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It happens to all of us. We fail a test. We don’t get the girl or guy. We drop the ball, lose a job, or lose a significant amount of money.
We all lose. Even if we make all the right choices.
One of the most memorable lines of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” is spoken by the character, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, when he says, “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”
Indeed. That is life.
Most of us take this hard, and each loss takes with it a portion of our confidence, with some shaking the very foundation of who we think we are.
But what if these losses could add to us, rather than take away? What if we could use loss to succeed?
Well, you can!
Award-winning sports journalist, Sam Weinman, in his book, “Win at Losing: How Our Biggest Setbacks Can Lead to Our Greatest Gains,” gives readers a series of powerful testimonies to the crucial part losing plays in our lives, showing how we can turn even the worst setbacks into comebacks.
Splicing together interviews and advice from professional athletes, executives, celebrities, and politicians, and tempering that wisdom with thoughts from leading psychologists, Weinman brings us the ultimate study in what truly constitutes success.
Hint: it’s not just winning.
Weinman advocates what he calls a “growth mindset,”—realizing that we have the psychological tools that, after setbacks, can help us change how we handle problems.
He uses the example of Michael Dukakis, democrat, politician, and presidential candidate who lost to President George H. W. Bush in 1988.
But even more devastating, though, was his loss in the race for the Massachusetts governor’s office in 1978—a race he should have won. That loss was personally devastating to him—his win was assumed, and he was ahead in the polls. It seemed an easy election.
Dukakis thought this latter loss would be the end of his political career. Little did he know that he would go on to win back his previous post, becoming the longest serving governor Massachusetts had ever seen, even going on to become the chosen democratic presidential candidate ten years later.
We all lose. Even if we make all the right choices.
One of the most memorable lines of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” is spoken by the character, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, when he says, “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”
Indeed. That is life.
Most of us take this hard, and each loss takes with it a portion of our confidence, with some shaking the very foundation of who we think we are.
But what if these losses could add to us, rather than take away? What if we could use loss to succeed?
Well, you can!
Award-winning sports journalist, Sam Weinman, in his book, “Win at Losing: How Our Biggest Setbacks Can Lead to Our Greatest Gains,” gives readers a series of powerful testimonies to the crucial part losing plays in our lives, showing how we can turn even the worst setbacks into comebacks.
Splicing together interviews and advice from professional athletes, executives, celebrities, and politicians, and tempering that wisdom with thoughts from leading psychologists, Weinman brings us the ultimate study in what truly constitutes success.
Hint: it’s not just winning.
Weinman advocates what he calls a “growth mindset,”—realizing that we have the psychological tools that, after setbacks, can help us change how we handle problems.
He uses the example of Michael Dukakis, democrat, politician, and presidential candidate who lost to President George H. W. Bush in 1988.
But even more devastating, though, was his loss in the race for the Massachusetts governor’s office in 1978—a race he should have won. That loss was personally devastating to him—his win was assumed, and he was ahead in the polls. It seemed an easy election.
Dukakis thought this latter loss would be the end of his political career. Little did he know that he would go on to win back his previous post, becoming the longest serving governor Massachusetts had ever seen, even going on to become the chosen democratic presidential candidate ten years later.
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