HOW TO MANAGE TEMPORARY DEFEAT

For us to always scale through every form of defeats and make a mark in this world there is usually a form of education we need. This education can only exist in the “University of Hard Knocks”; its levels/classes consist of various turning points in one’s life, which is a mix of bitter and sweet experiences and it is the only university that we never graduate from till death.

Napoleon Hill in his statement, said my experiences have led me to the belief that the “dumb language” of defeats is the plainest and most effective language in the world, once one begins to understand it. It is a universal language in which nature cries out to us when we will listen to no other language.

Defeat is a destructive force only when it is accepted as failure. When accepted as a teaching some lessons, it is always a blessing.

There can be no failure for the man who “still fights on”.  A man has never failed until he accepts temporary defeats as failure. There is a wide difference between temporary defeats and failure:

I believe that failure is Nature’s plan through which she hurdle-jumps men of destiny and prepares them to do their work. Failure is nature’s great crucible in which she burns the dross from the human heart and so purifies the metal of the man that it can stand the test of hard usage.

If you go back in time, the so-called failures of the past (from Socrates to Christopher Columbus to Thomas Paine and even Jesus Christ) meant more to human race than all the so called success records in the history of the world.

Always remember that the wheels are always turning. If it brings us sorrows today, it will bring us joy tomorrow. Life is a cycle of varying events – fortune and misfortunes. We can’t stop the wheel of fate from turning, but we can modify the misfortune it brings us by remembering that good fortune would follow, just as surely as night follows day. If we only keep faith with ourselves and earnestly (and /or honestly) do our best.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT TEMPORARY DEFEAT

Still on the topic temporary defeat, here are more things to know;

1. Always resisting the lesson of temporary defeat is leads to a habit of inertia i.e. when you get accustomed to doing things the same way which could lead to retrogression.

2. Strength, growth and ultimately success, comes only through continuous effort and struggle.

3. Not putting in enough effort into whatever you are doing could lead to atrophy and decay.

4. Always try to study and correctly interpret these causes which mark most vital turning points of your life; the points at which your effort was diverted from the old to the new channels in spite of all you can do. At least, refrain from accepting any defeat as failure, until you shall have time to analyze the final result.

The hand of fate, always test “the metal of which we are made” in various and sundry ways before placing great responsibilities upon our shoulders, therefore on your path through temporary defeats to success, remember that each turning point in a man’s life, carries him nearer and nearer to his “rainbow’s end”, and would bring him some vital knowledge, which would later become a permanent part of his life philosophies.

Just like Edward Bok stated, poverty is the richest experience that can come to a man, an experiment that which, however, he advices one to get away from as quick as possible. Also “temporary defeat” experience could be a rich one, but should be done with as soon as possible.

Most, if not all, of the temporary defeats that a man faces, is mainly due to the fact that he has not yet discovered the work into which he could put his heart and soul. Finding the work that for which one is best fitted is very much like finding the one person you love the best.

Men go down in permanent defeat or rise, with renewed energies to heights of attainment of stupendous proportions according to the manner in which they interpret their experiences and use these experiences as a basis of a working plan.

The height of your attainment is a function of the way you interpret and use your experiences on your journey to success.

SEE YOU AT THE TOP!!!!!

FAILURE AND TEMPORARY DEFEAT, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

What we usually call failure is usually temporary defeat. Thus it is important we know the difference between failure and temporary defeat.

Temporary defeat is nature’s own way of ensuring that every man does not achieve his goals or set objectives.  Nature is in a state of equilibrium, and for any man to make a change, it involves changing nature’s equilibrium and this would not happen without the application of a force (strong will/desire/passion).

We must most clearly note here that both success and failure are not events that happen to us, but rather, they are the processes that result from these events. The events on the pathway to success are called momentary victories, while that on the way to failure are temporary defeats.

Today’s (temporary) defeat is usually a blessing in disguise for the reason that it brings us up with a jerk and redirects our energies along different and more desirable lines.

We know that strength grows out of resistance, and that sound character is usually the handiwork of success, setbacks and temporary defeat, which the uninformed part of the world calls failure.

Neither temporary defeat nor adversity amounts to a failure in the mind of a person who looks up to it as a teacher that would teach some needed lesson.

Failure at times could be an unseen hand, that halts you in your chosen course and with great wisdom redirect your efforts along more advantageous pathways.

What most people call failure could just be a defeat which teaches a needed lesson to those who are willing to be taught.

From the popular saying, "the downfall of a man is not the end of his life", we can, therefore, conclude by likening every downfall as a temporary defeat while remaining on the ground after the fall (without any effort to rise back) is failing.

SEE YOU AT THE TOP!!!!!

ATTITUDE TOWARDS FAILURE

Our attitude towards every issue in life is a product of our individual philosophy of life.

Encarta dictionary defines philosophy as “a precept, or set of precepts, beliefs, principles, or aims, underlying somebody's practice or conduct”.

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is only a vision, but today well lived makes everyday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore to this day (The Sanscrist).

Let’s consider some quotes on failure that reflects the philosophy of great men;

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
― Thomas A. Edison

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
― Winston Churchill

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
― Winston Churchill

 “Life is full of screwups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human existance.”
― Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

“I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”
― Benjamin Franklin

 “All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
― Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho

 “Just because you fail once doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything.”
― Marilyn Monroe

  “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

 “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
― Robert F. Kennedy

“I'm done with those; regrets are an excuse for people who have failed.”
― Ned Vizzini, It's Kind of a Funny Story

 “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald

“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying. To the best you can do everyday.”
― Jason Mraz

A popular African proverb says and I paraphrase '' the downfall of a man is not the end of his life ''. 

What  most people call failure is just a 'downfall', they are actually temporary defeat.

I encourage you this moment to rise up to the task ahead with a resolve to succeed at all cost. Go out today and achieve that GOAL.