There is a quote I love and have hung onto from the very moment I heard it probably eight years ago now. It comes from Napoleon Hill and he says “Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent benefit.” Failure is not failure unless you give up. I believe that failure is apart of being successful and moreover, necessary to achieve great things in this life.  All of the great business leaders I have ever read about have experienced troubles and failures that would send most people to the grave. The reason they rose to the top is because the failures sharpened them, the failures refined them, the failures strengthened them and while a given project or business idea may have gone bad, may not have worked, they never viewed themselves as failures and on the contrary they used those experiences to make them better. While life put immense pressure on them, they pushed back and they grew stronger, they grew mightier and they grew smarter. Those who don’t see this are those that never pass the test. They stay at the bottom and they just never figure it out. We simply cannot be promoted unless we pass the test we are in at this stage in our lives.

I believe that every situation that looks like failure, that looks like tragedy, that looks hopeless is an opportunity to shine, an opportunity to overcome. An opportunity to allow life to test us, to strengthen us, to make us better. It’s a system and there are rules in every system. You cannot win the game unless you know the rules. Through every trial we have, we can learn a lot. Educations are expensive. Go to Harvard’s website or Yale’s website. Call Stanford and ask them how much a good one costs. Every failure is a great education that is going to make you smarter and will help you do better on the next project, your next business, your next investment. It may be costly but good educations are! Every time you get smarter. Those who know this have an incredible advantage in life. It is this that separates the achievers from the bottom feeders. A Harvard degree will get you a six-figure income. Business or real estate educations will give you an unlimited income!

If you have tried and failed, I personally say “Good for you.” You took on a risk knowing it could take you down financially but as my business partner Joel Thompson once said to me “As life goes on, you’re hardly ever regretful when you decided to do something, only when you decided not to.” One of my mentors Robert Kiyosaki says, “If you’re going to go down, take the bank with you. Don’t fool around with duplexes!” Donald Trump has filed bankruptcy twice on casino’s he owns. The bank won’t even talk to you if they are foreclosing on a few small rental homes but let’s see how hard everyone works on cleaning up a mess dealing with multi millions for you. Ha, different story! Who’s in the driver’s seat now? Ahhh… the ones who stepped out, who faced fear straight on, who took on more than they thought capable, who stood up tall and didn’t ever give up!

Good for you I say. Keep on keeping on!! Robert Kennedy said that “Only those who dare fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” You know, if you’re not failing every now and then, its probably a good sign you’re not really doing anything. Victory comes after many struggles and defeats. Each time it’s an opportunity to move forward, to keep on keeping on, to decide not to ever give up. Turn away from your failures, avoid them and you throw away your fortune. Napoleon Hill said, “Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” Whatever you do, do not give up. Don’t let your pride get in the way because you are afraid of failure. The people who make the most mistakes make the most money. Thomas Edison failed at ten thousand experiments when he was trying to invent the light bulb. Are you willing to fail ten thousand times before you find your dream?

Understand today that failure is a pre requisite to your success. Understand today that your greatest achievement is one step past your greatest failure. Understand today that those who are willing to fail are those that are preparing themselves for glory, preparing themselves for greatness and preparing themselves to take on the responsibility of success that they will soon know. Dale Carnegie said that “The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.”

Your success today is hiding in your greatest challenges. Step up to them, take charge of them, learn from them and you will find your dreams handed to you on a silver platter, wrapped in the finest silk and made with the purest gold. Dare to dream!