The Comeback Chronicles Podcast
Welcome to The Comeback Chronicles, where raw truth meets unwavering resilience. Hosted by Terry L. Fossum, this podcast reveals the untold stories of remarkable individuals who’ve faced crushing defeats—only to rise stronger, wiser, and more determined.
Through candid interviews, you’ll hear about moments of failure, heartbreak, and doubt, as well as the transformational steps that led to victory. This isn’t just about inspiration—it’s about equipping you with actionable strategies, like Terry’s signature ‘Oxcart Technique,’ to overcome challenges and ignite your own comeback story.
If you’re ready to break free from fear, shame, or self-doubt and move boldly into your conquer zone, The Comeback Chronicles will empower you with the tools, mindset, and motivation to rise above and achieve your next great success.
Get ready to turn your setbacks into stepping stones and reclaim the life you’re destined to lead.
The Comeback Chronicles Podcast
Bolt #3: Fail Forward: How Embracing Setbacks Leads to Greatness
Failure isn't the opposite of success - lack of failure is. Understanding this distinction can be the key to unlocking your greatest potential and achievements.
• Failure ingredients like disappointment, letdown, and catastrophe are actually critical components of success
• Thomas J Watson's formula for success: double your rate of failure
• Failure is temporary only if you decide it is
• Stories of famous "failures" like Bill Gates, Abraham Lincoln, and Henry Ford who became legendary successes
• Michael Jordan missed 9,000 shots and lost almost 300 games in his career
• The inspiring 14-year journey of astronaut Mike Fossum, who was rejected from NASA six times before success
• Muscle only grows by being torn down - both physically and metaphorically
• Every failure brings you closer to success by eliminating wrong solutions
Head over to terrielfossum.com to pick up your free gifts and so much more.
If you've been stuck in fear, self-doubt, your past failures and you're ready to break through your comfort zones to finally reach the pinnacle of success in every area of your life, then this podcast is for you. Here's your host Terry L Fossum L Fossum.
Speaker 2:Bolt. Number three that may have held you back in the past is not embracing failure. Now I'm not just talking about not having a fear of failure. I'm talking about something much further than that. We already talked about fears and all of that, but I'm talking about actually learning to love failure, to be happy when you fail, because then, and only then, are you on the right path. Let's get started.
Speaker 2:Calvin Coolidge once said nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you a question what's the opposite of success? What's the opposite of success? Did you say failure? Well, sure, most people do. In fact, I went to a thesaurus and requested an antonym for success, and the first thing that came up was failure. So I went a step further and I asked for synonyms for failure, and it came up with a whole list of scary things Disappointment, letdown, catastrophe, bomb fiasco, disaster, botch flop, crash, collapse, even ruin. But I'm here to tell you that this just isn't true. Failure is not the opposite of success at all. In fact, I'll go yet another step and say that lack of failure is the opposite of success at all. In fact, I'll go yet another step and say that lack of failure is the opposite of success. Let me say that again Lack of failure is the opposite of success. That's right. Write that down if you're able. It's that important. In fact, every one of those things that I mentioned disappointment, letdown, flop, etc. Are absolutely critical to success. If you were able to bake a success pie, these would all be ingredients. Wait a minute, you say You're trying to tell me that disappointment, letdown, catastrophe, bomb fiasco, disaster, botch, flop, crash, collapse, even ruin are ingredients to success, absolutely Without question. Thomas J Watson built IBM to the behemoth that it is today.
Speaker 2:I love his view on the subject. Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple. Really, double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success, but it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can, because, remember, that's where you will find success. That's a pretty great quote from a pretty great man.
Speaker 2:By the end of this recording, you're going to have a whole different mindset on failure. You're going to welcome failure. You're going to be excited about failure. In fact, if you're not failing, you're going to think that something's wrong. See, I believe there hasn't been a single person in the history of the world that has accomplished anything of greatness without failing several times first. Therefore, if you are not failing, you're simply not on your way to greatness. The great Winston Churchill said success consists of walking from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. So if you are feeling fantastic, you're on your way to greatness.
Speaker 2:I did a solo backpacking trip deep into the Arctic Circle. Afterwards I came south and spent some time in the Yukon and hung around some of the gold miners where the stories are legendary about the man who worked his claim, worked his claim, worked his claim to no avail. Finally, tired, filthy and disgusted, he threw down his pickaxe for the final time and handed his deed to his neighbor, saying it's all urine. I've tried and tried. There ain't no gold here. I ain't gonna try no more. Just after he walked away, his neighbor picks up his pickaxe, gives it a good swing and uncovered the biggest nugget you've ever seen. If only the previous owner would have given it just one more swing, but he'll never know how close he came. The Yukon and the business world is filled with stories of people who gave up and failed and others who kept going and succeeded. Let me give you one of my many, many personal examples of failing miserably.
Speaker 2:While still an officer in the United States Air Force, I started in direct sales. I was terrible at it. Imagine this my degree was in mechanical engineering Now engineers aren't exactly known for our personalities, much less sales skills, and my job in the Air Force was basically a nuclear warfare officer. What I had to sell, no one wanted. But no, I decided I was going to give direct sales a try. To say I was terrible at it is like saying the Titanic suffered a fender bender, but I went for it and failed miserably. I would go two steps forward and four steps back. I had so many doors slammed to my face that I had a permanent nosebleed. Okay, I heard the word no, so much. Well, I thought I was dating again, but I kept trying and kept trying and kept trying.
Speaker 2:After months and months of hard work and disappointments, I finally got to the point where the income from my business was more than I was making as an officer in the Air Force. Do you know what that meant for me? Freedom Now, I loved my role in the Air Force. Do you know what that meant for me? Freedom Now, I loved my role in the Air Force. I really did. But I had some other ideas in my head, of things I wanted to accomplish and this would make it possible for me. Freedom I could finally resign my commission and go full time into my new business. I could work toward my goals and make my dreams come true. I was there, I made it.
Speaker 2:And then it happened Literally overnight. Literally overnight, I lost three-fourths of my distribution channels. Literally overnight, I lost three-fourths of my income that went with them. Literally overnight, all of that hard work, all that blood, sweat and tears of months and months and months of hard work completely went away. I was devastated. Look, obviously this isn't for me. I thought. Obviously I just don't have what it takes. I've tried and I failed and tried and failed and tried and failed. When I finally got so close to my goal, I could finally taste it. I fell down again. I fell down hard. There was tears, I'll admit it. I wanted to quit. I wanted to give it up once and for all. I don't have the energy left. I'm done.
Speaker 2:And then I remembered four words that kept me going. Four words gave me the strength to keep going. Words may be the most powerful thing in the world, because words cause emotion and emotion causes actions, sometimes superhuman actions, sometimes in the simplest of ways. Those four words caused me to get back up. These four words caused me to brush myself off and simply get up one more time, because that's the whole secret to success, isn't it? To get up just one more time, then you're knocked down. To get up just one more time, then you're knocked down. That's the whole secret to success. To get up just one more time, then you're knocked down. And what were those four little words, those four life-changing words? Get ready, here they are. This too shall pass, that's right. This too shall pass. Four simple words, but four incredibly powerful words if you believe in them.
Speaker 2:See, those four simple words reminded me that, no matter how bad things are, that no matter how bad things are, they will pass. The pain will eventually ease. Circumstances will change if you make them change and you, and only you, have the power to do so. Keep on failing until you succeed. If you've ever been in a position of deep pain, of deep discouragement, of the depression that comes with the disappointment, you know that it doesn't feel like it will ever change. At the time it feels like your situation is permanent, like it's never going to change. But it will. If you decide it will. If you decide it won't, it won't. If you decide you're going to wallow in self-pity about how things didn't work out, then understand this You're making the decision to be powerless, but you have in you more power than even you know.
Speaker 2:I found that out for myself on the coldest backpacking trip I have ever been on. It was wintertime in the great northwest, with severe cold warnings. Stay inside. The news said it's going to drop into the sub-zero temperature range, especially in the higher elevations. It's very dangerous to be outside. It's going to be in the double-digit sub-zero temperature range. Now most people were smart enough to stay indoors.
Speaker 2:I went backpacking. I drove my four-wheel drive as far up into the mountains as I could and then throw on my snowshoes and backpack from there. With the severe cold I packed an especially heavy pack and was completely exhausted a short ways into the trip. I had to keep going, though there was no level ground on the side of the mountain I was climbing and the side of the mountain wasn't my goal. Anyway, the top was. So I kept going and kept going, each step even worse than the one before it, literally screaming out as I tried to lift my heavy burden over the obstacles in the way. Literally screaming out.
Speaker 2:When I finally reached the top, hours later, I completely collapsed. I didn't take my backpack off, I didn't take my snowshoes off, I just collapsed into the deep snow. I couldn't move a muscle, even breathing was difficult, Seriously. And then then I looked over the mountain range across from me and I saw there was a severe blizzard going on. And as I watched it in my exhaustion, laying there in the snow, I realized the worst case scenario was about to happen. The blizzard was heading right towards me where, moments before, I didn't think I had another ounce of energy left.
Speaker 2:Suddenly I knew I could find more. I had to find more. I had no choice. My survival instincts clicked in and I knew I had to have shelter or I could very easily die. I used what I now knew was my last sparks of energy to find a way to construct my tent, trying to make it ready for the impending storm. Painstakingly, I set it up and secured it strongly to the trees around me so it could withstand the winds and dumping snow that a blizzard can bring.
Speaker 2:Now I was really done, completely drained. Nothing left, that's it, except that if I didn't have a fire, it was going to be a long, cold, lonely night. Now there isn't that much sunlight in the dead of winter, making the nights long to begin with. But nights seem especially dark when you're by yourself in the mountains and the temperatures would be well below zero. Tonight I could stay in my sleeping bag for you know, lots of hours the long night as it turned into a cold day, or I could try to do something about it. Okay, maybe I can squeeze a little energy out of somewhere, but I certainly didn't know where I'd really like a fire Fire. Okay, there's a problem here. Nearly any wood supply is covered by about three feet of snow. Anything sticking up above the snow was covered in heavy frost and frozen solid, making it nearly impossible to light. Okay, I know the problems. It's time to look for the solutions.
Speaker 2:I used my backpacking saw to cut anything I could find and dug through the snow to try to find more. I cut off the outside bark, the wet bark, to try to reach the dry wood beneath it. Rather adept at starting a fire with flint and steel, I got to work and work and work. See, fire needs three things to start Oxygen Okay, it's a little light up here. I'm pretty high up in the elevation, but it's good enough to start a fire. Second, fuel, such as wood. Well, all of my fuel is waterlogged and frozen, but it's all I've got, and if I'm going to start a fire I need to make it work. Third, heat Heat. Okay, crap, it's way below zero up here. That makes it very hard to start a fire, but hard means it's possible, so let's figure out a way.
Speaker 2:So I finally gave up the switch from flint and steel and went to matches. That should work. Okay, nope, that did not work. But I always carry a lighter. Let's use that. Nope, that didn't work either. I hate using fire starters. That's cheating to me, but I carry some with me in my pack for an emergency situation.
Speaker 2:This was reaching that point. So I finally broke down and used one of those. Not even that was working. Nothing was catching this waterlogged, frozen wood on fire, so I used another fire starter, and another, and another. I tried every method I knew and nothing was working. So, completely exhausted and using absolutely the last ounce of any energy reserves that I truly had in my body, I finally collapsed in the snow by my cold, lifeless fire lay. That was it. I'd done the last strike. It was going to be a long, cold night, cold days up in those mountains, and the fire started. It started. I couldn't believe it. I was absolutely blown away. See, all my efforts had dried out the wood.
Speaker 2:I didn't realize I was making progress with each failure. Let me say that again, I didn't realize I was making progress with each failure. It didn't seem like I was making progress with each failure. I certainly couldn't see any positive results, just me failing and failing and failing again. That's all I saw. But each time I tried, I was really making progress by drying out the wood a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more. Each time I failed I was getting a little bit closer to success. And that last tiny bit of flame, that last bit of energy I had, was enough to start it up. Okay, that and a lot of prayer, not necessarily in that order. If I had stopped one more time before that, I wouldn't have succeeded. Everything I tried failed until it succeeded. Each failure led to another one, and that failure led to another, and to another, and to another, until eventually they led to success. Keep on failing until you succeed.
Speaker 2:Another difference between the successful people and the unsuccessful people are that the unsuccessful ones see failure as permanent and the successful ones well, they see it as temporary. If failure is permanent, why bother getting up? Why bother trying again? I failed, for goodness sake. What I tried didn't work. It can't be done. No, maybe it can't be done the way you're doing it, but it can be done. It can be done if you decide it can. It will, because you get up one more time than you're being knocked down. Keep on failing until you succeed. Now I told you how I had a major setback in business and lost three-fourths of my business income overnight. But you know what that's how business is. That's how success is.
Speaker 2:My story isn't unique. I wasn't part of a minority that didn't get it right the first time. I was part of the vast, overwhelming majority of people that failed the first time and the second, and on and on and on. But because I viewed that failure as temporary, on and on and on. But because I viewed that failure as temporary, had my little pity party dusted myself off, got back to work. I failed many more times and eventually succeeded, building distribution channels literally around the globe.
Speaker 2:I talk a lot about Bill Gates because he's such a great success story, but did you know that Bill Gates was actually a failure? That's right. He was a failure, a terrible failure. He started a company called TrafoData. Ever heard of it? No, and neither has anyone else. Okay, well, one guy did. One guy the guy who laughed Bill Gates and his partner Paul Allen, out of his office because the machine they were showing him trying to sell him wouldn't even work. Now I take that back. Bill Gates was absolutely not a failure. Listen, his product was a failure, but he was not. He didn't fail because he kept going. If he would have given up on his business altogether, picked up a will work for food sign, well then maybe, but that's not what Bill did, is it? He got up one more time than he was knocked down. He kept on failing until he succeeded.
Speaker 2:Abraham Lincoln may be one of the biggest failures in US political history. He lost his job, he had a nervous breakdown, he went to war a captain and returned a lowly private. He failed nine times in politics alone. But guess what? He tried ten times and that tenth time made him one of the most known. One of the greatest presidents in the history of our country. Was Abraham Lincoln a failure? Hardly, he could have been, but he chose not to. He chose to get up one more time than he was knocked down. Henry Ford lost everything on five different business ventures lost everything. Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest coaches in history, was told that he possesses minimal football knowledge and lacks motivation.
Speaker 2:The founder of FedEx, fred Smith, outlined his entire business plan in a college paper, for which he received a C, and was told, and I quote the concept is interesting and well-informed, but in order to earn better than a C grade, your ideas also have to be feasible. How about them apples? One of the greatest basketball players of all times, michael Jordan, admits I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been entrusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life and that's why I succeed.
Speaker 2:I'm going to tell you one last story here, but before I do, I need to make sure you understand Not every story has a happy ending, but we can learn from it. Okay, let me say it again Not every story has a happy ending, but we can learn from it. Okay, here we go. You heard where I grew up and that my brothers and I were expected to never grow up to be anything, and that's the quote. Well, my brother, mike, sent out to prove them right. Well, he didn't mean to. But not every story has a happy ending.
Speaker 2:Okay, so check this out. He decided he wanted to be. Are you ready for this? Okay, here it goes. He wanted to be an astronaut, that's right, an astronaut from our neighborhood, heck, from our family, our family, the Fossums. Okay, but get this. He went for it. Yeah, him and several thousand other people. And guess what happened? You're right, he didn't make it. Yeah, go figure.
Speaker 2:Remember, not every story has a happy ending, but we can learn from it. He didn't make it. So now he understands he's not going to be an astronaut, right, pick door number two. No see, he's the stubborn brother. So he actually tried for it again, now understanding that trying for it is actually a two-year process. It's not just sending NASA a postcard Dear NASA, I'd like to be an astronaut. No, it's two years of applying, obtaining a higher level degree, rebuilding your resume even further, going through the mental testing, psychological testing, the physical testing, all of this to get your hopes up again. And guess what happened this time? Yep, he didn't make it, remember? Not? Every story is a happy ending. So that's four years of failing. Now, right, two years trying it twice, four years of failing. And I love telling this story to high school classes and asking them could you fail at something for four years straight, your entire high school career, and keep going? Kind of puts it in perspective, doesn't it? I'll ask you the same question Could you continue to fail and fail for four years straight and keep going? Well, now Mike finally understands he's not going to be an astronaut, right? No, he goes for it again and fails. So he goes for it again, and fails, and again, and fails, and again. Wow, how many years of failure is that? Now let's see six times two.
Speaker 2:12 years of failure. 12 years, and I've got to tell you that that hurt. It was terrible. Imagine that each time, getting your hopes up, this was going to be the time You're finally going to do it Hoping, praying, picking yourself up from the ground time and time again, all of your friends watching, rooting for you, only to be slammed down again for the 12th year in a row.
Speaker 2:Man, I can tell you that Mike used to joke about not going near a high place when he got the rejection letter or a phone call or for fear of what he might do. I'm not sure he was joking, guys. It was so horribly demoralizing. And you know there was tears. And you know there was tears. And you know there was depression and maybe even anger. How could there not be 12 years of going for this, only to be shot down again? I warned you from the beginning that not every story has a happy ending, but we can learn from it.
Speaker 2:But it got worse. It got worse when his friend from across the street made it. Someone who hadn't been going for it for nearly as long as Mike not nearly as long made it Party going on across the street, not at Mike's house. But it got worse. In fact, it got a lot worse. It got a lot worse when Mike's boss at NASA called him into his office and said basically, mike, you understand now that you're not going to be an astronaut, right? We've been trying to tell you for over a decade that you're not good enough. You don't cut the mustard, buddy. You understand now. You're never going to be an astronaut, right? Man? That's horrible, but it got even worse when he continued. You need to understand that you're too old. Now You're past the window. Nasa doesn't accept astronauts at your age. It's no longer highly improbable. It's now impossible. There's absolutely no way you're ever going to be an astronaut. That's it. Not a chance in the world. The dream was over, believe it or not. It got even worse than that. It got worse when he continued. Mike, for over a decade we've been trying to tell you you're not good enough to be an astronaut. For over a decade, you've been continuing to work towards that foolhardy goal instead of working your career for your career progression and doing the right career moves. You need to do an about face immediately or you're going to lose your job here at NASA.
Speaker 2:Mike was completely devastated. Keep in mind, guys, this is my brother we're talking about here. Okay, this isn't something I read about or heard about. This is my brother, and my brother, who I love, was completely devastated. His lifelong dream was no longer improbable. It was now impossible. That was the end. Not every story has a happy ending, but we can learn from it.
Speaker 2:And when I found out that Mike was going for it again, even when it was completely impossible, impossible, I called him up and I told him I want to make sure you understand something, mike, I don't care. And I told him I want to make sure you understand something, mike, I don't care, I don't care if you make astronaut. I could not care less. I don't care, because there's no way in the world I could be more proud of you than I am right now. God, I get emotional even doing this recording. God, I get emotional even doing this recording.
Speaker 2:And we got the phone call. He knew right away by the tone of the voice on the other side of the line when the guy said Mike, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. 14 years of trying, 14 years of hopes and dreams, of prayers and devastation, 14 years of tears and falling down and getting back up again, to be killed with two words I'm sorry. I'm sorry when Mike was in grade school. In grade school he got a book on space and wrote in it someday I will touch the stars. In grade school, to be killed with two words Mike, I'm sorry. What the gentleman said next literally dropped Mike to his knees when he said Mike, I'm sorry, you need to come clean out your desk. We try to tell you you no longer work here. You no longer work here because you've been selected to be a US astronaut. He did it.
Speaker 2:Mike not only went up in space once, he went up three times. The third time he stayed for six months as the commander of the International Space Station. Get this. Mike is currently number 12 in US history for number of hours walking in space. You remember that man who said we'd never grow up to be anything? Well, we do too, and it's okay. It's okay, but he probably still has to bite his tongue pretty much every day when he hears about Michael E Fossum Middle School in McAllen, texas. That's right. My brother has a school named after him, the mighty Fossum Falcons. Isn't that amazing, see?
Speaker 2:Mike failed over and over and over again and that's why he succeeded. Every time he failed, he actually succeeded because he learned something from it each time and he applied that knowledge and re-approached the same challenge from a different angle, with more experience, with more know-how, instead of it wearing him down. Listen to this. Instead of it wearing him down, it made him stronger. Muscle only grows by being torn down. I want you to write that down. Muscle only grows by being torn down.
Speaker 2:We all hear about people's successes and yet we really see what they went through to get there. Behind any glory, behind any accomplishment, is sweat and exhaustion, tears and sorrow, disbelief and maybe even depression. So if you're going through any of that at any point, I want you to remember the path to success leads through failure. It can't be avoided. You don't want to avoid it. It is the path to success. You don't stay there, you don't wallow in it. You look around long enough to learn the lessons you're supposed to learn from it and you keep forging forward on your path to success.
Speaker 2:So now it's time for the self-examination portion. It's time for the action step. Do this when have you failed in the past? Seriously, think of some of the times you failed. Was it temporary or permanent? Who decided whether it was temporary or permanent? If you answered anything other than I did, I want you to go back to the recording on excuses right now. And what's holding you back in the future. What's going to hold you back in the future From now on? When you failed, I don't want you to cry. I want you to rejoice Right on. I failed. Everyone who has succeeded has failed. So I'm on the right path. I know there's a way. There's always a way. It merely becomes my job to find that way. I've eliminated one of the wrong solutions. Now it's time to keep eliminating others until I find the one that works. I'm going to fail and fail and fail as many times as it takes until I succeed. And I'd like to leave you with one last thought as we end this recording. This is something I wrote about failure after it knocked me down several times and I kept getting up until I succeeded. If you don't mind, I'd like to share it with you right now Failure.
Speaker 2:Failure is not something to cower from or fear. Failure is not some great giant that can overpower you and take away your will to fight. You will stand up strong in the face of failure and scream with all of your courage and might. You may have seized the moment, but you will not seize the day as long as there is breath in my lungs and blood in my veins. I have been given the power to succeed and succeed I will.
Speaker 2:You cannot conquer my hope. You cannot smother my dreams. I accept and I take responsibility for my actions or inactions. That gave you power temporarily. Now I take back that power because it's mine to wield and no one else's. I know you will follow me on my journey to success, tempting me to stumble and hoping that I do. But if I fall, I will get up and press on. If I rest, it will be only to gain my strength for the next mountain I must climb. And if I look back to see you, it will only be to give me the steel of will to press on, no matter the obstacles you put in my way. I see you and I rebuke you. Now get behind me so I may see my way once again to victory. When it comes to not embracing failure, it's time to embrace it. It's time to love it. It's time to blow that bolt.
Speaker 1:So that's it for today's episode of the Comeback Chronicles. It's time to blow that bolt to reach the pinnacle of success in every area of your life. Head over to terrielfawesomecom to pick up your free gifts and so much more. We'll see you next week on the Comeback Chronicles podcast.