Rebuilding Rob

Daily writing prompt

When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?

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Like so many things in life, the meaning of success is largely lot to interpretation. For many, probably most people in American society, success is measured by monetary wealth. And if that’s the case, then I’m probably the biggest failure in American history, but I digress. At the same time, it’s important to quash the myth of hard work automatically equaling success. There are lots of people who break their backs and numb their minds working hard; but never achieve any level of what many people consider to be “success”.

Last year, I wrote about Jackie Robinson as an example of a successful person. But with all due respect to Mr. Robinson, I’m struck on this quote that I found this morning about success:

Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure”

-Aisha Tyler

I’ve invoked the words of Yoda from The Last Jedi before – the idea of failure being our greatest teacher; and I’m really stuck that notion today. Here’s a famous quote about success and failure – one that I’ve had posted in my classroom for several years

As a species, we are terrified of failure. It’s paralyzing for many of us. So much so that it keeps many of us from even attempting to succeed. We learn how to grow from failure. It’s a hard way to learn, but it is the most effective.

Who comes to mind when I think of success? The person who is not afraid to fail.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

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• Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
• A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
• The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
• Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision

The article “Persistence Through Failure” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.