Book Review By Prof.M.S.Rao “Great Failures Of The Extremely Successful” Authored By Steve Young

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You cannot live long enough to make them all yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt


Recently I have read a book titled “Great Failures of the Extremely Successful” authored by Steve Young. It contains the brief biographies of people who had toughest times in their lives. It presents the lows and highs of successful people. Their list is: Erin Brockovich, Jim Marshall, Mike Espy, Nanette Fabray, Norm Pattiz, Clive Cussler, Jane Goodall, Pat Croce, Morton Downey, Jr., Dr. W. French Anderson, Jamie Goldman, Gabriel Ruelas, Debra Wilson, Jim O’Brien, Teddy Pendergrass, Stephen J. Cannell, John Wooden, Dr. Audrey Manley, Tony Curtis, Chris Crutcher, Scott Ellis, Ann Bancroft & Live Arnesen, Dr. Anthony James, Sonny Hill, Betty White, Dennis Palumbo, Guy Gabaldon, Dr. Joan Borysenko, Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Pinsky, Billy Idol, Nolan Bushnell, Kathy Buckley, Jimmy Breslin, Ed Asner, Pat Boone, Venerable Grand Master Hsing Yun, Sam Donaldson, Jeanie Buss, Dr. Howard House, David Henry Hwang, Charles Joffe and Syd Field

The book starts with Lincoln’s road to the White House through his successive setbacks and ultimately being elected as the first Republican President and the 16th President of America in 1860.

What Do the Contributors Say?

“Each disaster became a steppingstone for growth.” – Erin Brockovich
“Face the music. Make things right. The rewards are unimaginable.”- Jim Marshall
“I found that whenever you have to face adversity, you have to gauge how much of it was beyond your control. In my case I had to be realistic and understand that some of this was my fault. I discovered I could respond successfully to a crisis. That is empowering. But you must prepare yourself in all ways. My fight was a legal one, but I did not confine myself to accomplishing legal goals. That would not have been enough, I had to fight to gain more spirituality, a better body mass, to improve my psyche and personal spirit and, at the same time, gain income. All of that aided my battle in the legal arena. You cannot segregate one aspect from the other. You have to work in unison. Most important, if you put things in perspective, you will find that things aren’t as bad as you think, and you can make it.” – Mike Espy
“I was actually trying to be someone I wasn’t and that wasn’t anywhere near how good I could be by being myself.” – Nanette Fabray
“You’d have to be incredibly shrewd to think I would have gained such an advantage out of seemingly so negative a situation. But I did.” – Norm Pattiz
“If good books get roses, and bad books get skunks, Cussler’s book would receive four skunks.” – Clive Cussler
“Overcoming challenge strengthened my faith in God and myself.” – Jane Goodal
“… take whatever obstacle you run up against and figure out how to turn it into an opportunity.” – Pat Croce
“I was a kid who was a rebel with a cause, but I didn’t know what the cause was.” – Morton Downey, Jr.
“It’s the experiment that fails that tells you the most.” – Dr. W. French Anderson
“Everyone has bad days. So do I. It’s normal. But the fact is, I have my life. You don’t appreciate how precious life is until it’s almost taken away. Appreciate what you have today. Take time out for the simple things. Tell your family you love them every day” – Jamie Goldman
“Some people are born with confidence. Some only need to prove it to themselves one time. But me, I was forced to learn it over and over.” – Gabriel Ruelas
“If I hadn’t gone what I went through, I would have not been able to do what I do with such force and conviction.” – Debra Wilson
“If you do the job you need to do in the short term, the long term takes care of itself.” – Jim O’Brien
“I was given a choice: live or die. I chose to live.” – Teddy Pendergrass
“It’s important to remember that rejection is simply someone else’s opinion, not everyone else’s. It’s your own persistence that will win out over all those rejections. If you don’t quit, you can’t lose.” – Stephen J. Cannell
“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.” – John Wooden
“If you take care of each day, each task, and do it the very best that you can, then the big picture will take care of itself.” – Dr. Audrey Manley
“There hasn’t been a moment in my life, in anything that I’ve achieved, that hasn’t involved some difficulty.” – Tony Curtis
“When you are a trial-and-error species, you shouldn’t go knocking the errors.” – Chris Crutcher
“If I had gone into something to which I was more suited, I would have never won the Nobel Prize.” – Dr. Peter Doherty
“While the Nobel Prize was a wonderful recognition of my work, I don’t consider it to be my greatest success. It was my experiments themselves that took me to my discovery. The Nobel Prize was only the acknowledgement of that success. It is always the journey that leads to the breakthrough that is the real success.” – Dr. Peter Doherty
“When I’m beaten into submission and I become teachable, then it seems I make choices that turn out to be stunningly good ones.” – Chuck Lorre
“It wasn’t until I lost the ability to play that I was able to understand.” – Bill Walton
“I learned that you can’t really die of embarrassment. It only feels that way.” – Garry Marshall
“Alcoholism and my additional treatment ended up becoming the most wonderful, most instructive, most important experience I’ve had in my life.” – Ann Richards
“The fact is, there’s no logical reason why someone should be able to create anything.” – Al Franken
“I had always worried about being perfect. I found that only in imperfection could I be my best.” – Amy Hill
“You can choose to feel sorry for yourself and remain isolated, or you can realize that there is an opportunity to invent yourself all over again, to create yourself as a new person.” – Michael Medved
“When bad luck does strike, which it occasionally will despite all our precautions and prayers, we can emerge from such experiences not only wiser but often with material benefits.” – Steve Allen
“You can’t worry about missing a pass or a ball getting knocked down. If you worried about stuff like that, you’d never do anything.” – Johnny Unitas
“Whether you’re a writer, actor, athlete or you dig ditches, the more you do it the better you get. You’ve gotta be willing to work, sacrifice and put a lot of time into whatever you do. Work to the best of your ability and don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way.” – Johnny Unitas
“Sometimes you need to first discover what you can’t do before you’re able to discover what you can.” – Julia Sweeney
“Internal messages of failure sap our confidence, energy and creative juices.” – Dr. Arnold Fox
“Help someone else. Take the focus off your fear, your failure and yourself. Even if that only means offering companionship or support to someone else. Focus only on the things you can control, and most important, remember, you don’t have to go at it alone. If you need it, always ask for help.” – Dr. Arnold Fox
“I don’t believe there’s any right or wrong road. I believe you make your choice and whatever choice you make, if you’re open, you learn from it.” – Scott Ellis
“Look for what makes your heart beat; what makes your blood run. When you find it you will find what is important to you.” – Ann Bancroft & Live Arnesen
“Since there’s a good probability we will live a long time we should do something we actually like.” – Dr. Anthony James
“My stumbling blocks became my steppingstones.” - Victoria Williams
“It’s not so much the adversity you face, but how you deal with it that counts.” – Sonny Hill
“I felt I had my big shot and I blew it.” – Betty White
“I stopped acting like I had to know everything.” – Dennis Palumbo
“What appeared to be a personal disaster was a blessing in disguise.” – Guy Gabaldon
“I refused to give in to despair. I told myself that if I could help even one other family avert such a tragedy, my father’s death would have meaning.” – Dr. Joan Borysenko
“Practice gratitude. Spend a few minutes each morning and evening listing five things for which you are grateful. This will help you focus more on life’s gifts instead of its burdens. - Dr. Joan Borysenko
“No one buys short stories.” – Mark Victor Hansen
“Proving those teachers wrong, at some point, became an attractive idea.” – Robert Pinsky
“Like many poets, I received plenty of rejections, but my attitude was, “Good, other poets who aren’t that serious would quit over this.” – Robert Pinsky
“Failure gives me something to prove. It is a source of aspiration to excel. Just looking for approval and recognition can cause a person to become satisfied and complacent. " – Robert Pinsky
“If your world doesn’t allow you to dream, move to one where you can. If you don’t believe in something, find something to believe in.” – Billy Idol
“People are always looking for innovation until they find it.” – Nolan Bushnell
“The only thing I really ever failed was myself.” – Kathy Buckley
“If you write something that turns out being wrong, you correct it and write it better tomorrow. But you never quit writing.” – Jimmy Breslin
“If you are struggling, work hard to find out what your strengths are. Be they physical. Be they cerebral. Be they scientific. When you find what they are, develop them as fully as you possibly can. When you use them, use them to do the right thing.” – Ed Asner
“God is available.” – Pat Boone
“When we experience the difficulties of planting seeds and tilling the soil, the sweetness of harvest will come naturally.” – Venerable Grand Master Hsing Yun
“At that moment of uncertainty, when things could go either way, I said to myself, ‘… they’are going MY way.’” – Sam Donaldson
“It is so important to find what you’re passionate about, whatever it is. When you do, commit to it and no matter how they try, don’t let anyone talk you out of it.” – Jeanie Buss
“Mr. House, you’re not serious about becoming a doctor.” – Dr. Howard House
“My mother used to say to me, ‘Just try to do one thing and be the best you can at it.’. It doesn’t matter what that one thing might be because no matter what it is, it will provide you with self-confidence and the ability to focus. And you can apply that to anything.” – David Henry Hwang
“I realized that before you throw something away because you find it imperfect, you first look for what gold there may be. And when you find it, you mine it for all it’s worth.” – Charles Toffe
“If you are doing something that you know to be true to you, you must follow it.” – Syd Field

Takeaways:

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” – From the Disney movie Mulan

• No one is immune to failure.
• A waterfall begins with a single drop.
• In the stock market crash of 1929, many people committed suicide. People who had worked hard to make their fortunes did not commit suicide. They knew how to make money. Most of those who committed suicide were those who received their fortunes from inheritance. They had no experience in building their wealth.
• In order to learn you must start from where you are now.
• We gain strength through adversity.
• Sometimes you have to work harder to prove your critics wrong.
• Although setbacks and difficulties may defeat an ordinary person, they cannot overcome a capable young person. This because unfavorable causes and conditions motivate a person to develop his or her potential.
• Being able to bear hardship is like tonics for our life.
• People are not saints, so naturally we all have faults and err from time to time. It is not bad to make mistakes as long as we are willing to correct them. Those who refuse to admit and correct their faults are like a wall painted black. They refuse to add colors. We all make mistakes. But correcting the mistakes we make is the best virtue. No one wants to make mistakes, and mistakes are not necessarily bad.
• Don’t ever get so comfortable that you are not prepared for another set of adversities.
• Youth is such a wonderful time to make mistakes. Don’t get tied down thinking that in your teens and 20s you have to figure out what you’re supposed to be doing. You can still make mistakes, fail and try things that don’t work in order to get closer to what does work. Life is an adventure, a journey, a mystery. Just keep your eyes forward, your heart pure, and when you’re ready, follow your bliss.

Conclusion:

“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have and should have.” – Louis E. Boone

A young man always looks at the future, the middle aged man always looks at the present and the old age man always looks back at the past. The book cautions the realities of life to young people, reflects the adversities of life to middle aged people and reminds the bygone era to the old age people.

The book energizes the readers with motivational quotes by great personalities and the quotes by the contributors for this book. It is a motivational book with apt quotations that rejuvenate the readers. It is beautifully crafted content with simple language with simple sentences. It delivers punches effectively.

Throughout the book the contributors maintained conversational tone to make the book interesting to read. The book clearly states that failure is only a comma not a full stop. The book is worth investing your time as it provides valuable takeaways.