Definition of success:  Fall down 7 times, stand up 8 times.
(Japanese Proverb)

There are no failures, only outcomes.  It took Thomas Edison 10,000 attempts before he invented the electric light bulb.  Along the way, he was asked about his many failures.  He declined to count any of his first 9,999 attempts as failures.  “I didn’t fail; I just discovered another way not to invent the electric light.”

We always count the ultimate outcome we desire as a success.  But each step along the way is also a success.  Each step teaches us something we need to know.  The key is not to always get the outcome we want (which, by the way, is impossible).  The key is to learn from each experience – which makes each experience a success.

Mistakes are a vital part of the process.  We learn through our mistakes.  If we were perfect and never made mistakes, we would be quite stupid.

The single most important element of success is how we respond to setbacks.  Responding positively to setbacks insures that we will be successful in everything we do.  Setbacks enable us to adapt and improve.

Setbacks are the ignitions to greatness.  Virtually all the world’s greatest had setbacks.  Lincoln was repeatedly defeated for office.  Washington lost many important battles.

During the Revolutionary War, General Nathaniel Green lost one battle after another to Cornwallis.  But after every lost battle, he persevered, coming back stronger.  At Yorktown, he won the last battle, and the war.