Autobiographies and biographies are great ways to peer into someone else’s life.

We get to see how they operated. We see how they rose to the top. How they beat out everyone else despite the odds. What we also see are the struggles.

We see how long it took them to become successful. We see the countless number of failures. The barriers they had to climb. The losses the had to overcome.

It puts their work into perspective.

They didn’t suddenly accomplish building their business or winning the olympics overnight. The “overnight success” story always sounds better but it’s never true. You don’t build something great overnight.

Reading these types of books is reassuring. You see the doubts these great men and women had. You see the failures they’ve had. You see how hard it was for them. The countless number of times they could have failed or quit.

We typically only hear about the success. We hardly ever hear about the failures.

Hearing about failure is as important as hearing about success.

You start to realize that these individuals are like everyone else. They’re humans. They make mistakes. They have flaws. They have self doubt. These individuals aren’t perfect.

So why do we chastise ourselves for making mistakes? Why do we aim for perfection in our work? Why are we so critical of ourselves?

We shouldn’t be. No one is perfect. No one ever will be. Our work won’t ever be complete.

Seeing great leaders fail, worry, struggle, doubt their work, doubt themselves, lose their money, etc. should make us realize that it’s all part of the journey. It should give you confidence that the way you’re feeling is the same way many successful people have felt. Embrace the journey and the difficulties.

Great leaders and individuals are humans too. They have the same struggles and worries as the rest of us. Don’t beat yourself up over everything. It’s normal to struggle throughout the journey.

“Celebrate your successes. Find some humor in your failures.” -Sam Walton