Is losing the secret ingredient for success? Does failure lead to success? How do we know when we reach success? Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. He was born into poverty; Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown. He could have quit many times, but he didn’t and because he didn’t quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country. 1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt.
He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt. 1835 was engaged to be married, but his sweetheart died and his heart was broken. 1854 he ran for Senate of the United States and lost. Finally in 1860 he was elected president of the United States. Henry Ford is and another great example of persistence and never giving up. Henry Ford was the American founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. He was a prolific inventor and was awarded 161 U. S. atents. As owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. Murphy and other stockholders in the Detroit Automobile Company formed the Henry Ford Company on November 30, 1901, with Ford as chief engineer, However Murphy brought in Henry M. Leland as a consultant. As a result, Ford left the company bearing his name in 1902. With Ford gone, Murphy renamed the company the Cadillac Automobile Company. His life wasn’t all great in the beginning he lost his mother at a young age. He also failed multiple times before creating a successful Model T automobile.
Michael Jordan joined the NBA’s Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nickname “Air Jordan”. He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls. He holds the NBA records for highest career regular-season scoring average and highest career playoff scoring average.
In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press’s list of athletes of the century. Although Michael Jordan’s life he had a lot of accomplishments he had a hard time starting out. Michael Jordan’s basketball teams endured many heartbreaking playoff losses before becoming world champions six times over. Losing is the secret ingredient to success. All these people have lost before they have won. Never give up and always keep trying and you never know how far you can go. There are no ends to the possibilities.
