The Famous “Never Give Up” Speech
On the 29th October 1941 the Prime Minister at the time Winston Churchill visited Harrow School to listen to the traditional songs he had sung there as a youth, as well as to talk to the students (his famous never give up speech).
This became one of his most quoted speeches, but distortions have evolved as to what he actually said.
The myth is that Churchill stood before the students and said:
“Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give in. Never give in. Never give in. Never give in.”
Then he sat down.
The truth is, he made a whole speech that included ‘never give up‘, ‘never give in’ and other words similar to those above.
However, I’m not concerned with exactly what he said because the key thing is that the quote above, whether he said it or not, is excellent advice. Many of the worlds most successful entrepreneurs swear by the ‘never give up‘ idea.
Why You Should Never Give Up
The simple answer to this is that if you give up on anything without a genuinely good reason then you’ve instantly failed at that task.
There are some good reasons for ditching an idea/task and moving on to something else. For example, if it’s proving to be a really bad idea (and I’ve have a few of those myself) then don’t be afraid to drop it before you waste too much time on it.
I don’t consider this to be giving up, as long as you purse something else instead and don’t give up completely. Most of all learn from your mistakes and don’t make them a second time.
Try out lots of things, drop the ideas that don’t work and run with the ones which do. This is a very good strategy for achieving success.
However, if you give up completely and stop trying, you’ve just guaranteed your failure and lost your business mindset. Two good reasons to never give up.
Admittedly, we all Fear Failure to some degree but we should never allow it to stop us from at least trying.
I fear failure and sometimes feel like giving up as much as the next person. What sets us apart from the rest is that we don’t allow fear to stop us trying and we don’t allow ourselves to quit, we never give up.
Persistence and the Never Give Up Philosophy
I’ve written about Persistence before and I’m sure I’ll write about it again. The reason being, it’s fundamental to our business mindset and to our success.
Taking action, focus, goal setting, etc are all important but without relentless persistence your actions, ideas, and goals are worth very little.
So next time you feel like giving up, try doing what I do and take a little time out do something which inspires you.
Maybe re-read a book which has inspired you before, listen to an inspiring Podcast or re-visit your Definite Major Purpose and have a think about why you’re doing all this.
It might be your family, friends or Famous Entrepreneurs which inspire you.
Take that time out, recreate that fire in your belly, that passion you used to have and then get back to work on your goals.
Above all remember this (and I think you know what I’m going to say)… never give up, not now, not ever, be a stubborn as that mule in the picture :)
