A Message of Encouragement & Hope

You are enough and you can achieve.

Today I want to take some time to give a message of encouragement and hope. It simultaneously is a message of patience and perseverance. The biggest obstacle to our success is discouragement. When we become discouraged, we lose hope. We stop trying. We give up. We allow the status quo to be enough because we don’t believe we can have anything more, do anything more, be anything more. These are lies.

The truth is you are more than enough to overcome all of life’s challenges. You have unbelievably deep wells of talent, knowledge, and contributions that just need your unending faith and willingness to keep trying in order to reach their full maturity. Nothing steals our sense of self like failing. It was Thomas Edison who said, “I haven’t failed. I’ve just discovered 10,000 ways that won’t work.” We have to know this truth for ourselves.

Lucky is the person who gets it exactly right the first time or enjoys immediate success. Those people aren’t the norm though; they’re the exception. For the rest of us, we must continue to press forward, stay encouraged, and recognize that things take time.

For consideration, let’s take a look at some of the individuals/entities I look to for inspiration when I’m feeling disappointed or discouraged.

Stephen King

Stephen King’s hit novel Carrie was rejected by publishers 30 times before someone realized his talent. If after the third rejection, Stephen had just said, I’m clearly not good at this, I’ll just stay a high school English teacher, then we wouldn’t have classics like Misery, The Shining, or The Green Mile. That’s right, even if you haven’t read his books, you know these titles because many of his books have been made into movies.

Lesson: If someone can’t see your genius, it doesn’t mean you’re not a genius; it just means they can’t see. Find someone who can.

Walt Disney

From Walt we learn that things don’t always go according to plan, but we can still find success. Walt’s high school dream of becoming a newspaper cartoonist was disrupted by World War I, which saw him driving an emergency vehicle for the American Red Cross overseas. He eventually started a small film studio, which was forced to file bankruptcy a year later after Walt was cheated by a business associate.

In a happy turn of events, Alice in Cartoonland, produced under Walt’s bankrupt production house, gained traction, and Walt was motivated to try again. He and his brother relocated to Hollywood where they continued production of the Alice series. A few years and a few small successes later, they joined the pioneer movement for sound in animated films with the introduction of Mickey Mouse, and the rest is history.

Lesson: Life does not always go according to plan. It’s the equivalent of a detour. The journey may be longer, but as long as you’re able to stay on a path that is taking you where you want to go, keep moving forward.

FedEx (Federal Express)

I read about FedEx’s inspiring rise from the ashes during a college case study. At one point, this shipping behemoth was a day away from filing bankruptcy., and look at them now, my favorite shipping company.

FedEx was founded on an idea that Fred Smith wrote about in a college term paper, that shipping could be done more efficiently en masse and generate profit. His professor didn’t think the idea was feasible and graded the paper a C (there’s that theme of people not being able to see your genius. It means nothing, and should stop nothing).

Fred proceeded with the idea in 1973, successfully raising $80 million in funding from loans and investments. While business was booming, fuel prices increased, which left FedEx in terrible debt. Fred tried to raise additional capital, but met rejection at every turn. En route back from a failed pitch for more funding, Fred stopped off in Las Vegas with the company’s remaining $5,000. Fred’s mindset was that if the company went under, it wasn’t going to be for a lack of trying on his part.

Fred won $27,000 in Vegas, which he wired back to FedEx. It was enough to keep the company going in the short term while Fred pursued additional funding (it was still the 1970’s so a dollar went a long way). With renewed confidence, Fred was able to raise $11 million, and within a few years FedEx’s profits reached $75 million. Two years later in 1978, they launched their IPO as a publicly traded company.

Lesson: While I don’t love that Fred took the company’s money to Las Vegas, I do love his ALL IN energy. When we approach things with the expectation that we’ll fail, or even a willingness to accept failure, then we aren’t setting ourselves up to succeed. It’s very I’ll do everything I can to keep this ship afloat, but if it sinks, I’ll be on it energy and that’s what we need—to be 100% fully committed and willing to do whatever it takes (within the limits of the law) again and again and again.

I’ll wrap things up with a quote from Albert Einstein, “You haven’t failed until you stop trying.” Never give up on yourself, your ideas, your dreams, or your ability to accomplish whatever you desire. There remains hope, because you remain determined. Press on. You can achieve.