I was lamenting some of my life choices to my brother, Ken one day and he mentioned a book I needed to check out that might help reframe my view on where I was in life. He had actually told me about this book before and I showed some interest in it, but added it to my mental list of things to get around to ‘one day.’ I can’t remember the exact events that led to my surrender and finally picking up the book, but reading it gradually changed my life.
The book is called Hannibal and Me: What History’s Greatest Military Strategist Can Teach Us About Success and Failure by Andreas Kluth. Early in its pages, as Kluth shared his own personal story of how he came to write this book, I was captured. Throughout the book, Kluth does something I have rarely seen done, and that is shunning the shortcut, hacky success dogma so prevalent in the current zeitgeist to adopt a contemplative tone that can’t be found among any of the popular ‘thought leaders’ and ‘influencers’ today. What makes this book so important to me is that it is not a discussion on how to become wealthy, powerful, influential, or fit. It’s a discussion of how to view those things from a completely different and more rational perspective.
Unlike so many of the pedantic regurgitations of warmed over ‘success lit’ written by authors too lazy or ignorant to appreciate original sources, this book is poignant and philosophical. It doesn’t tell the reader what to think or what to do when it comes to achieving goals. The insights Kluth shares in Hannibal are many, but I want to approach one of the most profound themes and conclusions Kluth makes in his book that may cause you to lose interest in it immediately.
Yes, you read that right. I’m telling you that you might not even want to finish reading this article before we’ve even gotten into the subject matter of the book.
The Power of the ‘F-Word’… No, not that F-Word!
I suppose now is a good time to tell you that I keep a ‘swear jar’ in my office. No joke. An actual glass swear jar is on my desk where I must deposit coins if I decide to cuss. I’ve had it there for over a year and it has done wonders to reduce the frequency of my swearing to almost nothing. I will discuss the impact this one change has had on my life, but I will save that for another article. I only bring up the jar to let you know that it is not that F-word we’re discussing here.
No, the F-word that has caused many to shudder and even shrink when it is said aloud is failure.
The Power of Words
This next section will not be an attempt to sugarcoat the discussion about failure as a ‘learning experience’ or a ‘temporary setback’ or a challenge that could be overcome once you gained more information and momentum. No matter how tough you believe you are or how rational of a thinker you might be, if you care about your personal mission in life, the word ‘failure’ may sting when you hear it. Why is that? What is the power in words like ‘failure,’ or ‘mistake,’ or ‘defeat?’ Is it possible that you have been conditioned to see failure as some sort of curse word the same way you have been trained subtly to worship at the altar of our modern definition of ‘success?’ Is the prospect of failure the thing that has prevented you from taking the first step toward accomplishing a goal? Is it preventing you from progressing toward your goal, because it is just too much to take if you…fail?
After all, everywhere you look and everyone you talk to pretty much tells you only the positive parts of their project or enterprise. Rarely is there an instance of them spending more than a moment relaying a massive setback that at the time might have seemed like ultimate defeat for them. I’m talking about something that can feel much more permanent, partly because the end can’t be seen. It can be something that’s so taboo to talk about in western society, because honestly, when we do for too long it starts to hurt. Also, our culture and history haven’t lent us the ‘grounding’ of a philosophical outlook that would be beneficial in trying times. Even the least superstitious member of any group will initially flinch at discussing the prospect of failure.
The type of failure I’m talking about is the ‘realest’ kind of all, or at least the realest to you. It’s the type of defeat where the reality of your changing circumstances moves around you and your organization so rapidly that your perception of what you thought you knew to be true is forced to transform dramatically. It’s in the few moments of lucid reflection in which you engage between repeated failed attempts toward your goal that you begin to realize the goal cannot (and will not) be accomplished. I repeat, the goal will not be accomplished.
This kind of failure could be called ‘bone crushing’ or ‘earth shattering.’ So, what do we do when we encounter it? Do we give up? Do we keep going? Or is there another solution and is there a way to minimize the power of this word and the concept of failure?
Redefining Failure
There is a simple, yet poorly known key to arresting the power certain words have over your mind; that is to study the etymology of the word. In another post, I want to spend some time talking about the value of this activity and how it has helped me in so many ways, but for now, we’ll stick to the subject at hand. The word ‘failure’ originates from the mid-17th century Anglo-Norman French. The word was originally spelled failer, and generally was used to describe a ‘non-occurrence’ and/or a ‘cessation of supply.’
What? It wasn’t used to denote a catastrophe, a disaster or even just an embarrassing event? No, the original intent for the word ‘failer’ by the French was to discuss an event not transpiring or the running out of something that was likely vital to existence and survival.
In other words, it was just another word. Kind of anti-climactic.
Make no mistake, it was a word used to describe a condition that could be serious and real, such as running out of food or a harvest that couldn’t come because of an early frost. However, in that moment the word to be used was not in itself catastrophic or disastrous. The word didn’t imply death. The conditions could lead to a disaster, like starvation, if not addressed, but it doesn’t seem like the Anglo-Norman French peoples used that word to describe an immediately disastrous situation. Therefore, they were likely not paralyzed by fear when the next season to plant crops arrived.
So, how did failure gain so much power over the minds of men and women everywhere and how much power does its counterpart, ‘success’ have over the above-mentioned collective?
That ‘S-Word’ Too!
I had no intention of writing an article of this long when discussing failure and success. There are several other writers spouting pithy phrases and quippy quotations on failure and success. I know because I’ve been one of them. Yet, how often do they delve into the oft esoteric etymology of a word so they not only understand the meaning behind the word, but more importantly, understand themselves? And then dig deeper than that and really ponder what it all means? That will be for another time.
So, what is the origin of the word ‘success?’ Authoritative online sources vary slightly on its origins. I decided on the following to understand the etymology of the word ‘success.’
It comes from the Middle English word: succeden, which in turn took the word from the Anglo-French word: succeeder, that was passed down from the Latin succedere. What’s fascinating about that analysis is the word maintained much of its original root with little variation after all these centuries. However, what does it mean? The Latin origin says cedere is: ‘to go up, to follow after.’
So, the word ‘success’ wasn’t introduced into the Latin language to indicate vast amounts of wealth, a beautiful home, expensive vehicles, and lavish vacations? It wasn’t intended for the YouTuber who hits a million subscribers and is raking in riches all year from their video channel? It wasn’t for the political candidate or professional athlete who reached the pinnacle of their pursuit with relentless focus?
No, it seems the word success was originally meant to pursue or go after something. In other words, to borrow from the cliché, it was about the journey, not the destination. I find that interesting, because most portrayals of success in modern society have to do with having already gotten the thing and achieved the goal, not the struggle towards the goal.
Back to ‘Hannibal & Me’
In Hannibal and Me, Kluth explores the life-changing challenges of numerous historical figures in Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Cleopatra, Carl Jung and Hannibal Barca, the ancient Carthaginian general who the book is named after and was the one who crossed the Alps into Italy with the intention of destroying ancient Rome. Barca never followed through on that final task. However, of the accounts Kluth shares that had the most impact on me, was his retelling of the ‘failed’ expedition of famed early 20th Century explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Sir Ernest Shackleton: The 20th Century’s Biggest ‘Failure?’
