Failing Forward: How to Make the Most of Your Mistakes

by John C. Maxwell

Hardcover, 2000

Status

Available

Collection

Description

Are some people born to achieve anything they want while others struggle? Call them lucky, blessed, or possessors of the Midas touch. What is the real reason for their success? Is it family background, wealth, greater opportunities, high morals, an easy childhood? New York Times best-selling author John C. Maxwell has the answer: The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure. Most people are never prepared to deal with failure. Maxwell says that if you are like him, coming out of school, you feared it, misunderstood it, and ran away from it. But Maxwell has learned to make failure his friend, and he can teach you to do the same. "I want to help you learn how to confidently look the prospect of failure in the eye and move forward anyway," says Maxwell. "Because in life, the question is not if you will have problems, but how you are going to deal with them. Stop failing backward and start failing forward!"… (more)

Publication

Thomas Nelson Publishers (2000), 224 pages

Rating

½ (82 ratings; 4)

User reviews

LibraryThing member aputney2
I believe it was Edison that was asked after 1000 failed attempts to make a working light bulb if he was discouraged. His response - (paraphrase) "no, I now know 1000 ways that it wont work". It is a good book for keeping your head up and learning from your mistakes. Life is often more about how we
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respond to what happens then what actually happens. Filled with good stories of "overcomers" from all walks of life.
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LibraryThing member n2funstuff
Outstanding book on overcoming adversity. A must read.
LibraryThing member dannywahlquist
Some of my favorite quotes:
“People are training for success when they should be training for failure. Failure is far more common than success; poverty is more prevalent than wealth; and disappointment more normal than arrival.” J. Wallace Hamilton
“Many of life's failures are people who did
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not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.“ Thomas A. Edison
To achieve your dreams, you must embrace adversity and make failure a part of your life. If you are not failing, you are probably not moving forward.
“Don't let your learning lead to knowledge. Let your learning lead to action.” Jim Rohn
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Benjamin Franklin
“Highly successful leaders ignore conventional wisdom and take chances. Their stories inevitably include a defining moment or key decision when they took a significant risk and thereby experienced a breakthrough.” Larry Osborne
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LibraryThing member brianinbuffalo
Don't get me wrong. Maxwell's book contains a wealth of helpful information. But the fact is, very little of the material was new to me. That's probably because I've read dozens of books that focus on achieving success and coping with setbacks. "Failing Forward" served as more of a reminder about
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some of the lynchpins of success. The biggest takeaway, of course, involves the reality that success hinges more on how we play our proverbial cards and less about the cards we're dealt. The book includes dozens of enlightening anecdotes that reinforce Maxwell's themes -- a few too many anecdotes for my liking. My recommendation: if you've only read a few books that focus on success strategies, this tome will be insightful.
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