What makes achievers excel?

What makes achievers excel? Why do some people skyrocket while others plummet? You know what I’m talking about. You can call it luck, blessing, or the Midas touch – call it whatever you want. But the truth is that some people just seem to achieve incredible things in spite of tremendous difficulties: They finish in the top 5 percent in nationwide sales for their company after losing key accounts. 

They find ingenious ways to increase profits for their department in the face of budget cuts. They earn a graduate degree while raising two children as a single parent. They discover awesome business opportunities while colleagues don’t see any at all. Or they recruit winner after winner into their organization despite what looks like an anemic labor pool. It doesn’t matter what kind of work they do. Wherever they are, they just seem to make things happen.

Certainly all people like to think of themselves as above average. But achievers seem to leave ‘average’ in the dust – so far behind them that ordinary seems a distant memory. What makes the difference? Why do some people achieve so much? Is it..

Family background?

Wealth?

Opportunity?

High morals?

The Absence of hardship?

No, none of these things are the key. When it comes right down to it, I know of only one factor that separates those who consistently shine from those who don’t: The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure. Nothing else has the same kind of impact on people’s ability to achieve and to accomplish whatever their minds and hearts desire.

Source: Failing Forward, John C. Maxwell.