Whenever you are embarking on any risky venture, the well intentioned advice you get is, “Have something you can fall back on.” The advice is meant to caution you that it does not pay to put all your eggs in one basket, so have something to fall back on in case your dreams or aspirations do not pan out well. But have you paid close attention to that advice? Think about it now. Having something to fall back on is preparation for giving up. In other words, if you want to become a writer and you have something to fall back on in case writing does not work for you, then what it means is that you have something else to do when you give up on writing. Having something to fall back on when you want to go into business means that you have something else to do when your entrepreneurial adventure does not work. When you fall back on something, you have failed at something else and actually given up on it. The tricky thing is that when you have something to fall back on, your actions are tentative and half¬hearted. You are trying and if it works, fine; if it doesn't work too fine, because you have something to fall back on. But those who make a difference and impact the world are those who refuse to have anything to fall back on. Speaking to the May 2011 graduating class of the University of Pennsylvania, Denzel Washington said, “When I fail, I don't want to fall back on anything apart from my faith. I want to fall forward.” And he advised the students to, “Fall forward.” Now what does it mean to fall forward? It means persevering through failure. It means failing at something and getting up and pushing forward - not giving upon it. A very confident Mohammed Ali, (then Cassius Clay) predicted that in his fight with Henry Cooper, he would knock Cooper out in the fifth round. But in the fourth round, Henry Cooper knocked Ali down. It seemed Ali's prediction did not hold and the fight was over. But Ali decided to fall forward. He got up and in the very next round came at his opponent with such fury that before the round was over Henry Cooper was down and out. Ali had chosen to fall forward. Barima Azuma Nelson's first world title fight ended in defeat but he decided to fall forward and go in for a rematch and the result was the beginning of a legend. Ghanaians were given a very eloquent illustration on the concept of falling forward at the last World Cup in South Africa in the match against Uruguay. Asamoah Gyan missed a crucial penalty in extra time and yet picked himself up to take the very first penalty during the penalty shoot-out. It was a wonderful example of falling forward. No wonder his value as a striker skyrocketed after the World Cup. We will all fail at one thing or the other, at one time or the other. Denzel makes the point that most of us have the training to succeed but not the guts to fail and move on. This is a very important thought. Right through school, we are prepared for success and yet one constant thing we all share is that sooner or later we shall be visited by failure in one form or the other. And when failure comes, you can either fall back on something else or you can fall forward and pick yourself up, and gather courage and guts to try and try again. Indeed, if you do not fail at something then you are not even trying because to get what you have never had, you have to do what you have never done and that means being willing to fail and fall forward. Failure does not need to be final. You can move from failure to success. It is important to know that in the very thing that you have failed today, you can persevere and celebrate victory sooner or later.