Video: The Failures That Helped 7 Famous People Succeed

Sometimes it’s easy to think that successful people — athletes, celebrities, business leaders, politicians, authors, and even saints — got to where they did because they never failed. Yet when you look into the lives of many of the most famous people who’ve lived, they failed miserably at times. What made the difference is they kept risking, kept going. We can’t succeeed at anything without risk, and with it comes the inevitability of failure. One of the greatetst motivators for risk-taking is to remember that we’re going to die. Life is short. What is God calling us to be and to do? The late Steve Jobs had a very poignant quote about this:

"Almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”