CarlasBooks

Humans fail, but losers quit. The label "mentally slow" was put on Albert Einstein's permanent record. Don’t allow the critics to quench your light, detour your determination, or cause you to quit. Einstein could have allowed his school's label to stop him, but he didn't. “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” - Albert Einstein What I like about this famous failure is that he understood it took imagination to see the possibilities. He was a genius in math and science, but he understood it took more than facts and formulas to make this world a better place. I’m horrible in math, but my imagination can create a fantastic story. Yes, the ability to get it on paper in a way everyone can enjoy isn’t my strength, but that’s what editors are for. I admit it, I almost quit after I started working with my current editor. She gave me back my draft full of red marks, crossed out portions, and comments that made me feel like I knew so little about writing. BUT, quitting is what losers do. I’m a failure, not a loser.

Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school three times. How do you handle rejection? If this famous failure quit after he was turned down, we wouldn’t have fun movies like The Goonies or Indiana Jones. At first, rejection made me doubt everything, but I kept trying. Last year I decided to pretend rejections didn't bother me. I will never stop learning new things about writing or publishing. I’m also getting great at pretending I'm not disappointed. I had to choose family and other things over really learning the ropes of writing, editing, marketing, etc. I expect some failures due to lack of knowledge. BUT, I won’t quit until I’m too old to type or my mind turns to mush.

Walt Disney was fired from his job at a newspaper early in his career. They said he lacked imagination. His first cartoon character tanked. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” Sometimes I just write. I’m not involved in writing groups. I don’t spend time attending writing seminars. I just write. I’m not saying any of those things aren’t helpful, but I don’t want to use excuses like I’m too busy preparing that I don’t have time to create a book. I tend to think authors do a lot of preparation to avoid drafting a book because the fear of failure stops them from taking action. Today’s famous failure proved continued action produces results, because even the “experts” who said Disney lacked imagination, got it wrong.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. That didn't stop him. If the fear of failure stops you from attempting something, you’re already a loser. Humans fail. You can always try again. I don’t follow the NBA, but Micheal Jordan is so talented, most people have heard of him. I never thought of failure in my writing until my manuscript was rejected by several publishers, but I know it’s all part of the process. I just keep writing!

Humans fail, but losers quit. “I tried out seven times. I took the long way around, but finally made it on American Idol. I never made it past the first round.” ~ Lainey Wilson Despite the American Idol failure, Lainey Wilson went on to win in four categories at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2023, including Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country and Female Artist of the Year. Wilson became the year’s most-nominated artist for the CMA Awards with nine. In addition to retaining her Best Female Vocalist trophy, Wilson became the first female performer to win Entertainer of the Year since Taylor Swift won in 2011. Rejection or failure didn’t stop her dream of a music career. If you quit after your first or thousandth failure, you miss the chance to succeed. Maybe you’ll be 80 before it happens. My curiosity conquers my self-doubt. What if my next story will be the one that reaches millions? I’ll keep writing.

Humans Fail, but losers Quit . That may sound harsh, but if anyone quits after their first failure, they have lost before really trying. I hope this new series of famous failures encourage all, including myself, not to quit. They're famous because of their success rather than their failures, but none of them accomplished their goals with the first try. It gives me hope that my books may some day reach millions, and if I quit, I'll never know if it's possible. It took Edison one thousand attempts before creating the first light bulb. He failed at many inventions before discovering which ones worked. Without the genius inventions of Edison, my book dragon endeavors would be limited. I’m thankful he didn’t quit at 9,999.