“Learning without reflection is a waste. Reflection without learning is dangerous.” — Confucius

We think we know Abraham Lincoln pretty well. The 16th president of the United States stands as one of the greatest leaders of all time — one who guided us through the U.S. Civil War with wisdom and patience, while riddled with self-doubt.

He is on the penny and the five-dollar bill. The Lincoln Memorial stands in a prominent place in Washington, DC. John Wilkes Booth made him a martyr; the Gettysburg address made his words immortal.

But before he was President he served a single term in Congress. After having served this term, Lincoln returned to Illinois and considered himself a failure.

He had hoped that his service to the cause would have resulted in a presidential appointment in an important office, but was disappointed when it didn’t happen.

During the next five years, he withdrew from public life and lost interest in politics.

But far from being an unproductive time, Lincoln threw himself into his legal practice and more importantly, into a prolonged period of intense “personal, intellectual, moral, and professional growth,” as recounted by Doris Kearns Goodwin in Leadership in Turbulent Times. How did he do it?