Here’s why I tell people to plan to fail

This week I’m talking with you about one of my most popular and longest-running To view this email as a web page, [click here]() {NAME}, This week I’m talking with you about one of my most popular and longest-running courses, [Success Triggers](). I went to a public high school, and there were quite a few smart people in my class. Naturally, around application time, most of my friends had their sights on at least one prestigious university. But to my surprise, something incredible happened. The first round of college admissions came in. Some people got in, but predictably, many others didn’t. Here’s the interesting part: Many of the people who didn’t get in changed their attitudes overnight, saying, “Whatever.… I didn’t really want to go to that school anyway.” This really surprised me. Here’s why: Most of my friends had better grades than me, and I’d already planned on getting rejected from my dream school (Stanford) anyway. So I took a slightly different approach to the application process... Since I had assumed that I was going to get rejected, I’d already made plans for what I’d do to get in, despite their rejection. I was going to send them recent updates on my coursework, a few recent press clippings I’d done, and some updates on the business/job I was doing in high school. In short, getting a “no” was only the first step. I called this mental framework “Failure Expectation.” Rather than discouraging me, planning to fail actually INCREASED my confidence tenfold, because I knew that if I played out all the contingencies, it was only a matter of time before I got what I wanted. My success wasn’t dependent on luck. I was in control. Failure Expectation was a huge, counterintuitive insight for me, and it ended up becoming one of my earliest Success Triggers. Success Triggers are my short list of essential mental frameworks that trigger a change in the entire way you approach challenges. As a result of my Failure Expectation, I got into Stanford, and I learned a very valuable lesson: We gain confidence in our abilities not from a SINGLE successful attempt, but from planning ahead of time and executing that plan until we reach our objective. Think of all the things you’ve tried and failed at after a SINGLE attempt. You give yourself so many reasons why it just won’t work: - “It’s not for me” - “I’m too busy” - “It’s too hard” But the reality is simple: When we try something one time and it doesn’t work, we silently retreat. We lose confidence in our abilities and never try again. How many times have you settled for something you knew would be easy because you were too afraid to try something new and challenging? What type of amazing, world-changing work would you be doing if you had the mental frameworks to push past your fears and doubts to build rock-solid, unshakable confidence in your abilities? Most of us wouldn’t even recognize ourselves if we could truly realize our potential. What I did was twofold: (1) I built a system, planning for failure, and (2) the confidence I got allowed me to write an even better application. Think about how you can apply this to your life. - You can create a plan for when you’re not hired for your Dream Job - You can develop the confidence to negotiate a raise - When you plan for business failures, you’ll know how to respond to them The list goes on. The confidence I had — along with a lot of luck that I partially created — let me control my own destiny. That’s the true value of Success Triggers — tiny mental shifts that add up to an absolutely enormous effect over time. Imagine if you had these Success Triggers in your pocket for the rest of your life. Whenever you were faced with a tough choice, you’d have a set of mental frameworks to rely on. Result: Massive confidence. Mental clarity. And trusting in yourself. “How to Never Be Afraid of Failure” (Failure Expectation) is just one of the 30 Success Triggers I cover in my Success Triggers program. ([Click here to learn about the other 29]().) [Success Triggers]() These frameworks will help you go from negative thinking to positive thinking … from scarcity to abundance … from low confidence to supreme confidence. These Success Triggers represent some of the most powerful "inner material" I've ever developed. Tactics help. Systems scale. But ultimately, improving your mental frameworks and inner fortitude dwarfs everything. Success Triggers is the "secret playbook" to improve your confidence, conquer fear, manage critics, and master your inner demons. [Click here to learn more](). [Signature] P.S. Here’s a counterintuitive take on the Failure Expectation from one of my students: [Counterintuitive take on Failure Expectation] [Counterintuitive take on Failure Expectation] I love it! [Here’s the link to join Success Triggers](). P.P.S. My podcast this week was crazy. I spoke with a couple, Kacey and Jim, who are in a very difficult situation. Here’s a snapshot of the conversation: “I feel like it's been 18 years of just hanging on.” —Kacey “If we continue on this path, in a few short months we will get to the point where the money will be gone and we won't have enough.” —Jim Kacey and Jim have five kids, they’re dipping into their savings every single month to cover their expenses, and soon they won’t have any money left. Between the kids and their marriage, there’s too much at stake for them to continue on this destructive path. Can they work past their growing resentment and work together … or is their marriage (and family) at risk? [Listen until the end]() to hear what Kacey and Jim emailed me after our talk… I was surprised. WHAT TO DO NEXT Change your mindset. Learn the mindset habits of top performers. Success Triggers includes my 30 best ready-to-use mental frameworks for increased happiness, confidence, and success. [Click here to learn more](). [SIGN UP]() Featured Products [Learn how to be your own boss, do what you love, and earn more.]() [What if you woke up EXCITED to go to work? I show you how to achieve it, step by step.]() [Ready-to-use mental frameworks for increased happiness, confidence, & success.]() [No guilt, no excuses, no BS. Just a 6-week program that works. Over 1,000,000 copies sold.]() The I Will Teach You To Be Rich Podcast Raw, unfiltered conversations with real couples: - One partner is $300,000 in debt, but shrugs it off. The other cries at night, anxious about the future. - A couple that’s so worried about money, they feel like they’ll never have enough. They go to a restaurant and order chicken instead of steak to save $10. Their household income: $600,000. - Two parents who feel overwhelmed by work, kids, and debt. When I ask them how they’d describe their lives, they instantly say the same word: “Stuck.” Listen in to hear real money conversations from behind closed doors today. [Apple Podcasts] [Apple]() [Spotify]() [Google]() [IWT]() Follow Ramit: [insta]() [Twitter]() [twitter]() [youtube]() [Linkedin]() Was this forwarded to you? [Sign up here.]() This email was sent to {EMAIL}. If you no longer wish to receive these emails you may [unsubscribe]( at any time. 548 Market St #89946 San Francisco, CA 94104-5401