Set Yourself Up for Victory; Learn from Your Successes!

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just over a year ago, I wrote a post titled “Focus on Your Strengths, Not Your Weaknesses.” I’d like to revisit and expand on this idea.

You will read in many business and entrepreneurial publications, and hear many “motivational” speakers use phrases like “fail fast,” “don’t be afraid to fail,” “failure is an opportunity to grow,” and “our mistakes are our best teachers.”

I am reasonably sure that the writers and speakers of these phrases mean well. The problem is they are just WRONG!

I mean, really, what exactly do we learn from our mistakes?

You certainly learned that whatever it is you attempted did not work. I’ll grant you that. But did you really learn anything that can help you do it right the next time? Maybe… It depends on knowing what works, not what does not work.

Success breeds success! We move forward in life through a series of victories, using one victory to spur us on to more victories. You will have setbacks in life, to be sure, but it is the successes that keep us motivated to get up again when we fall!

As a Life Coach, writer, and speaker, my goal is to help you succeed at reaching your goals and desired outcomes. The best way for me to do this is to point out the things you are doing well and show you how, by making an adjustment to a behavior or thought, you can do that thing better! No coach ever gets someone to improve their game by focusing on the failures.


Have you ever taught a teenager how to drive a car? In my experience with this, there is no faster way to frustrate and demotivate a teenager than to point out the things he is doing wrong. Sure, mistakes are made, but it is best to, initially, let those pass. You show him the correct way to do something, have him try it, celebrate what he did right and then mention a different way of trying it so it goes even better next time! Acknowledging and celebrating success creates an atmosphere that fosters more success! This was the method that worked for my son. If any of you are going through this currently, stay patient. They will get it eventually. Once they do, it will be time to find them a vehicle and insure it. When looking for car insurance, it’s important to find one with good coverage for an affordable price. Perhaps some people would like to visit NetNewsledger.com to learn more about finding cheaper insurance. They’ll be on the roads in no time.

It is always better to set yourself, and others, up for success by focusing on what you want, rather than what you don’t want. If you tell a child “don’t drop this expensive vase!” you have focused on the negative outcome and should not be upset if that is exactly what you get! Telling the child “please carry this very carefully”-said with a nod and a reassuring smile-tells her what you want. When she successfully carries the crystal vase to the kitchen, celebrate and reinforce the success by saying “Great job! I knew you could do it! You’re such a great helper!” She will learn from that success, feel more self-confidence, and use that positive experience in other areas of her life.

Always speak to yourself about what you want, not what you don’t want. Instead of thinking “don’t say the wrong thing to her,” try thinking “I am confident and I am going to say exactly the right thing so that…” This sets you in the right mindset to get your desired outcome!

I encourage everyone I work with to keep a victory log. Throughout the day, simply jot down notes to yourself about all of your victories, no matter how small or trivial. “I got out of bed and got dressed this morning,” “I stayed calm during my drive, despite the traffic jam,” “I smiled and said ‘good morning’ to a stranger,” “my family loved the new dinner recipe!” are all great examples of daily victories. At the end of your day, do a mental review of your day and write down all of the things you did well, made you happy, or made someone else happy. Let these be the thoughts you have in your head as you go to sleep at night!

At the end of each week, and again at the end of each month, look through your victory log. You will be amazed at how many successes you have had and how abundant your life is with big and small victories. This will motivate you to look for and, more importantly, create more victories by learning from what has worked for you.

Success, not failure, is the greatest teacher and motivator! Wherever and whenever possible, set yourself up for success!

~ You may also like to hear me speak in more detail about this topic in my “Life Is A Marathon” podcast.


Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you enjoyed it, I’d be honored if you would share it with your family, friends and followers by clicking the Like, Tweet, and Share buttons. If you are not already on my Email list to receive these posts directly, click here to subscribe to my mailing list.

8 thoughts on “Set Yourself Up for Victory; Learn from Your Successes!

  1. Michelle Koh

    The Victory log is certainly an easy thing to do on Evernote on the go throughout the day. Helps build momentum for greater things. Thanks Bruce.

  2. Ian Knabel

    Thanks Bruce. Great article. I love a post that takes conventional “wisdom” and turns it on its head. I loved the idea of Evernote. I am slowly come up to speed with it and just starting to realise what it is capable of.

  3. Kara Driver

    I loved this post, Bruce! I believe that focusing on your strengths allows you to develop the gifts that will make you successful. I am homeschooling my gifted 10-year-old daughter who has learning disabilities as well. She’s a prodigious writer but has dysgraphia (poor fine motor skills for handwriting). When we decided to just let her type and focus on her strengths, she went from writing just a few sentences, to writing stories at an adult level. If we hadn’t let her focus on her strengths, she would never have begun to develop her gift and started working to become a successful writer someday.

  4. Atiba Shaikh

    Hello Bruce,

    I can say that your starting words made me think! I mean, just as you say, we are all used to phrases such as ‘use failures as the stepping stones to success’, but mistakes can actually make you feel more negative about yourself and your abilities too!

    We need to keep thinking about our successes – whether small or big. Only then can we expect to get great success.

    What we need is a positive attitude that makes us always aware of our good things, we can then use it to ward off any negative feelings that an occasional failure brings!

    Thank you for sharing!

  5. Tim

    I re-listened to your podcast on this, this morning and told myself that I’m NOT going to project negative thoughts for the whole of today. Doh!

    Tomorrow I’m going to project positive thoughts for the whole day.

  6. Joan Myers

    Thank you for your positive voice of reason. I strongly believe in playing to my strengths. I thought I was the only one who didn’t agree with the keep failing and learning mantra that I keep seeing and reading.

    One addition to list of positive events throughout the day would be a praise report to God thanking Him for all I have achieved each day.

Comments are closed.