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How to Get a Return on Failure: Fail Smarter—Return Stronger
Get Ahead – Even When You Lose!
What if you could learn to profit from nearly every loss or misstep in your life, and get a return on it—like an investment?
The most successful people get ahead because they deal with failure positively. Since they know they can’t avoid failure, they make the best of it and gain from it. People who adopt this approach learn to build more substantial and significant success in their lives.
In his new book How to Get a Return on Failure, John Maxwell teaches readers how to turn misses into wins and losses into gains. He creates a positive roadmap anyone can follow during these difficult times and shows how changing your perspective on failure can transform your ability to grow, improve, and move forward.
Failure will always be a part of our lives. We cannot avoid it. But we can leverage it to create a better future for ourselves and others. When we do that, it separates us from the people who let failure stop or defeat them. Follow Maxwell’s advice and you’ll never look at failure the same way again.
What if you could learn to profit from nearly every loss or misstep in your life, and get a return on it—like an investment?
The most successful people get ahead because they deal with failure positively. Since they know they can’t avoid failure, they make the best of it and gain from it. People who adopt this approach learn to build more substantial and significant success in their lives.
In his new book How to Get a Return on Failure, John Maxwell teaches readers how to turn misses into wins and losses into gains. He creates a positive roadmap anyone can follow during these difficult times and shows how changing your perspective on failure can transform your ability to grow, improve, and move forward.
Failure will always be a part of our lives. We cannot avoid it. But we can leverage it to create a better future for ourselves and others. When we do that, it separates us from the people who let failure stop or defeat them. Follow Maxwell’s advice and you’ll never look at failure the same way again.
184 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 14, 2026
About the author
John C. Maxwell
1,065 books5,934 followersJohn Calvin Maxwell is an American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership. Titles include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. Some of his books have been on the New York Times Best Seller List.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 22, 2026
Great concepts and solid perspective on failure!!!!!!
I got a great poem from the book I’ll keep reading too!!!!
I love Maxwell’s writings!!!!!
“I want to help you by defining the reality of failure: Failure will always be a part of your life. You cannot avoid it. But you can leverage it to create a better future for yourself. When you do that, it will separate you from the people who let failure stop or defeat them.“
I got a great poem from the book I’ll keep reading too!!!!
I love Maxwell’s writings!!!!!
“I want to help you by defining the reality of failure: Failure will always be a part of your life. You cannot avoid it. But you can leverage it to create a better future for yourself. When you do that, it will separate you from the people who let failure stop or defeat them.“
April 27, 2026
Best-selling leadership author John Maxwell asks what separates successful people from unsuccessful people? His answer is that successful people know how to deal with failure in a positive way so that they get a positive return on failure—an ROI. He tells us that if you want to be as successful as you can be and reach your full potential, you need to learn how to get a return on failure.
Maxwell has written on failure in the past, most notably his 2000 book "Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Success". Each chapter of this new book ends with helpful Discussion Questions and Action Steps to implement what was taught in the chapter. These sections are helpful whether you are reading the book individually or with others.
Maxwell asks what if failure is actually necessary for you to become successful, to reach your full potential? He responds that the most successful people succeed because they deal with failure positively.
Among the topics covered in the book are leveraging failure, putting distance between failure and fault, the cycle of success, learning to reject rejection, fear of failure, learning through failure, bad misses and good misses, emphasizing strengths over weaknesses, and leading others through failure.
This is a helpful book on how to deal with failure in a positive way.
Here are 15 helpful quotes from the book:
• Even though you have failed, that doesn’t mean you are a failure.
• Give yourself grace and choose to focus on your ups more than your downs.
• To use failure as an investment in your future, you have to find the benefits in every failure and use them to learn and grow.
• We often miss opportunities because of our fear of failure. But the biggest failure is the failure to start, which is often caused by perfectionism.
• You can let failure beat you down, or you can use failure to make yourself better. The choice is yours.
• Developing character is a never-ending process, and our response to failure is a major determining factor for who we are.
• If you learn—no matter how difficult a time you have or how catastrophic a failure you experience—you will improve. You will become a better person, a better leader, and a better worker in your profession.
• Everything worthwhile is uphill. If you want to get anywhere in life, you will need to accept this truth. It’s the only way you will be able to get a return on failure.
• One of the most important concepts we must accept to get a return on failure is that hard never ends. We must embrace the idea of again.
• Every failure is a learning opportunity. The more you fail, the more you have the potential to learn.
• Bad misses move us backward. But good misses can move us forward when we know how to get a return on them.
• If we want to be successful, we must know our strengths and focus on using and developing them, not our weaknesses.
• Life isn’t about what happens to you. Life is about how you respond to what’s happening to you.
• You need to help others by leading them through failure so they can be successful.
• If you pursue opportunities, you may fail, or you may succeed. But if you don’t pursue opportunities, you will always fail.
Maxwell has written on failure in the past, most notably his 2000 book "Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Success". Each chapter of this new book ends with helpful Discussion Questions and Action Steps to implement what was taught in the chapter. These sections are helpful whether you are reading the book individually or with others.
Maxwell asks what if failure is actually necessary for you to become successful, to reach your full potential? He responds that the most successful people succeed because they deal with failure positively.
Among the topics covered in the book are leveraging failure, putting distance between failure and fault, the cycle of success, learning to reject rejection, fear of failure, learning through failure, bad misses and good misses, emphasizing strengths over weaknesses, and leading others through failure.
This is a helpful book on how to deal with failure in a positive way.
Here are 15 helpful quotes from the book:
• Even though you have failed, that doesn’t mean you are a failure.
• Give yourself grace and choose to focus on your ups more than your downs.
• To use failure as an investment in your future, you have to find the benefits in every failure and use them to learn and grow.
• We often miss opportunities because of our fear of failure. But the biggest failure is the failure to start, which is often caused by perfectionism.
• You can let failure beat you down, or you can use failure to make yourself better. The choice is yours.
• Developing character is a never-ending process, and our response to failure is a major determining factor for who we are.
• If you learn—no matter how difficult a time you have or how catastrophic a failure you experience—you will improve. You will become a better person, a better leader, and a better worker in your profession.
• Everything worthwhile is uphill. If you want to get anywhere in life, you will need to accept this truth. It’s the only way you will be able to get a return on failure.
• One of the most important concepts we must accept to get a return on failure is that hard never ends. We must embrace the idea of again.
• Every failure is a learning opportunity. The more you fail, the more you have the potential to learn.
• Bad misses move us backward. But good misses can move us forward when we know how to get a return on them.
• If we want to be successful, we must know our strengths and focus on using and developing them, not our weaknesses.
• Life isn’t about what happens to you. Life is about how you respond to what’s happening to you.
• You need to help others by leading them through failure so they can be successful.
• If you pursue opportunities, you may fail, or you may succeed. But if you don’t pursue opportunities, you will always fail.
May 12, 2026
Another one I read for work. I often find John Maxwell repetitive and over explanatory. This was no different for me.
I appreciate the concept and being able to learn from failure. However, it could’ve been a one page document vs a whole book.
I appreciate the concept and being able to learn from failure. However, it could’ve been a one page document vs a whole book.
April 13, 2026
Excellent book as always. Real strategies for improving on failure and getting positive returns in mistakes.
May 7, 2026
Disappointed… Never!
I have yet to read a Maxwell book where I have never learned anything. Always informative, always learning ways to lead when I read his books!
I have yet to read a Maxwell book where I have never learned anything. Always informative, always learning ways to lead when I read his books!
May 11, 2026
John C. Maxwell continues to author great books. Failure is a part of life like success is. Learning to accept and learn from failure is most important.
May 13, 2026
Quick easy read. Good reminders and encouragement as we all face and even embrace our failures.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews