What Really Makes Lions So Awesome?

No-one would argue that lions are pretty good at their job. They are ferocious, strong and highly skilled hunters.

Yet most predatory animals, like lions, fail most of the time when they hunt: their prey is too fast, or is alerted and escapes. We are told that a hunt will fail as many as 9 times out of 10.

Fortunately, lions don't sulk about this or start to lose faith in themselves or wish they had been born a different animal. Nor do they worry about what other lions might be thinking. As their prey disappears into the distance, they stop, review their situation and start looking for the next target. They might change their strategy slightly, perhaps resorting to an ambush rather than a chase, but otherwise they just get on with the business of being lions.

In other words, failing in just part of the process of hunting. When your job is to find enough food to eat, lions simply accept the high probability of regular failure, because it's the only way to ensure you get food eventually. Giving up altogether would mean starving, which is not an option.

There is a famous quotation that says: "Failure is not the opposite of success – it's part of success." As long as we choose to learn from something that goes wrong, we put ourselves in a better position to achieve success in the end.

Another quotation tells us: "You can't stop someone with nothing to lose and no fear of failing."

If lions don't let it get to them, why should you?