Every great success is preceded by many failures Meaning Factcheck Usage

Every great success is preceded by many failures… it’s a truth I’ve seen play out time and again. It reframes failure not as a setback, but as the essential raw material for any meaningful win. Let’s break down why this mindset is so powerful.

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Table of Contents

• Meaning
• Explanation
• Origin & Factcheck
• Context
• Usage Examples
• FAQ

Meaning

At its core, this quote means that failure isn’t the opposite of success; it’s a fundamental part of it. The “lessons learned” are the critical bridge that turns a failure into a stepping stone.

Explanation

Look, we’ve all been trained to see failure as a full stop. A dead end. But what if you started seeing it as data collection? Every time something doesn’t work, you’ve just gathered incredibly valuable intel on what *doesn’t* work. And that, my friend, is priceless. It’s like you’re systematically eliminating the wrong paths, which inevitably brings you closer to the right one. The key isn’t to avoid falling down; it’s to learn *why* you fell so you don’t trip on the same thing twice. That’s the real process.

Quote Summary

Context	Attributes
Original Language	English (3669)
Category	Success (341)
Topics	failure (52), growth (413), learning (190)
Literary Style	reflective (255)
Emotion / Mood	encouraging (304)
Overall Quote Score	76 (131)

Origin & Factcheck

This gem comes straight from Brian Tracy’s 2004 book, Be a Sales Superstar. It’s a classic Tracy concept—practical, no-nonsense, and rooted in performance psychology. You’ll sometimes see similar sentiments floating around attributed to others, but this specific phrasing is his.

Attribution Summary

Context	Attributes
Author	Brian Tracy (375)
Source Type	Book (4032)
Source/Book Name	Be a Sales Superstar: 21 Great Ways to Sell More, Faster, Easier in Tough Markets (48)
Origin Timeperiod	21st Century (1891)
Original Language	English (3669)
Authenticity	Verified (4032)

Where is this quotation located?

Quotation	Every great success is preceded by many failures and lessons learned
Book Details	Publication Year: 2003; ISBN: 978-1-57675-273-9; Latest Edition: AMACOM, 2003; Number of Pages: 128.
Where is it?	Chapter 8: Handling Rejection, Approximate page from 2003 edition: 61

Context

Tracy was writing for salespeople operating in “tough markets,” where rejection is the default and “no” is a daily mantra. He wasn’t offering fluffy inspiration; he was providing a mental framework to survive and thrive. This quote is the antidote to the discouragement that comes with a lost sale.

Usage Examples

This isn’t just theoretical. Here’s how it works in the real world:

• For a startup founder: Your product launch flops? Amazing. You just learned more about your actual market fit in one week than you did in six months of planning. That’s not a failure; that’s a market research report you paid for with effort.
• For a content creator: A video bombs? Perfect. Analyze the analytics. Was it the thumbnail? The hook? The topic? That “failure” just gave you a masterclass in what your audience wants to see.
• For anyone learning a skill: You fumble through a presentation or mess up a coding problem. That awkward feeling is your brain building new neural pathways. The next time will be smoother. I promise.

To whom it appeals?

Context	Attributes
Theme	Wisdom (1754)
Audiences	entrepreneurs (1007), leaders (2620), sales people (228), students (3112)
Usage Context/Scenario	career training (28), entrepreneurship talks (9), motivational seminars (59), resilience coaching (10)

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FAQ

Question: So does this mean I should just aim to fail?

Answer: Not at all. The goal is still success. But you shift your strategy to be *outcome-independent*. You focus on the process, the learning, and the iteration. The wins then become a natural byproduct.

Question: How many failures are “many failures”?

Answer: There’s no magic number. It’s as many as it takes. The important part is that you’re actively learning from each one, not just mindlessly repeating the same mistakes.

Question: What if the failure is really big and costly?

Answer: Those are the ones that teach you the most, honestly. A costly failure forces a deep, painful, but incredibly valuable analysis. The lesson is seared into your memory, and that level of learning is what often prevents catastrophic errors down the line.