Richard Mansell is president of MindPerk, Inc., the web's largest self improvement and business training resource. We all need a boost, some timely training or just an encouraging word once in a while. These original self-improvement and business training articles are packed with useful information, stories, tips, and timeless lessons. At MindPerk, our goal is to inspire self improvement in people from all walks of life and to build a better world in the process. We welcome your comments and input. 
It's a rare person who doesn't get discouraged. Whether it happens to you, or to an associate you're trying to cheer up, the answer centers around one word: persistence.
The value of courage, persistence, and perseverance has rarely been illustrated more convincingly than in the life story of this man -- see if you can guess who it is...
Failed in business age 22
Ran for Legislature -- defeated age 23
Again failed in business age 24
Elected to Legislature age 25
His sweetheart died age 26
Had a nervous breakdown age 27
Defeated for Speaker age 29
Defeated for Elector age 31
Defeated for Congress age 34
Elected to Congress age 37
Defeated for Congress age 39
Defeated for Senate age 46
Defeated for Vice President age 47
Defeated for Senate age 49
Elected President of the United States age 51
The question is not whether we will be knocked down, pushed aside, or treated unfairly -- that happens to all of us, it's life. The question is whether or not we will have the courage to get up and fight on. The old saying is still true "the race is not always to the swift . . . but to those who keep on trying."
During the darkest days of WWII, Winston Churchhill refused to let the disappointment of temporary defeats destroy the will of the Allied forces. His now-famous speech that unified the coalition against the Nazi Regime consisted of only nine words: "Never give up. Never, never, never. Never give up."
It seems that some of the most successful men and women in history had terrible problems to face and overcome. Who is the man who faced defeat after defeat but was finally elected President of the United States? Why it's Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest men in the history of the United States! He was great because his life wasn't easy. He had to work, he had to struggle, he had to persist until he succeeded.
Do his disappointments sound familiar to you? Then you are in good company. You will persist until you succeed. You will continue to press forward. And one day, YOU TOO WILL WIN!