Use failures as motivation for success

Column by Austin Schmitt

Motivation is a funny thing. Some people use it to accomplish great feats and others don’t use it at all.

When Michael Jordan stood up on stage to accept his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he felt the need to call out every person that he used as motivation over the years.

From the well-documented story of his high school basketball coach cutting him, to Byron Russell, the man he famously nudged to the ground to win the last of his six NBA championships, Jordan is a classic example of a person in society turning his history of being slighted into a productive career.

In the recently released album “The Blueprint 3,” rapper Shawn Carter, commonly known as Jay-Z, speaks about the motivation he used as a young child. The song “So Ambitious” starts out with Carter stating, “I felt so inspired by what my teacher said, said I’d either be dead or be a reefer head.” Later in the verse, he says, “I’ll teach his ass.”

As the song moves along, the hook says, “the motivation for me is them telling me what I could not be.”

While the kind of challenge Carter received in school is not a typical motivational experience, it is an experience with which students are subjected. By telling a child that he’s either going to be dead or a drug addict, the teacher is appealing to his emotional side. A challenge like that tends to stick with a man.

It’s safe to say that Carter “taught” his teacher. By becoming one of the greatest recording artists of all time and running a major recording label, not to mention his several other business entities, Carter falls into the category of using personal motivation to fuel his life.

I couldn’t tell you how or why these moments stick out in people’s minds more than other moments in life, but they just do. I guess it would be the fact that these are emotionally charged moments.

When your character is challenged, that is a defining moment in life.

Nearly four years ago in my sophomore year of high school, I was cut from my high school basketball team. Embarrassing? Maybe.

Did it motivate me? Absolutely.

And that’s where it helped me the most. I was at a crossroads in my life and was unsure what to do.

At the end of the previous season, the coach filled out a sheet stating what we needed to work on to be a contributor the next season. It was a two-page sheet. That sheet was taped to my wall for almost two years after that day I got cut. The only reason it came down was because my family moved halfway through my senior year.

I looked at that sheet every time I left my room. I probably looked at that sheet a thousand times over those years. It went beyond the basketball court and became my motivation to get better in every aspect of life. I wanted to prove to the coach that I was better than he was. Everything I did over the next couple years was aimed toward proving him wrong.

Whether it’s Michael Jordan or Shawn Carter, there are examples everywhere in society of people using personal motivation to accomplish great things. It can be a great tool, but at the same time it needs to be used in the correct manner. Confusing this motivation with vengeance can turn a good situation into a dangerous one.