I have a story for you today. Once, there was a young boy. He started his entire life on the back-foot when he was born prematurely in a bedroom somewhere in Oxfordshire, England. As a kid, he wasn't very clever, and did very poorly at school.

Everyone in his class got by just fine in all the subjects, but this boy just didn't seem able to retain anything in his head long enough to pass an exam. He was always at the bottom of the class, and his heavy stutter and strong lisp didn't help much either.

Maths was the worst subject for him. Throughout primary school, every single class teacher tried their hardest to communicate simple mathematical principles to this boy. They used objects to teach him addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. He would get it today and forget it tomorrow.

In his final year of primary school, he got held back for failing his maths test three times! He became bigger and taller than all his classmates, but he just couldn't break through the academic barrier to move forward. 

Eventually, he passed the Maths test on the fourth attempt, and made it through to secondary school. That was another seven-year torture session for this boy. His father, who had concluded long ago that his son, was retarded, tried to be as encouraging as possible.

His dream was for his boy to become a lawyer, so in spite of his son's putrid performance, he still encouraged the young lad to attempt entry into Oxford and Cambridge. They both rejected him. Finally, the old man gave up and sent him off to join the military. Even then, he failed the entry exams three times before finally scraping through.

Throughout his military career, the boy - now a man - still maintained a frustrating familiarity with failure. He was involved the planning and tactics of a battle that failed so abysmally, they named it "The Gallipoli Disaster". Many other people were involved in that fiasco, but he was singled out for special condemnation by his superiors. At this point, he actually declared, "I am finished". He was wrong.

The catalogue of failures did not end there. Throughout his adult life, he suffered from depression. It made him a horrible person to be around. Even in his mature years, this guy continued to fail. He held a political position for a while, and in spite of doing well at post, he still managed somehow to fail to get re-elected.

Indeed, by the time of his death, there was no endeavour that this fellow had ventured into, in which he hadn't failed in one way or another - academics, military, politics, FAIL! FAIL! FAIL!

The End.

Now, you're probably thinking, "What a loser. What a failure. What an uninspiring tale of mediocrity. In fact, Kojo, isn't this supposed to be a message of motivation? Why are you telling us the story of such an uninspiring man?"

Well what if I told you that after failing the entry exams three times, this same guy rose through the military ranks faster than the Tweaa DCE's temper? What if I told you that in spite of his continuous battle with depression, this young man was an exemplary military officer, who led his men to countless victories in battles across Europe, South America, Asia and Africa?

What if I told you that in spite of the Gallipoli Disaster which made him think he was finished, this man continued to get promoted through the military ranks until he retired in the position of First Lord of the Admiralty?

What if I told you that as a politician, this man was given appointments by several governments, and held numerous posts,including President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, Secretary of State for Air, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and Chancellor of the Exchequer? 

What if I told you that, in addition to being a politician, this man was also an accomplished writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature?What if I told you that he was the first person ever to be made an honorary citizen of the United States?  What if I told you that a 2002 opinion poll named him the Greatest Briton of All Time? What if I told you that in spite of his multiple speaking impediments, this man delivered some of the greatest speeches in human history?

What if I told you that the sordid tale of misery, failure and woe I just shared, is actually the story of The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, RA, famed Nazi-defeating Prime Minister of Great Britain?

Are you inspired now?

My friends, when you look at your life, what do you see? The failures of your past? Or the successes of your future? Sometimes, it's easy to focus on the things that have gone wrong so far, but please, don't conclude your story half-way through. Don't say "I am finished". Don't say "The End". Don't place a full stop where there should be a comma.

Don't conclude that this is all there is to your life when your successes are yet to come. If your life is hard now, that's all the more reason why you CANNOT stop now. As Winston Churchill himself once said, 

"If you're going through hell, keep going".

My name is Kojo Yankson, and failure may be part of my story, but never all of it.

GOOD MORNING, GHANAFO!