HOW TO CONQUER FAILURE…

As a young man, Abraham Lincoln wanted nothing more than “to link his name with something that would contribute to the interest of his fellow man.”
Lesson from Abraham Lincoln, one of America’s greatest president
Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life.
He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.
From 1834 to 1840, he served as a congressman in the Illinois Legislature. There, Lincoln advocated for improvements to the state’s infrastructure.
However, Illinois entered an economic depression during his last three years and stopped work on many new railroads, bridges and roads.
This decline destroyed the state's credit rating, and land values dropped. Thousands of people lost their homes, and many banks and brokerage houses also closed.

 LINCOLN'S DARK MOMENT
Now, in his early thirties, Lincoln faced personal financial struggles.
His support of improving infrastructure improvements was blamed for the poor economy in Illinois. In 1842, he decided against seeking a fifth term in the legislature.
Instead of achieving the personal and professional success he craved, Lincoln teetered on the verge of personal and professional ruin.

Here is a sketch of his many turns, twists and failures:
1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
1818 His mother died.
1831 Failed in business.
1832 Ran for state legislature - lost.
l832 Also lost his job - wanted to go to law school but couldn't get in.
1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt.
He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
1834 Ran for state legislature again - won.
1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature - defeated.
1840 Sought to become elector - defeated.
1843 Ran for Congress - lost.
1846 Ran for Congress again - this time he won - went to Washington and did a good job.
1848 Ran for re-election to Congress - lost.
1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state - rejected.
1854 Ran for Senate of the United States - lost.
1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party's national convention - get less than 100 votes.
1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again - again he lost(probably his last failure).
"I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth," he said.
"Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better, it appears to me.”
Lincoln's depression was so bleak his friends worried he was going to commit suicide, and they removed knives, razors and scissors from his room.
Day after day, Lincoln remained bedridden, unable to eat, sleep or carry out his duties in the legislature.

“Lincoln went crazy,” his best friend Joshua Speed said.
According to Goodwin, another friend claimed, “He is reduced and emaciated in appearance.”

LINCOLN'S GREAT RECOVERY

According to the Small Business Association 30% of new businesses fail during their first two years, 50% during the first five and 66% during the first 10.
(Statistics above, is for US based businesses, unfortunately for Nigeria, the statistics is far higher. 80% of new businesses fail in their first year)
If you're recovering from a failed business, take heart from Lincoln.
Much like an entrepreneur who starts again after a failed business, Lincoln's solution was far from a quick fix.
He formed a business partnership with the country's leading lawyer, Stephen Logan and restarted his legal career, a process that took years.
He took advice from Logan, who said, “It does not depend on the start a man gets...it depends on how he keeps up his labors and efforts until middle life.”
Realizing his knowledge of the law was lacking, he spent hours reading and studying, often working by candlelight until 2 a.m. He worked later and got up earlier than many of his peers.
Together, they created the largest trial practice in Illinois.

Lincoln became an expert in breaking down complicated legal concepts and explaining them through storytelling to jurors, an approach that served him well when he won the Republican nomination for president in 1860.
An Illinois judge said of Lincoln, "He had the happy and unusual faculty of making the jury believe they—and not he—were trying the case.”

WORK, WORK, WORK
Lincoln's origin story, as described in Goodwin's book Leadership, offers a fascinating perspective on how entrepreneurs can recover from professional and personal failures.
Lincoln argued the key to his later successes was "work, work, work."
It's true Lincoln put in more hours than his peers, but he also embraced what business coach Stephen Covey calls "sharpening the sword."

Lincoln spent time improving himself through deep reading, learning and self-reflection.
Finally in 1860, Lincoln contested and won the Presidency of the United States of America.
His many failures and lessons he learned along the way, helped to make him one of the greatest presidents ever.
He came into office just as America entered a civil war that nearly destroyed the great nation.
But for his great leadership, firmness, wisdom and tenacity, there would have been no United States today.
I don't care what life has thrown at you today, you can still rise up and make the remaining years of your life, the best years of your life.
FAILURE IS NEVER FINAL.