Essay Sample: Perseverance in the Face of Failure

Before 1986, most people relied on vacuum cleaners equipped with large bags in order to clean their homes. However, these vacuums were tedious, expensive to use, and would lose suction as soon as they filled with dust. This would all change in 1969 when James Dyson began his work on the first ever bagless vacuum cleaner. His idea stemmed from a saw mill where he saw a thirty foot large conical centrifuge that would spin the dust out of air. Fifteen years and 5127 prototypes later, Dyson had finally perfected his creation—a vacuum that was capable of maintaining suction and filtering out dust. 

Dyson’s undeniable ability to persevere despite his failures led him to develop one of the top selling vacuum cleaners of all time. Throughout the engineering process, Dyson “was really counting for pennies by 2627, and by 3727 my wife was giving art lessons for extra cash” (James Dyson,5 ). Due to his financial hardships, he saw failure after failure occur. It was only halfway through his final design where he started to see success, as he says in his own words “there were 5126 Failures, but I learned from each one. That’s how I came up with a solution” (Dyson, 2). Dyson’s new vacuum revolutionized the home cleaning industry. Companies who he had once asked to help fund the product were now attempting to reproduce it for themselves. The simple motivation Dyson had to keep pushing through in order to finish what he believed would change the world led to a simpler way to sanitize our homes. 

Dyson did not just stop designing his cyclone technology after his first few failures or because the big companies didn’t believe in him. Instead, he continued to improve on what his past designs lacked. He pushed on through the hardships. He didn’t stop working until he had perfected his design. The result was a finished product based on thousands of prototypes that had failed. 

We saw how Dyson learned from his failures and improved on them to create the perfect design. Similarly, an example of building upon failures and improving oneself is Henry Clay. Henry Clay was unknown and unheard of by much of the general population. He ran for President in 1824, 1832, and 1844, but he did not win in any of those elections. (State.Gov, 6). However, he served as a US senator, a representative, and the Secretary of State. Although he was never able to successfully post a bid for President, Clay made use of the various powerful positions he held. In fact, he was known as the Great Compromiser because he made two famous compromises in 1830 and 1850. These compromises helped prolong the Union for as long as possible while also avoiding a war between the states. This shows how Clay, although failing to achieve a position that he so desperately wanted to obtain, was still able to use his great knowledge of politics in order to keep the Union together for so many years before the beginning of the Civil War. “I would rather be right than be president” (Clay). This quote examines how Clay understood that his ability to create peace was more important than his failed attempts to become president.

Clay didn’t allow his failures to tear him down or make him quit. Instead, he used these failures to learn how he could make himself a “great pacificator” (State.Gov, 1). It is by the means of failure that Henry Clay was able to obtain the knowledge that would lead him to become a successful politician, even though he did not reach the full potential he wanted. It is still agreed on today that his ability to create peace and unity helped preserve the United States during a time where there was growing contempt between the two regions. 

Henry Clay’s ability to learn things from his failures that no one else did eventually led him to be a great compromiser that kept two sides at bay. He didn’t allow the failures to tear him down, but he instead built himself up. Similarly, Dyson’s perseverance even after thousands of failures led him to success. Both these people failed multiple times, but they didn’t stop trying to be successful. Clay’s success came from his ability to keep two sides calm, which was initially caused by his failures in the presidential elections. The Dyson vacuum and its near infinite number of designs eventually led to a final product that incorporated every single design in it.

We just talked about a man who kept the country united through his gift of compromising—a talent that was developed by learning from failure. Another man who persevered after failure was Michael Jordan. The Chicago Bulls of the 90s are widely understood to be the greatest team of all time. Their all-star lineup included some of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game. One of these players was Michael Jordan, a man who won the NBA finals 6 times in 8 years. Before Michael Jordan was a Chicago Bull, a college player, or even on varsity, he was cut from his high school basketball team. The main reason for this was because he was too skinny and too short. His best friend was instead selected for the team at 6’7. With this new desire for greatness, Jordan went on to reshape his career which was characterized by his intense work ethic. “I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.” (Michael Jordan, 26). Michael Jordan’s early failures led him to put in the work to become the NBA’s 1985 Rookie of the Year where he averaged 28 points per game and lead a team that had only made the playoffs once in seven years into 14 straight playoff appearances. Jordan’s struggles to convey his greatness in his early years led to his successes that would yield him the title of being the greatest of all time.

Jordan’s failures throughout his career can be shown in one saying: “I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.”(Jordan, 1). Jordan talked about all his failures because he knew that even though he missed important shots, he could learn to adapt and practice these specific situations to make sure it didn’t happen. His most famous game winner in Cleveland nicknamed “the shot” proves Jordan’s mentality to succeed even under the brightest lights. (NBA.Com, 1). These failures Jordan experienced were important in motivating him to work harder to succeed and be the greatest to ever step foot on the basketball court. 

Dyson, Clay, and Jordan were all people who faced failure in their lifetime but didn’t succumb to it. Dyson’s near bankruptcy and 15 years of his life spent on designing the perfect bagless design led to his net worth of nearly 9 billion today. Clay’s presidential election loss three times taught him to understand the ideas of everyone, leading to him being able to keep a divided nation together for 30 years. Jordan went from not making the varsity team in high school to 5x NBA MVP. All three failures played a big part in changing them to become successful. Though failure seems like an evil attempting to beat us down, it only takes learning and determination to become great.