Sometimes You Win Sometimes You Learn

John Maxwell is a leadership expert, speak and trainer. He is the founder of his own consulting firm, The John Maxwell Company, as well as EQUIP, a nonprofit organization which has trained more than 5 million leaders worldwide. Mr. Maxwell has written and sold more than 21 million books over his career including the bestsellers The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. He is a graduate of Ohio Christian University, Azusa Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary.

You always learn more from your losses than you ever learn from your successes. The key to achieving that is to approach and look at your losses the right way.

To turn each setback into what ultimately becomes a step forward, you have to avoid the traps people fall into. To learn from your losses:

Admittedly, learning is not easy during challenging times and often it takes real discipline to keep learning when everything is going wrong but if you can do that, it will amaze you what you learn from your failures.

1. HUMILITY — Be humble — have the spirit of learning. It's certainly true your losses make you humble. Just make certain you learn from your mistakes so you don't repeat them over and over.

2. REALITY — Accept reality as the bedrock of learning. To succeed in life and learn from your losses, you have to face reality and use it to create a foundation for growth. To do otherwise just doesn't work.

3. RESPONSIBILITY — Be responsible — always a great first step. Taking responsibility is generally the first step of learning. Nothing happens until you step up and say, "I am responsible for moving things forward."

4. IMPROVEMENT — Stay focused on learning to improve. Intentional, ongoing improvement lies at the heart of learning from your loses. Be committed to learning something new every day and you will get better.

5. HOPE — Be optimistic that better days lie ahead. To learn from your losses, you must keep cultivating hope. Embrace the idea that the future is bright and you will have the fortitude to learn and move on.

6. TEACHABILITY — Always be teachable and willing to learn. To learn from your losses, you've got to be teachable. If you make the mistake of assuming you already know it all, you're going to miss out on some great lessons.

7. ADVERSITY — Use adversity as a catalyst for learning. Adversity is a great catalyst for change. If you respond positively to every adversity that strikes you, this can and will drive you to great achievements.

8. PROBLEMS — View problems as opportunities to learn. The great thing about problems is they are really tremendous learning opportunities in disguise. Get to work solving them and you will learn lots.

9. BAD EXPERIENCES — Let bad experiences give you perspective. Even bad experiences can be turned into great experiences if you have the perspective of learning as you go. Let them do you some good.

Nobody goes out of their way to have bad experiences. The reality is, however, they will arise. To turn them into learning experiences:

10. MATURITY — Have the maturity to value all you learn. The ultimate reward for learning from your losses is maturity. Maturity is a great mix of wisdom, stability and enduring temporary setbacks. Seek it.