"Life is full of challenges , at every step in life we come across situations which are trying and tempting us into failures and victories" Does it surprise you that only 400 cokes were sold the first year of its business ; Albert Einstein's Ph.D. dissertation was rejected; Henry Ford had two bankruptcies before his famous success; or Dhirubhai Ambani was working as a gas station attendant, written off as a failure, 20 years before becoming the first entrepreneur in India to take his company to IPO ?

Michelangelo couldn't get into art school on three occasions yet became a great sculptor; Abraham Lincoln lost seven elections before winning the Presidency; "Magic" Johnson failed a 1,000 times before he could show his magnificent performance;PC Socar bungled 5,000 time before performing his great magic show that enthralled the world;Sanchin Tendulkar lost 600 matches before becoming the worlds greatest batsman .

Each one had their share of setbacks, disappoints, rejections and unsuccessful attempts but those were not failures to these people. They were steps to their success. That's the difference between people who are winning at working and people who aren't. How you deal with your setbacks (big or small) will determine your results. You see, failure is not the lack of success. Failure is staying down when you trip or stumble. It's giving up, checking out, or shutting down.

You may be surprised that I was fired from my first professional job,I wasn't a failure, although for awhile I felt like one, and I could have been if I'd lost my confidence and given up on my career aspirations. I wasn't a failure when I was passed over for a coveted promotion I'd worked years for, but I could have been if I'd let that setback determine my future. And I wasn't a failure every time I pitched an idea that got turned down, but I could have been if I'd stopped pitching ideas.

For the last sixteen years in management, for every "yes" I've gotten in my career that's visible, there's least five "no's" that aren't. For every success I've achieved, there's at least as many misses. Yet when we look at other people's successes, we miss the struggles, frustrations and disappointments that came before them, so we think their success was easy. It all depends on how one perceives the disappointments, falls, and setbacks will impact your success. Do you see them as stepping stones or brick walls? People who are winning at working live Ralph Waldo Emerson's words, "Men succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories."

People who are winning at working don't blame others for what's happened to them, and they don't use other people's definitions for success and failure. They use their own. They know it's not failing to miss their mark, change paths, re-assess goals, try something new or adjust direction. To them, failure happens when they stop trying to achieve their personal best.