I stumbled across a gem of an article, posted today by INC. magazine.

It talks about the one thing that a successful entrepreneur must have. No, not money, not great management skills, and not innovation.

What you must have is courage.

The life of the storyteller is the life of the entrepreneur. You have a dream, a vision… and you give yourself over to it. You do everything, anything, to see your dream come to life.

And somewhere along the journey, you are going to make mistakes.

The internet is rife with articles screaming “DON’T DO THIS OR YOU’LL FAIL!”I have no use for such blather, for it smacks of the armchair quarterback, as opposed to advice from those that walk the walk. Let me tell you, my darlings – everyone fails. Everyone makes mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, if you don’t fail, then you are not an artist.

Or, as was said at Blake’s memorial, by a very learned director, “In your life, in your career, you’re going to make mistakes. Every now and then, you’re going to fall off the sidewalk… and hopefully, you’re going to get back up. If you haven’t fallen, and if you haven’t fallen more than once, then you aren’t living life.”

Wise words indeed. It takes true courage to risk falling down, and, when you do (not if because you will) stand back up, and risk falling/failing all over again.

For it is not failure that defines you. It’s what you do after that counts.

Now, go write.

HRH, Princess Scribe