Words Of Wisdom From:
Abraham Lincoln - A Man Of Persistance
There was once a self educated man from a poor family in Kentucky, who had high hopes for making a positive mark on the world with his life. He tried to join the legislature at Illinois, but was denied. He started a business, it failed and he spent seventeen years paying up the debts of a worthless partner. He got engaged to a beautiful woman, but tragically she died before they married. He ran for congress and was badly defeated. He tried to get an appointment to the US land office, but failed. He ran for the US senate, but was defeated yet again, twice in fact. Yet, after such a prolonged run of knockbacks, he refused to give in and continued to passionately pursue his hopes and dreams. He later became one of the most famous people in history, due to his eventual successes. This man was Abraham Lincoln. As the 16th President of the United States, he successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis - the American Civil War. He preserved the Union, whilst ending slavery and promoting economic modernization, helping to lay the foundations of a nation that is now a world super power. He once said, “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” In other words, get over the knock backs, get over the temptation to give up when the going gets tough and keep pressing on until you get where you want to be.
Success and failure are experienced by everyone in life. We can’t close a sale every time and not every idea is a winner. Baseball player Babe Ruth was the highest paid player for decades in that sport and regarded by many as the best batter of all time. His batting style was ‘all or nothing.’ As a result, he holds two all time records - the highest number of home runs at 714 and the highest number of strike outs at 1,330. It is a fact that in terms of batting, Babe Ruth failed twice as much as he succeeded and he failed more times than any other ball player in history. Yet, people predominantly only remember him for his successes. The same could be said for Abraham Lincoln. What are your perceptions of these two great men? What are your perceptions of your own track record?
Don’t let your failures drag you down or keep you down, because your next success is right around the corner. These men didn’t throw in the towel or decide they’d had enough when they had experienced a number of setbacks. They kept on believing they could achieve better, they persevered and they did raise their level of achievement. Remember these stories the next time you suffer a setback and are tempted to give up. It can look at times as if you are never going to achieve your goals and dreams. If you give up, you certainly will not achieve anything. If you have the courage to keep going, keep motivated and persevere, despite your setbacks, then there is still hope and the possibility that one day, you will know the sweet feeling of having raised your level of achievement, improved your quality of life and achieved the very thing you set out to achieve.
Here are my top ten Words of wisdom from the great Abraham Lincoln:
“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”
"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other."
"In the end it is not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years."
"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."
"I will prepare and some day my chance will come."
"That some achieve great success is proof to all, that others can achieve it aswell."
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."
"Whatever you are, be a good one."
"The way for a man to rise is to improve himself in every way."
"Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; My greatest concern is to be on God's side, as God is always right."
You can learn more about how to persist and overcome obstacles in my books, Have Confidence, Have Success and Live A Motivated Life. You can buy these books on this website and start to apply some of Rockefeller's principles into your life today. Click this link here.