Sometimes the journey from where you are financially to where you want to be (wealth) can seem like a long and arduous road. There are bumps in the road, detours, and all kinds of barriers to cross. When the journey seems interminable, though, we urge you to never give up! Never give up on anything you really want, especially wealth.
Sometimes looking at the truly great people who have come before us can be helpful. It puts a little perspective on the problems we encounter on life, and helps to shrink those problems down to scale. For instance, consider Winston Churchill, who survived two world wars, much criticism (as well as praise), and the turmoil of British politics for many decades (makes our problems seem small, right?). He was once invited to give a commencement speech at Eton, a well known private school in England. The headmaster spent twenty minutes introducing Churchill, who then stood up and said: “Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never.” In just nine words, Churchill captured the very essence of his indomitable will to succeed. Great wisdom is contained in those nine words, wisdom we can always use when considering our path to wealth.
On the other side of the Atlantic, another great leader, Abraham Lincoln, demonstrated similar stubborn persistence that eventually led to success. Although most of us know Lincoln as the great Civil War President of the United States, what we often forget is how many failures he encountered on the way. Here’s a short chronology of Lincoln’s career:
1831 Failure in business
1832 Defeated for Legislature
1833 Failure in business again
1834 Elected to Legislature
1835 Sweetheart died
1836 Nervous breakdown
1838 Defeated for Speaker
1840 Defeated for Elector
1843 Defeated for Congressional Nomination
1846 Elected to Congress
1848 Defeated for Congress
1855 Defeated for Senate
1856 Defeated for Vice President
1859 Defeated for Senate
1860 Elected President
While Lincoln wasn’t recorded as saying, “Never give up on what you want,” it’s clear that he never did. Despite 12 defeats and major life losses, Lincoln persisted in going after what he wanted.
So when you hit a bump in the road on the way to wealth and prosperity, think of Churchill and Lincoln. Compare the scale of your problems to the scale of their problems-your problems will shrink rapidly in comparison! Whatever you do, though, never give up. You can always have what you want if you never give up.
