It’s the final week of the Better You Course and we’re focusing on failing forward. Failing forward is the #1 most important skill when it comes to leading yourself well and leading others.

In life, it’s not a matter of if you will fail. It’s just a matter of when you will fail and how you will respond.

We all will fail at some point in our journey but winners and leaders dust themselves off, learn from their mistakes, and see it as an opportunity to get better. As difficult as it may be, it’s time to redefine failure and start embracing the lessons it can teach.

It took JK Rowling 7 years to write the first Harry Potter book and then all 12 major publishing houses rejected the story.

217 of 242 investors turned down Howard Schultz, the business leader who brought Starbucks to the world.

Walt Disney’s first company went bankrupt.

Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first TV job because she was said to be “unfit” for TV.

Before he starred in Rocky, Sylvester Stallone was rejected by talent scouts 1,500 times and at one point sold his dog for $25 in order to turn his lights back on.

This course is about being better every day, but there are going to be days you fail. Let’s finish strong and become experts at failing forward.