If you want to be successful, you have to be consistent, and you have to grow from failure. Consistency and failure are the two pillars of success.

This fall, my wife and I decided we wanted to grow some mums as part of our outdoor decorations for the season.

At a local garden store, we found some beautiful yellow mums. We brought them home, planted them, and hung them on the front porch.

Over the next few days, we proceeded to water them consistently based on the instructions and proudly admired the beauty we had just added to our home.

About a week later, they started to wilt. We adjusted our watering, but it was too late, the mums eventually started to die, and there was no stopping them. The problem was, the front of our house faces North. The mums died not from overwatering, but from not getting enough sunlight.

We decided to try again. We went back to the garden store and purchased more mums. We brought them home and planted them. This time, however, we hung them on the back patio, which faces south and receives full sun.

For the next few days, we again consistently watered them. They looked great.

Then, a few days later, we realized they were drying out, and some of the tips had burned. We increased our watering, but it was again too late, the mums eventually dried out completely. This time, the problem was too much sun. They were getting 12 hours of direct sunlight, and they only need six.

Determined to learn from our mistakes, we decided we would give this one more try. So, back to the garden store.

This time we placed the mums on the back patio in an area that received partial sun. They flourished all season.

There are two pillars to success: consistency and failure. Analyze any successful brand, person, or creation, and you will find this to be true.

In my story above, we were consistently caring for our plants, but we were not successfully growing our mums. We failed twice. But, the entire time, we remained consistent with our efforts and continued to learn from our mistakes, and eventually, we were successful.

That is the model of success.

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