The Devil of Failure

How do you explain the word SUCCESS? Sounds like a simple question, but if you do a survey to a thousand people, you may get a thousand versions of answers - and at the end you end up not having any answer.

Some successes may be easy to describe because of clear measurements, like a championship trophy or gold medals in the olympics. For those who work in corporations, success may be defined as promotions, the corner office, the size of responsibility. For those seeking wealth, success is also reasonably easy to define, by how much asset one accumulates. In a more complex context, military mission has to balance the accomplishment of the mission versus the sacrifices of human lives to reach it.

Those are all valid definitions and I am not writing to offer another definition. The more interesting question is, what is the difference between those who made it versus those who did not? I think this question is worth a thought.

In my view, the difference between success and failure lies in the individual's persistent refusal to fail. I see this as the unwillingness to let setbacks, temptations or discomfort stop one from focusing and working to reach the goals. I think luck, physical strength, talent, brain power and energy are all important factors to success, but the persistent refusal to fail will make one individual stand out among equals. This attribute alone distinguishes the winners from the losers, the achievers from the slackers.

I saw this quality in all impressive people I have met, and all the amazing people I admire. I admire John F Kennedy because of his ability to bounce back despite his Bay of Pig set-back. It amazes me how he can continue to focus on his work despite the public beatings he receives daily after his mistakes. I am amazed at the strength of Mahatma Gandhi in keeping his promise to fast until the violent fights stopped in his homeland. He did it at the time where people lost faith in his non-violent approach, when all hope seemed lost. Yet he prevailed and restored calm through his unwaivering faith.

Most importantly I am encouraged when I observe those small successes, those I see on my daily life. A 50 year old female colleague of mine continued to work hard on the task despite doubts from her own boss and several attempts from her boss to replace her. She eventually prevailed by convincing her boss on her contribution and held on to her position. I have my own experiences in my younger years as a professional, when discomfort and setbacks pushed me out from the battles I needed to fight. I have learnt since then, that success is only achievable when I stare "the devil of failure" in the eyes, not quit and stay in the game. I have applied that in my life and my work since then - and I am happy to say that I am a witness to my own growth and developments.

The devil of failure will be the first to stand in the way of every person who tries to achieve something. It will tell us that the discomfort is just too much to bear and your dream is not that important, so quit it and do something easier. It will say that the setback you have had recently is too big to recover from, so do not worry to fight back and just walk away from it. It will give you all sort of reasons to quit. As I thought about this, I began to really understand and appreciate the meanings in the story of Jesus beating the devil in the desert.


At the end, your success is your dream to reach, and throughout the journey there, you will encounter many reasons to fail. If you really want to achieve your goals, the first thing you should do is to be ready to stare down the devil of failure in the eyes when he comes to greet you.