“Don’t let a speed bump become a roadblock.”
Derek Jeter shared this great quote a few weeks ago at my son’s graduation from the University of Michigan. He was the main speaker at the event and received an honorary doctorate from the university.
Coming out of high school, Derek planned to play baseball for the University of Michigan. However, he ended up getting drafted number six overall by the Yankees, who were owned by George Steinbrenner—a big Ohio State Buckeyes fan.
Derek never enrolled at Michigan. Instead, he went on to play for the Yankees, and I’d say that worked out pretty well for him. He won five World Series, made it into the Hall of Fame and became a baseball legend.
At graduation, Derek talked about failure. That’s something I’ve been thinking and speaking about a lot lately. I even shared my thoughts on failure when speaking to a class at Michigan.
People sometimes ask me, “Ron, why do you talk about failure so much?”
The answer is simple: because, like Derek said in his speech, there is no success without failure. You have to expect failure. I’ve never seen a success story that didn’t include failure somewhere along the way. Even people who seem to have instant success usually face a lot of setbacks before that moment.
Failure is often our best teacher. So don’t let a speed bump become a roadblock. Failure is just a setback. Acknowledge it, own it, learn from it and use those lessons. Then move forward.
The real problems arise when you don’t do that. When you get stuck, blame others, feel bitter or become afraid to try again because you don’t want to fail. That’s when failure turns into a roadblock.
Derek gave a great speech. These are wise words to live by in both your personal and professional life.
