It is extremely difficult to persist in the wake of adversity and failure.

No one wants to fail.

But there is a massive difference between failing… and being defeated.

Failure is an event.
Defeat is a decision.

R.U. Darby learned that lesson the hard way. He sold his Colorado gold mine after coming up empty — only for the engineer who bought it to strike gold six feet from where Darby stopped digging.

Six feet.

Five years ago, I launched my coaching practice.

I expected momentum.

I expected traction.

I expected clients to show up.

They didn’t.

Since then, I have adjusted my focus.

Adapted my delivery.

Refined my target market.

Sharpened my message.
I have not yet reached the summit.

But I am closer than I was yesterday.

There were many moments when it would have been easy to decide that success was not possible. Easy to declare defeat.

Giving up is easy.

Living with that decision is not.

Every setback has sharpened me. Every misstep has clarified me.

Every closed door has refined the mission.

As I state in my Personal DNA — my mission is “Building the future by developing great leaders.”

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That mission does not bend when results lag.

It requires resilience.

Courage is not always loud.

Sometimes it is simply refusing to stop digging.

Don’t quit six feet from gold.

Momentum compounds.

Learning compounds.

Character compounds.

Every failure — if embraced — moves you forward.

So today:
Where are you tempted to stop?
Where are you six feet from gold?
Don’t give up.
Don’t ever give up.

Takeaway: Persistence wins.