How to Fail Your Way to Success: Learning from Life’s Inevitable Setbacks
Everyone makes mistakes, but what defines whether errors become lessons is how you approach them. Therefore, it’s your actions that define you — not your failures.
In other words, the mindset with which you face problems says much more about how you handle life’s errors and move forward.
Why This Matters More Than You Think
From today until the day you die, what you’ll do most in life is make mistakes!
You’ll mess up:
- The event date
- Your online food order
- Someone’s gift
- And definitely something at work or in your business
The good news? You’ll learn a lot (or keep banging your head against the wall…)
Learning Through Failure: Three Personal Stories
1. 🚗 My Monday Driver’s License Disaster
The Setup: I was 18 years old, riding high on confidence with few defeats under my belt. I completed my 20 lessons and scheduled my driving test.
P.S: Never schedule an exam right before a holiday…
The Failure: I went in happy and confident to get my license, and then… three heavy people got in the car. I’d never driven with the car so weighted down before. I got nervous, failed two parallel parking attempts, and didn’t pass.
The Lesson: Prepare better and maintain focus.
The Comeback:
- Went home and paid for 10 more lessons
- Focused entirely on my weakness: parallel parking
- Used all 10 lessons to practice EVERY TYPE OF PARKING
- Spent weeks until the next test practicing parking, clutch control, and signaling
- Even on the bus to work, I’d practice the movements with my feet
- Dedicated myself 100%
The Result: Went back and got my license 😎
2. 🎓 The Engineering School Reality Check
The Setup: At 22, I decided to study production engineering. It was 2011, and the field was hyped. Engineers in 2011 were like IT professionals in 2025 — everyone wanted in for one reason: BIG MONEY!
The Failure: Started studying at university, only to discover three things:
- I couldn’t afford it
- I had no time to study (because I had to work double to pay for it)
- I had a girlfriend who consumed my time and money 🫨
The Lesson: When you commit to something, say NO to everything and everyone until you finish. We know this by a four-letter word: FOCUS.
The Reality Check: I became extremely frustrated with myself. It was the first time I quit something by choice. In the end, I realized I didn’t even like it — it was just about money.
The Long-Term Win:
- I never stopped studying — always reading books, learning languages, or studying whatever interested me
- This led me to discover: Bitcoin, gold, and how to invest in myself
- Returned to formal education in 2023 and earned diplomas in Business Administration and Systems Development
- Chose technical programs over traditional university
3. 💰 The Investment Wake-Up Call
The Setup: This one’s controversial, but here we go. When I started investing, it took me a long time to get the hang of it and learn how it worked. But after a few years, I made some money 🤑.
The Failure: I thought I was rich. Spent and lived like I was. But I forgot one detail that makes all the difference…
The Critical Lesson: Your investments and account balance don’t say much about your wealth. Your income sources do.
The Double Error:
- I thought money in the account was for spending — burning through it fast, thinking I was rich
- I shouldn’t have withdrawn it yet — it needed to keep growing
The Agricultural Analogy: When you plant a seed, you expect at least two to grow. But to enjoy a harvest, you have to plant a lot and therefore harvest a lot.
The Real Strategy: Everyone has their own path, but I firmly believe that until you earn at least 6x your cost of living, most of your money should be reinvested in the best investment: YOU!
Invest in yourself through:
- Books
- Travel
- Courses
- Health
- Contacts/Networking
- Appearance
- Life experiences
- Knowledge
Everything is valid as long as it makes you grow.
The Big Picture: A Summary of Everything
I could write for hours here, but we’ll have these conversations in the future. I want to share my worldview and things I failed at but still managed to turn around.
If I Can Leave One Lesson Here: Believe in Yourself
The Reality Check:
- Many people will bring you down
- Many will offer “constructive criticism” (which is really just criticism)
- However, you must find ways and strength to overcome these tests that life brings
You Are More Powerful Than You Imagine
The Truth: We tend to think others are superior and that we can’t achieve the same things.
My Personal Discovery: I professionally admired three people. When I finally met them, I had one certainty: They’re flesh and blood, they’re human beings, and we have the same capacity.
The Final Challenge
Do what nobody else wants to do. With consistency. And see where it takes you…
At the core, the other person is just a human being who stopped watching life happen and started trying to do something different. They took action and got there.
I hope you’re next.
The Bottom Line
Success isn’t about avoiding failure — it’s about learning faster from your mistakes than everyone else.
Every setback is data. Every mistake is a lesson. Every failure is preparation for your comeback.
The question isn’t whether you’ll fail — it’s how quickly you’ll get back up and what you’ll learn in the process.
About Threedolar
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