Every single person who walks on this Earth has a plan or a set of goals that they want to achieve within their lifetime. So, while one individual might want to be a pilot, the other might have a plan to help people by eventually becoming a doctor. However, even though you can plan out your entire life, there is no goal that anyone has ever achieved without facing several different obstacles or even failures. In fact, there are countless amounts of prominently successful people who had to deal with a lot of failed attempts before they were able to achieve their plan in life. One of the best examples of someone incredibly famous who had several failed attempts is none other than Abraham Lincoln. That’s right, Abraham Lincoln, who brought America out of the civil war, was known to have failed a bunch of times before he finally succeeded. He was always able to let get of failure and came back. Next time you are disappointed and life’s not working out for you as you expected, take a look at Abraham Lincoln’s life:
1.0 1816 – 1831
1816: Had to work to support his family as they were forced out of their home. He was 7 years old.
1818: His mother past away.
1831: Failed in business.
You know him as one of the greatest leaders in history, but he really went through A LOT of failures before getting there. So, even though Abraham Lincoln had not even stepped into the world of politics and leadership yet, he already had a really rocky start. In fact, he had to combat the poverty that he was born into and rise through the ranks without the support of anyone else. So, this timeline within Abraham Lincoln’s life should inspire every single underprivileged human to work hard and while no one deserves their underprivileged background, they shouldn’t give up hope and quit just like Abraham Lincoln didn’t quit.
“My great concern is not
~ Abraham Lincoln ~
whether you have failed,
but whether you are
content with your failure.”
2.0 1834 – 1836
1834: Ran for state legislature again – won.
1835: Was engaged and about to be married, fiancée died and he was devastated.
1836: Had a complete nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
Don’t have the perfect relationship? Lincoln was about to marry the love of his life, then she died tragically. Going through a rough patch? Lincoln didn’t leave his bed for 6 months due to a total meltdown. So, not only did Lincoln have to deal with failed attempts within his political and professional life, but he also had to deal with some heartbreaking failures within his personal life. Even though Lincoln went through an emotional meltdown and even though he was unable to leave his bed for six months straight, he still did not give up. There is an incredible lesson to learn through this timeline as well, that is, while there will come a time when you will feel demotivated to even get out of bed, you still should not lose hope as you are always destined to do great things that you may not even be aware of in your current state. This difficult timeline within his life can easily inspire you to always push yourself no matter what even in the face of adversity. In fact, it can also show you that while one part of your life might be progressing, the other parts of your life could be completely demolished, which is the very nature of life. So, it is important to mourn your losses but also get up and fulfill the role that you worked so hard for.
“When you reach
~ Abraham Lincoln ~
the end of your rope,
tie a knot and hang on.”
“I am a slow walker,
~ Abraham Lincoln ~
but I never walk back.”
3.0 1838 – 1854
1838 Tried to become speaker of the state legislature – defeated.
1840 Tried to become elector – defeated.
1843 Ran for Congress – lost.
Well, I think you get the idea…
1846: Ran for Congress again – won this time.
1848: Ran for congress re-election – lost.
1849: Ran for land officer in his home state – rejected.
1854: Ran for United States Senate – lost.
Don’t worry, more Lincoln defeats are on the way. So, even though just 2 years after Abraham Lincoln won his first political race ever, he still had to face several other failures, that too, within the same field. This signifies that even though you might win or achieve one of your goals, that still does not mean that you are now on a trajectory towards your plan and goals that is free of any and every obstacle. So, the only way in which Abraham Lincoln was able to achieve his set of goals, particularly after so many repeated failed attempts, was through persistence and consistent hard work, which essentially means that he never quit. In fact, out of the seven goals that he pursued, Abraham Lincoln only achieved one of those goals. There is an incredible lesson to learn from this, which is that, you should never base your worth and significance within this world on how many goals you failed to achieve, rather, you should wait for the bigger picture and in the end, look back at all that you have achieved.
“If I am killed, I can die but once;
~ Abraham Lincoln ~
but to live in constant dread of it,
is to die over and over again.”
4.0 1856 – 1860
1856: Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party’s national convention – got less than 100 votes.
1858: Ran for U.S. Senate again – lost again.
1860: Elected president of the United States.
So, 44 years and nine failed attempts later, Abraham Lincoln was finally able to become the president of America. In fact, he wasn’t just any other president but one that guided America through an intense moral and constitutional crisis. Despite having 9 failed attempts throughout several different years and phases in his life, he is still a figure that every single individual can look up to. In fact, once he was elected as the president, it was then that he truly showed what a valuable asset he is to the entirety of America.
And this is the 16th President of the USA.
He was born into poverty, lost his mom in a young age, tried to get into law school but failed, went bankrupt a couple of times and had big debts, his fiancée died tragically, he got fired from his job, lost 8 different elections, and he never quit.
He could have quit many times, but he didn’t.
Lincoln never quit.
And that is why he is one of the greatest leaders in history.
“I will prepare and someday
~ Abraham Lincoln ~
my chance will come.”
5.0 How We All Can Draw Inspiration From Abraham Lincoln
It does not matter what goal you have in mind or even what plan you may have for yourself, you can always look at the life story of Abraham Lincoln and draw inspiration from it. In fact, this might be that very sign that you need to stay persistent and not give up. So, even if you have more failed attempts than successful attempts that still does not mean that you are a failure. Such is the case with Abraham Lincoln. You can even look at it as those failures guiding you towards your path towards success. So, this is exactly why it is so important for you to never quit as Abraham Lincoln’s failures guided him towards his true purpose, which was to become the president of America. It is only because Abraham Lincoln didn’t quit that he was able to ease the civil unrest in America. So, it is only through your failed attempts that you will be guided towards your true purpose within this existing society. This is exactly why it is so vital for all us to draw inspiration from Abraham Lincoln and his persistence and consistency that never allowed him to quit his journey towards political success.
All in all, your failures are not what defines who you are and your importance, but what does define it is, everything that you have been able to achieve despite all those obstacles and seemingly hopeless times. So, who knows what you might be able to achieve once you embark on your journey towards success and change your perspective towards your meaning of failed attempts, which you can now view as guidance than failure.
And like a black swan that can transform your life, the fact that you haven’t seen it yet doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
