And he said, “You couldn’t possibly hope to keep me down.”

Some days I feel as if the universe has strapped on sharp stilettos and stepped on my neck as if I enjoy being dominated. Today is one of those days. I slept in and took a nap shortly after I woke up, refused to get started on a list of habits I’m trying to develop, and waited until the last minute to begin drafting this article.

It happens, and I forgive myself. Because if there’s one thing I can say about myself, it’s that I have a tenacity to keep fighting, even when I’m knocked down. I’m not special for it. Everyone has the potential to overcome adversity, but some battles are easier than others to win. On these days, I have to remind myself that a missed attack is better than no attack.

I’m not going to roll over (again) and let life keep stepping on me and neither should you. Some days, we fail to get started on time or check off a task and it spirals into a bad day. Well, that’s our choice. We can choose to say, “Welp, we didn’t wake up in time for the gym. Guess we’re not going today” or “Welp, missed the gym this morning, but I know I’ll have time later. I’ll get one push up in if that’s all I have time for.”

The most important thing is to show up to the battle. After that, anything can happen. The difference between those who make it and those who don’t is that they embrace failure. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t “made it”, but I want to fail my way into doing so. Frankly, I’m tired of failing because I’m scared of failing. It makes no sense. If we give into cowardly security, we will fall on our faces and give permission to the world to walk all over us.

It’s an old saying that even Jedi Master Yoda echoed. “The greatest teacher, failure is.” I agree, but you have to be willing to learn. Failure isn’t the best teacher if you’re the worst student. So, be a good student and take notes while you fail. If you slept in today or missed the proverbial bus, ask yourself what you need to learn to keep it from happening twice.

I believe that one of the defining traits of humanity is our willpower. We’re always innovating and creating when passion strikes, but what goes up must come down, unless we catch it in the air. Catch yourself when you fall and push the universe off your back. Success is defined by you, not others. To me, success means persistence, not productivity.

In investment, there is intrinsic and extrinsic value. Basically, an object or option has value based on what it is actually worth or what others say it’s worth, depending on factors like demand, expiration, etc. I’m not an economist, so this is a gross oversimplification, but I believe we choose our own type of value. Like motivation, it can either come from ourselves (intrinsic) or others (extrinsic).

You have intrinsic value; you are here for a reason. Trust me, I have days where I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to fight to survive anymore, I want to thrive. If I’m honest with myself, the times in which I feel that I’m thriving is when I’m persisting against an indifferent universe that steps on me like an insignificant bug under a boot. Don’t let yourselves be crushed, because every now and then, even a bug can ruin a person’s day.