1% Success is impossible until you go through the pain and frustration of failure.

Most don’t understand the power of failure. The majority spend their day avoiding it at all cost because they’ve been programmed to believe failure is the opposite of success. In reality, failure is the seed success is born from.

When I speak to those striving to reach their “next level,” I make sure they understand I’m where I am strictly because of the failures in my life. I don’t speak from a place of success, but rather from a place of rock bottom. Everyone has failed and can relate to the emotions associated, but not many understand the power each failure holds for their future.

Instead of constantly looking for ways to succeed, create a mindset of designing a path of risk and potential failure. If you do fall, stay there longer than you normally would – embrace this time, learn it’s power, and rise higher because of it. Fall hard, climb high.

Work harder, sacrifice more … be patient.

I wanted to share a message that was recently sent to me, anonymously. This person proves that pain and struggle is real, but doesn’t have to run our lives forever. Thank you for allowing me to take a glimpse into your life – I’m humbled beyond words.

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“I woke up and saw nothing of myself. It was as if I didn’t exist and had nothing to offer this world. Hopelessness was my best friend, always pointing me in her direction, and holding my hand on the path to nowhere. I cried. I never laughed. I smiled, only to wonder at what it would be like to do it for real and feel it’s power. 

When I arrived at school, I wore a 7 hour mask, hiding the fear and doubt from all that whispered, “are you o.k.?” Of course I was fine. Not really. I wasn’t fine at all. I was wondering on a path to nowhere. As the clock ticked, purpose for my day became obviously nonexistent, making the frustration of my path even stronger. No one knew my pain. No one understood my agony. I was alone.

Then it all changed …

I woke up one Tuesday morning, and asked myself why I was living this way. When I couldn’t come up with a good answer, I thought maybe I didn’t HAVE to continue. I then took 30 minutes to make believe I wasn’t sad and alone, and imagined my life with purpose, dedicating it to helping people like me. I sat and visualized myself as a changed person, and as you always say, “BOOM,” it hit me: I didn’t have to remain walking on this path. I had choices and control over my destination. There were others stuck in the darkness I knew too well, and I would help them. I would touch their future and teach them that they can overcome anything. 

I’m in the beginning stages of this process, but it’s happening. I no longer feel darkness and loneliness and I’ve thrown the mask I wore to school in the garbage. Thank you for helping me see that, no matter how impossible things seem, we always have a way through. My way out of the sadness may not be how everyone finds their way out, but it worked for me, and I’ll help them find what works for them. 

Here’s to a life of purpose and passion.”