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“When things go wrong, the natural tendency is to look for someone to blame.”

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2016-02-02) from his book, 3 Things Successful People Do: The Road Map That Will Change Your Life (p. 118). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Maybe you’re in a bad situation and you are wondering whose fault it is.   But John says, “The next time you experience a failure, think about why you failed instead of who was at fault. Try to look at it objectively so that you can do better next time.” He then shares from his friend, Bobb Biehl a list of questions to help you analyze any failure.   Here they are: “• What lessons have I learned? • Am I grateful for this experience? • How can I turn the failure into success? • Practically speaking, where do I go from here? • Who else has failed in this way before, and how can that person help me? • How can my experience help others someday to keep from failing? • Did I fail because of another person, because of my situation...

“If you keep hitting the wall, it may be time to back up and look for the door.”

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2016-02-02) from his book, 3 Things Successful People Do: The Road Map That Will Change Your Life (p. 117). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Is this you?   Do you seem to keep hitting the same wall? John says, “ If you keep hitting the wall, it may be time to back up and look for the door. If you keep taking the same detour, maybe it’s not a detour but your main road. However, when you experience failure after failure but your dream burns within you just as strongly as ever, keep going. Also recognize that some of the greatest accomplishments of life literally were birthed out of failure.” He then says, “For example, look at the life of John James Audubon. He is considered a pioneer in wildlife study and preservation. But in the early 1800s, he was merely an unsuccessful shopkeeper in Louisville, Kentucky. He attempted to support himself and his wife, Lucy, in that oc...

“Most people who never learn to fail forward are stopped because they take failure personally.”

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2016-02-02) from his book, 3 Things Successful People Do: The Road Map That Will Change Your Life (p. 116). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) This matter of failing forward is such an important thing to believe and do.    In a continuation of this thought on people taking failure personal John says, “They start saying to themselves, ‘Why can’t you do anything right?’ or ‘You shouldn’t have tried; you knew you couldn’t do it,’ or ‘See that; you’re a failure!’ John then says, “But there is a huge difference between saying ‘I have failed’ and ‘I am a failure.”   Someone who has failed can learn from her mistakes and move on. It doesn’t change who she is. But the person who tells himself, ‘I am a failure,’ gives himself little hope of improvement. No matter what he does or where he goes, his failure stays with him because he has internalized it. He makes it an ins...