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L
EARNING
TO
L
EARN
: B
ECOMING
A
S
ELF
-G
ROWER
349
“Failure is success if we learn from it.”
— Malcom Forbes
“Failure is the tuition you pay for success.”
— Walter Brunell
R
EFLECTION
In this experience, you will use a
Personal Development Worksheet
to help you reflect on how “fail-
ures” can be turned into opportunities for growth, self-development, and success.
P
URPOSE
We must learn to do more than pick ourselves back up after failure; we need to learn to embrace failure
as productive opportunity for growth. Self-growers have learned that taking risks and being willing to
fail is actually beneficial as it provides for greater opportunities, challenges, and growth. When you take
a risk, you may succeed: Great! But if you fail, you can self-assess, figure out what you can do better,
and continue to work to succeed. Failure truly is a frequent and productive stepping stone on the road to
success. Your challenge is to learn to use it that way!
O
BJECTIVES
1. Learn the value of failure as a frequent and productive means for achieving success
2. Increase your willingness to take on greater risks so that new opportunities become available to you
3. Assess failures so that you can turn them into successes
D
ISCOVERY
E
XERCISE
Part 1: Inventory three important failures that you have experienced over the last three years. Clarify
why you felt these were failures. Now focus on the one that is the most distant in time, and about
which you’ve had the most time to reflect and answer the Exploration Questions.
Part 2: Pick a person you really admire, and who is at least ten years older than you. Conduct a 30-minute
interview (optimally in person or by phone) with this person using the questions below as prompts.
Share the responses in the Exploration Questions.
a. What does success mean to you?
b. What does failure mean to you?
c. Have you had significant failures in your life?
d. What were the reasons for these failures, and what did you do about them?
e. How do you feel about failure?
f. What are the benefits you received from your failures?
g. Is there any additional insight or advice you can give me about risk-taking and using failure
productively?