“The essence of man is imperfection. Know that you’re going to make mistakes. The fellow who never makes a mistake takes his orders from one who does. Wake up and realize this: Failure is simply a price we pay to achieve success.”

-John Maxwell

It’s time to redefine failure. As John Maxwell states, the essence of man is imperfection. The difference between achievers and leaders vs. quitters and losers is that the achievers and leaders embrace the lessons that can be learned from failure. They don’t shy away from it. They don’t hide. They don’t ignore it.

They stare it straight in the face, grab it by the horns, and look at it just long enough to avoid making the mistake again.

Maxwell also says that you really only have two choices: You can fail backward or you can fail forward.

People who fail backward blame others for their issues, they always repeat the same mistakes, they expect not to fail again, they think that they are failures and they quit easily.

People who fail forward always take responsibility, they learn from their mistakes, they realize that failure is a part of success, they maintain a positive attitude, and they take appropriate risks.