Here’s something that will shock you: The world’s greatest athletes fail more than they succeed.
Michael Jordan, widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time, only made 50% of his shots. That means this legendary athlete missed half of every attempt he made on the court.
Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times during his career. Serena Williams lost 180 professional matches. These aren’t statistics of mediocrity – these are the track records of champions.
But they kept playing. They kept shooting. They kept swinging.
Why? Because they understood something most people never grasp: Failure isn’t the opposite of success – it’s the pathway to it.
The Real Track Record of Success
Let me show you what an actual entrepreneurial journey looks like. Not the polished LinkedIn version, but the raw truth:
- Fail
- Fail
- Fail
- Fail
- Success
- Fail
- Fail
- Fail
- Huge success
- Fail
- Fail
- Fail
Sometimes years passed between successes. Dark years where people who claimed to support me would privately shake their heads at my projects and never lift a finger to help when I needed it most.
Broke years when my bank account hit zero and staying motivated felt impossible. Years when everyone told me to quit and “get a real job.”
But I kept moving forward. Learning. Refining. Growing. I never stopped, even when the path seemed impossibly difficult.
The Breakthrough Moment Everyone Misses
Here’s what separates champions from everyone else: They understand that breakdown leads to breakthrough.
Every failure teaches you something critical about your approach. Every “no” reveals a weakness in your strategy. Every setback becomes data that makes your next attempt more informed and precise.
I learned early that successful people aren’t those who never fail – they’re those who fail forward and extract lessons from every loss. The key is conquering your fear of failure before it paralyzes your progress.
The Two Traits That Actually Matter
Here’s what separates the winners from the wannabes: It’s not what you think.
Successful people aren’t distinguished by their intelligence. It’s not about having the right connections or getting lucky breaks. Those things help, but they’re not the determining factors.
The two traits every successful person possesses are grit and tenacity.
The ability to get knocked down and get back up. Again and again. Until you break through.
Think about it logically. If success required perfection, Michael Jordan would never have made it past high school basketball. If entrepreneurs needed to win every time, Silicon Valley would be empty.
When Rock Bottom Becomes Your Launch Pad
The entrepreneurs building tomorrow’s game-changing companies understand something profound: Rock bottom becomes your launchpad when you refuse to stay there.
Every champion knows this fundamental truth: The person who wins isn’t the one who never falls down. It’s the person who gets up one more time than they fall.
Your lowest moments aren’t your endpoints – they’re your turning points. The question isn’t whether you’ll hit rock bottom. The question is what you’ll build when you’re there.
The Championship Question You Must Answer
Do you have it?
Because if you’re waiting for a guarantee, if you’re looking for certainty, if you need permission to try again – you’re already disqualified from the game that matters.
Success belongs to those who keep playing when the game gets hard.
The difference between where you are and where you want to be isn’t talent, luck, or timing. It’s your willingness to take action when action feels impossible.
Your Next Move
Every “no” teaches you something about your approach. Every setback reveals a weakness to strengthen. Every failure is data that makes your next attempt more informed.
But here’s the truth most people miss: You can’t think your way to success. You can’t plan your way to breakthrough. At some point, you have to stop dreaming and start creating.
The entrepreneurs building tomorrow’s game-changing companies are failing right now. The athletes who will dominate next season are missing shots in practice today. The creators who will inspire millions are getting rejected this week.
But they’re not stopping. They’re not looking for easier games to play.
They understand that championship-level success requires championship-level resilience.
The question isn’t whether you’ll fail. The question is whether you’ll keep playing after you do.
Your breakthrough is waiting on the other side of your next attempt. The only way to guarantee you’ll never reach it is to stop trying.
What’s your next move going to be?
