I truly believe that we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. In his book The Cashflow Quadrant, Robert Kiyosaki says “success is a poor teacher”.Β It has been that way for me. I was thinking about this and had the thought if people are afraid to fail – then how can they get to success?Β I shot this quick video to share my thoughts on the subject.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpz-7dKZrRc[/youtube]
I would love to know what you think so please leave me a comment below.
Erica Jones says
Hi Sue. I totally agree. Success is fantastic but my biggest lessons always came after a massive flop! The trick is to fail faster than anyone else.
Make it a great day!
Erica
Sue says
Hi Erica
Thanks for the comment and I love your tip to fail faster π Great advice.
Sue
Kevin Tyler Smith says
Sue,
You bring a wonderful message with this post my friend.
It just reminds me of one of my beliefs which is…
if you really want to achieve greatness, all you
have to do is shoot for the moon.
Even if you miss, you’ll be among the stars.
Thanks again for your message Sue.
Stay growing,
Kevin Tyler Smith
Promethean Life
Sue says
Hi Kevin
Thanks for the comment. I love you belief of shooting for the moon and I agree you have to be among the stars.
Sue
Oliver Tausend says
Hi Sue,
thanks for sharing your gerat video message. In his book “Before You Quit Your Job”, Robert Kiyosaki is writing a lot about his failures, freely and opening. It’s really good stuff. Even better than learning from own failures is learning from other people’s failures who were so kind to make their mistakes for us π
Take care
Oliver
Sue says
Hi Oliver
Robert Kiyosaki does share very openly about his failures. I know Robert well as I headed up his Australian/New Zealand company for several years. Actually I have known his since 1992 before he wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad. He is an amazing inspiration and example of someone who goes for his goals. His wife Kim is the same.
I also agree with you on learning from other people’s mistakes. I have made some big ones in business and my aim is that others can learn by them. I think though when people become too afraid to fail they go nowhere.
Hope your week is amazing.
Sue
Beth Hewitt says
Hey Sue,
Great post. Failure should be our friend. We should embrace it as part of what makes us become who we are. We should appreciate failure and be grateful for all the experiences and opportunities that come our way.
Whether we succeed or fail, we will always be one step closer to our goals.
Beth π
Sue says
Hi Beth
Thanks for your feedback. I agree with you that we should embrace failure and be grateful for the experiences.
Hope you are having a great week.
Sue
Kevin McNabb says
Sue,
Very good video and message!
I know for me, I have learned more from my failures then from my successes. However, I also think it is important to “Fail Forward” as John Maxwell would say.
Keep up the great messages.
Kevin
Sue says
Hi Kevin
Thanks for the comments and support. I appreciate it very much.
I agree with the “fail forward” concept. Very important.
Have a great week.
Sue
Joe Young says
Failure is a good teacher. It hurts first then helps as we realize we are still here after the blunder. The only direction from failure is forward. Great video Sue. Just an honest video that should make anyone think about failure in a different light. My pastor said it like this once, “Failure or setbacks, are like arrows in a bow, the further back it is pulled the greater the spring forward!”
Cheers,
Joe
Sue says
Thanks for the feedback Joe. I love your pastors way of saying it, and excellent way of putting it!
Over the years when things have gone wrong for me I have learned to ask myself “what is the lesson in this?” There always is one.
Take care
Sue
Jennifer May says
Hi Sue! What a wonderful message and video… I absolutely agree! Our failures are our base to success. They allow us to grow, learn and build strength to achieve the success we are looking for!
Success is not something that is just there as if it was it would not be success. Success is something we earn, we learn and we gain from failures. Failure is an OPTION and should always be a motivating purpose to driving you to your goals and dreams!
As long as we learn from our failures and we gain the knowledge as to which they are there for, we will achieve the SUCCESS that we are so dying to attain!
Awesome video and post Sue! π So very true!
Sue says
Hi Jennifer
Thanks for your feedback. I appreciate it very much. It is such a big topic really. I used to think success was a place I would one day arrive at – and miraculously I would be successful from then forward. How naive when I think back! Wow it is good to reflect on our journey along the way.
Have an excellent week and thanks
Sue
Belinda Cunningham says
HI Sue
I like the idea of failing forward, kind of gives the failure a positive feel. If we never give up will we really eventually ‘make it’, or is there a time that we need to gracefully retreat.
Belinda
Sue says
Hey Belinda
You have raised a very big question here – in fact would be good to blog about – “is there a time that we need to gracefully retreat?” – Do we keep pushing on and never give up – or is there that time?
I believe “it depends”. If we are pursuing our dreams maybe we need to find another way of doing things if we are not succeeding. But there are times when we do need to take a different route altogether. You have asked a big question here.
Sue
Linda G. Cox says
Sue~
As we grow in confidence, we’ll truly make failure our friend. Although it hurts, when we see it for what it is, we will embrace it and learn!
I really enjoy watching you on film! You have a calm, warm demeanor!
Sue says
Hi Linda
You are spot on, it is about confidence.
Thanks for your feedback about me on film – I do not really feel all that comfortable as yet so encouragement really helps. I know it is all practice and experience. I can stand in front of a big audience better than a little camera π
Sue
Jodie says
My vote is failure is a better teacher!
I must say that Belinda’s comment about “gracefully retreating” is making me think of when the ego takes over our driving force – and how that when we can concede to when “barking up the wrong tree” we can capture the lesson even quicker than waiting for the complete failure and/or loss to occur.
That’s definitely another topic of discussion – look forward to see your next post π
Big Hugs,
Jodie
Sue says
Hey I love your comment on Belinda’s comment Jodie. It is really a huge subject and there will be a next post on just that!
Thanks for your wisdom
Sue
Don Enck says
Hi Sue,
There are so many great stories about people that have failed so much but never gave up and then became very successful. The key as you point out is to learn from our mistakes. If we don’t learn and just keep repeating the same pattern over and over then we fall into an insane behavior. It’s important to look at our results, evaluate them, tweak them and move forward again. I’m glad you’re getting many lessons to share with us from this great book.
Sue says
Hi Don
I must confess I have repeated a few mistakes where I did not get the lessons first up. In fact I have repeated some a few times π
Most of my learning from Robert is really from working with him. I hear his voice in his books, especially the first couple. The Quadrant is my favorite.
Louise Steiner says
Hi Sue….I love your video. Last year I had the fortune to hear Darren Hardy speak at a conference and he talked about that very same subject, about learning to love failure. He probably learnt it himself from Robert Kiyosaki π The only difference between a successful and unsuccessful person is that the successful person has had more “no’s” and more failures. This message has really stuck in my mind, so thank you for reminding me.
Sue says
Louise thanks for your comment on the video as I am still getting comfortable with being in front of the camera all encouragement helps π
I agree with the successful person having more “no’s” and failures. Everyone I know who has achieved greatness is an area has some lows along the way.
Darlene Davis says
Sue,
Every failure is a building block towards success. I’m reminded of President Lincoln, Thomas Edison and Sylvester Stalone, all of whom failed multiple times before they pushed through to success.
You look pretty, self-assured and you are well spoken on video. Keep up the great work:)
Sue says
Thanks Darlene
I too need to hear any encouragement on me on video. Seems it is a common thread for us all π
I love the type of stories you mention. I think we are always inspired by people who go against the odds.
Sue
Andrew Walker says
Well Sue, I think both of them are adequately good teachers. Success will keep our spirit lit. Yet, failure will make us strive to reach success.
Sue says
Andrew I agree with you that both teach us. For me personally I have learned more from my failures. Sometimes I just skim over my successes.
Sue