The Last Pick By David Mcgillivray

From the time a child is born to the day that they die, they will be told countless times to dream big. People tell them to reach for the stars and pursue the things that make them happy. Something they do not tell them is how powerful failure can be; how it can alter a person’s perspective on life and the direction they think they need to go with their future. Ever since I was a little girl my life’s goal in the FFA was to become a State FFA Officer. The concept of being able to positively impact someone’s life and promote an industry that I believe in whole-heartedly got my blood pumping. I was not prepared for failure, I only thought about success.

I failed to reach the top of the rock climbing wall on the playground, and as a result, I have strived even harder to reach the peak of success in everything I do. Instead of becoming discouraged and disappointed in myself, I found a way to improve myself for my next challenge. Learning from my mistakes has molded me into an improved person while giving me the motivation to keep pushing forward. Failure has taught me the importance of learning from your errors and trying again, no matter how difficult it may be. Without lessons like these, I would not be the motivated, independent person that I am today. I will continue to fail and try again until I achieve my goal of reaching the

Learning from failure is important to having a successful life. You have to figure out what works and what does not which requires some trial and error. Many famous entrepreneurs who have a successful career have experienced many failures in their lifetime. An example of

Sir Winston Churchill, a British politician from 1800’s says “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” Throughout my few years of living, I have learned that everybody is going to fail at something at least once. It is up to you to take all of your failures and turn them into success. It’s not going to only take one day but everyone is destined to be successful.

Divided into parts on “Opportunity” and “Legacy” the writings of Gladwell focus on shattering the myth that “success is exclusively a matter of merit” (67). As Gladwell exhibits, through the example of Hockey, the common belief is that “Success…is based on individual merit” (17). However, after a thoughtful analysis of precursory, and undeserved opportunities, such as, birth month, time spent practicing due to being selected because of age grouping, and “accumulative advantage[s],” all of the opportunities were critical to the success of the all-star hockey player; not just talent (30). Moreover, due to the arbitrary access to more practice, an individual (like the hockey player example) is allowed more of a chance to develop their skills.

Clayton Christensen’s book, “How Will You Measure Your Life?” gives an example of Clayton building a Treehouse with his kids. Every piece was put together with his children. They meticulously and slowly hammered each nail. After it was finished, he noticed his children didn’t use it much. They did show their friends what they built and how they built it, and the story of them building it together. He learned that the journey and the accomplishment of building it together was worth more than the outcome. I remember a time when my manager told me to slow down and enjoy the journey. I felt she was missing the bigger picture. I could not fathom slowing down. I didn’t understand what that meant since my goals were to achieve a certain level of income and an accumulation of things by specific ages. These goals were my measure of success that I made it in life. I was a glory seeker with a need for approval and validation. I was single, and extremely motivated to create my destiny. I lacked the grounding of an integrated life. I didn’t make much time for friends and my community. I was the one who always arrived to work early and stayed late. Enmeshed in a struggle on behalf of some ideal. One night at 7pm, a leader asked if I had too much to do or nowhere to go. I answered, “Both.” My priorities were in the wrong place. My values needed to change. Failure and loss would help me to re-center and re-balance my approach and methods. Failure creates radical self-understanding and is

Purpose: at the end of my speech the audience should change their perspective towards failure and use it as a guideline to success.

Today, I eat lunch with friends, I find comfort in my clubs, and sometimes, I fail. When I lived in Florida, I never had to cope with failure, as everything came to me easily. What I know now is that failure is an unavoidable aspect of life, and I know I’ll encounter it wherever I end up. When I moved up the East Coast, I learned how to face failure head on and accept that there are days when I can’t be perfect. But I am now able to learn from my failures and keep them in mind when moving

Failure is perhaps one of the most influential things in people’s lives because it can alter the course of our actions, by teaching us persistence or leading us the opposite way. Through his book, Dr. Cleamon Moorer guides the readers through an intimate journey about his progression from failure to promise. In the small town of Detroit, Moorer was raised by Christian parents, who taught him love, obedience, and enforced discipline, but most importantly, they nurtured his faith in Jesus Christ. Cleamon Moorer flourished in academics during both elementary and middle school, however, his mischievousness throughout those years earned him many disciplinary sessions. In high school, misbehavior became history, yet, his GPA suffered in the low C’s. But with his father’s tough discipline and Moore’s own effort and faith in God, he later received candidacy for the National Honor’s Society. As his college experience began, Cleamon Moore was honored to attend GMI and work along many of his classmates at GM, but when the courses became more difficult after each semester, his grades fell below the required minimum, hence, he became a “flunk-out”. Yet, he did not abandon his education; he never gave in to failure, in fact, he leaned from it. Then, with years of tenacity, patience, and faith, he ultimately became a professor at the same university at which he had failed.

A lesson I took from the story about achieving success is that no matter what obstacle you encounter, you need to keep pushing forward to your end goal and beyond. Certain situations can cause us to pause or if they’re severe to completely give up on our goals.

Malcolm Gladwell’s perception of people’s pathways to success is biased, because he implied that success is based off of the advantages they’re given. For instance, the examples he gave in this chapter were all of people who had talent, but were also afforded huge opportunities that directly aligned them on the path to succeed. He did not, however, acknowledge those who became successful based on their individuality. Success based on individuality is far more meaningful and valued than success based on handouts.

Failure is perhaps one of the most influential things in people’s lives because it can alter the course of our actions, by teaching us persistence or leading us the opposite way. Through his book, Dr. Cleamon Moorer guides me through an intimate journey about his progression from failure to promise. Cleamon is from a small town of Detroit with parents, who love him and enforce discipline, but most importantly, they nurture his faith in Jesus Christ. He excels in academics during both elementary and middle school; however, his mischievousness throughout those years earns him many disciplinary sessions. In high school, misbehavior becomes history, yet, his GPA suffers in the low C’s. But with his father’s tough discipline and his own effort and faith in God, he later receives nomination for the National Honor’s Society. As his college experience begins, Cleamon Moorer attends GMI with enthusiasm and works along many of his classmates at GM, but when the courses become more difficult after each semester, his grades fall below the required minimum; hence, he becomes a “flunk-out”. Yet, he does not abandon his education; he does not surrender to the failure; in fact, he learns from it. Then, with years of tenacity, patience, and faith, he ultimately becomes a professor at the same university at which he had failed.

As J.K. Rowling once said, “it is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.” As we end our high school career and make our way into the future, we must keep in mind all of the lessons we were taught at Anderson that will help us to succeed, even when we fail the first time. These messages, which were taught through books, will help form us as the young adults we are becoming.

Failure often times leads a person to feel helpless, disappointed and depressed. However,one should not allow this to set them back in trying to achieve the ultimate aim one has set out to do. Failure in the beginning can often be a powerful incentive to reassess one’s position in wanting to achieve the particular aims; to analyse whether the purpose is worth the trouble the person has to undergo and the whether the obstacles are surmountable.

In conclusion, I have experienced three noteworthy failures early in my life. Most people thought that based on my failures, I would not be able to succeed in life. However, with the hard work I put into, I managed to overcome my failures and mature into a more responsible person. Based on my ability to