Failing Forward

I read an article in a magazine by Dr John C. Maxwell, which is titled "Failing Forward". John Maxwell talked about Vincent Van Gogh's many failures: he failed as an art dealer, failed his entrance exam to theology school, and was fired by the church after an ill-fated attempt at missionary work. In fact, during his life, he seldom experienced anything other than failure as an artist.

Although a single painting by Van Gogh "Stary stary night" would become one of the most paintings in histroy, in his lifetime Van Gogh sold only one painting, four months prior to his death.

Before developing his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein encountered academic failure. He was expelled from school and another teacher predicted that he would never amount to anything. Einstein even failed his entrance exam into college.

Failure didn't stop Vincent Van Gogh from painting, or Albert Einstein from theorizing, but it has paralyzed countless leaders and prevented them from reaching their potential.

At some point, all great achievers are tempted to believe they are failures. But in spite of that, they persevere. In the face of adversity, shortcomings, and rejection, they hold onto self-believe and refuse to see themselves as failures. Here are seven abilities of achievers that enable them to rebound from failure and keep moving forward.