as the journey.
About the Author
Jim Henderson is currently employed in the field of environmental regulatory compliance. He enjoys writing as a past time and has had several articles published in various on-line publications.