Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.
— Napoleon Hill
I think this is the best quote he ever said.
It took me a while to realize what he was saying, but it finally makes sense to me.
It is also one of the biggest success keys there is.
Let me explain this with a story:
In 2002, I was laid off from a tech job that I loved.
The market was down and tech had been hit really hard.
I was devastated and those types of jobs were not available anywhere at that time.
I looked elsewhere and was told by a family member that he was selling life insurance and he thought I could do it.
I had to get licensed by the state and so began studying and took the test.
I passed and got brokered with a good insurance company.
I started trying to build a clientele and had never done any kind of sales before.
Well, I was terrible.
I struggled with it for two years and while I developed some good habits, I never turned it into much of a career.
I gave up and went to sell cars.
I wasn’t as bad but I wasn’t good at selling cars either.
I quit that job after a few months.
Then I went into selling fake (knockoff) perfume.
I would literally travel to different cities and sell perfume and cologne out of my trunk.
It was terrible work and I was not good at first.
However, I got pretty good at it and I learned some very valuable things.
First of all, it hardened me to rejection.
After that job, I was more better at maneuvering through sales situations and not feeling so terrible when someone told me no.
I also came to realize that I could work much longer and harder than I believed I could.
Even when I was extremely tired I could be effective.
Ultimately, I got tired of selling fake perfume and looked to other avenues to make better money and find something more “stable”.
I worked in the oil field a couple of years before going into appliance repair and HVAC sales and service.
At this point, I had a mechanical and technical background as well as sales experience.
I started to experience amazing success in this new career choice.
I worked for a small, local company and was a huge part of its survival and growth in its early years as well as eventually becoming the top revenue earner for the company multiple years.
I was there ten years and was able to have great sales success while learning so much more during that time.
So what is the point of this story?
First of all, I never would have left that tech job if I hadn’t had the devastating layoff.
Secondly, I had to start and be bad at sales in order to push myself to learn and get better.
I watched successful salespeople.
I read sales books.
I practiced effective role-playing and techniques.
I learned and got to a point where I could get customers to buy high end HVAC equipment from me fairly consistently and making them extremely satisfied customers while also earning myself a great income.
It was only through brutal defeat that I realized I had to get better.
The failure planted a seed in me that I nourished and grew into a beautiful and powerful thing.
This is true for several things in my life and I’m sure in yours as well.
When I had enough of being fat and tired all the time, I started researching fitness and nutrition.
What in your life was a terrible event that caused you to stop and analyze where you were and decide that you were going to learn or work toward something better?
This is a pattern I see over and over again in successful people.
Did you know that Shaun White had four different heart abnormalities when he was born?
He had three open heart surgeries as a newborn infant.
Most people with that condition are told to take it easy and don’t live normal athletic lives.
As a kid, he was restricted as to what activities he could participate in.
He didn’t let that weakness hold him back and in fact is a world class athlete with three olympic gold medals in snowboarding and several X-Games golds and ESPY awards.
J.K. Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers for the first Harry Potter book.
Walt Disney was turned down over 300 times for financing before he was approved for Disneyland.
Albert Einstein didn’t speak until he was four years old and didn’t read until he was seven.
I could go on and on, but I hope you see the point I am making.
Every success story I have ever read was birthed in what seemed like the greatest setback or loss.
It makes perfect sense if you think about it.
That’s the moment when we either give up or move past what we know.
It’s the point where we have to get uncomfortable and move into the unknown.
This is where the hard learning begins and we start to get creative and try new things.
We do what we haven’t done before and start thinking outside the box.
We look to other people, ideas, and concepts for answers that will work.
Often, we can pull from our own experiences and find the truly unique and genius solution that carries us forward to victory.
The weakness becomes the superpower.
The defeat becomes the success.
Don’t believe for a second that your weaknesses are keeping you from what you want.
They are the path to fulfillment and success.
Keep going and don’t stop.
Other people with the same weaknesses need to see your success.
Thank you for reading.
Phillip Adams