I have not been able to trace the origin of this quote, but I remember hearing a speech a little over 15 years ago from Kevin Hancock, President of Hancock Lumber in Maine. I always attributed this quote to John Maxwell because Mr. Hancock was a fan, and he turned me on to Maxwell.  He gave me my first Maxwell book, Failing Forward. However, I have not been able to find any link between Maxwell and the quote. Mr. Hancock talked about success and failure with a group of students, and this quote resonated with me. 

People who fail, fail because of... 

People who succeed, succeed in spite of... 

I use this with my teams at least once a year, and I am sure I will talk about it again.  There is a fine line between success and failure, yet some people (teams) always find success while others continually fall short.  You see, there will always be obstacles on your path to success.  Success does not come easy, and to become successful and achieve goals, we must work through adversity.  It is my belief that those who fail are unable to persevere.  They have many excuses as to why things aren't going their way, and most of those excuses will be directed at everything around them except the real issue at heart. 

Successful people, people who achieve their goals and meet expectations, find a way around the obstacles.  They push through adversity.  When the path to success becomes difficult, they dig deeper and find a way.  This speaks to a person's character and work ethic.  While failure is part of that path to success, overcoming obstacles and adversity is part of the process. 

How do you define success and failure?  I will be writing more on this topic in the coming weeks.