He wasn’t good enough to make his high school basketball team, yet he became one of the greatest to ever play the sport.
Michael Jordan, first a failure… and then a massive success.
The other players chosen over Michael Jordan didn’t come close to accomplishing anything near what Michael Jordan did in terms of basketball.
This is one of the most famous stories ever told about Michael Jordan and it contains one of the most valuable lessons, not in basketball but… in life and in business.
It’s a lesson you can easily apply in your life and business today.
Our biggest lessons are learned in failure, not victory.
You won’t find a book, a course or a university education that will teach you the REAL lessons of winning like failure can.
If Michael Jordan would have made his high school basketball team he wouldn’t be the same person we know today.
He may have not even made it to the pros or had the legendary career he did in the NBA.
His failure put a chip on his shoulder to become one of the best to ever play the game.
He even talked about his failure in his Hall of Fame acceptance speech decades later.
This failure showed him that he needed to get better and that there was a price to pay.
See, that’s the thing. Oftentimes we think we have all the skills and abilities to become successful but failure will humble you and show you what skills and abilities you still need to master and refine.
With this, he reassessed his work ethic. His skills. His drive. His grit…
…and he placed that chip firmly on his shoulder and went into practice like a man possessed.
Victory wouldn’t have done this for him.
Failure is the launching pad for all who have seen massive success.
I share this with you because failure is part of the road to being a successful entrepreneur and leader.
But only if you get back up, humble yourself and do the required work, and put in the time to level up.
It’s just part of the job description. It’s what you signed up for.
Anyone who thinks that they DESERVE success because they’ve put in the time to learn, research, understand the industry, and the customer’s needs is a damn fool.
Without failure, at several points throughout the journey, you will never succeed.
That’s a fundamental fact and it’s how you’re tested by the universe to see if you’re really deserving of success.
It’s okay to fail. Just make sure you’re failing forward.
Bedros