John C. Maxwell is a man I am proud to call my friend.
It isn’t just that he has authored more than fifty books on leadership and character, though that is pretty impressive. It isn’t just that his words of encouragement have inspired millions of people to reevaluate their choices and priorities, though that is important. It isn’t just that he is a man of principles and faith, though those are admirable qualities. I am proud to call John my friend because he is a man who understands that above all things, life is about learning—and about using those lessons to become a better employer, better employee, better parent, better sibling, better friend, better neighbor, better steward of our blessings.
This philosophy has been the bedrock of my own life, and I credit John with always serving as a wonderful reminder of how much more learning can be done. I never saw myself as a coach but rather as a teacher whose primary classroom was the basketball court. But I also understood that I was an eternal student, as well. I have tried every day to learn something new, to gain a different perspective, or to harbor a more mature understanding of the world. That way of thinking is what keeps a mind young, optimistic, and joyful. Every time John would visit me, his yellow legal pad covered with the questions he planned to ask me, I always got a chuckle at the sight of one of the professional world’s leading answer men still eager for deeper insights and still willing to ask questions to gain them. It was a wonderful reminder that I should do the same.
After all, learning isn’t something that stops when we are handed a diploma. In fact, that’s actually the point when the real learning begins. The lessons we are given in school are not the things that carry us through life; those are just the lessons that give us the basic tools to face the real world outside the classroom walls. And that real world is going to sting. It is going to hurt. Sometimes it is going to bump and bruise you; other times it is going to knock you off your feet. The losses are going to come at you in every shape and size, and hit you in every area of your life from your finances to your heart to your health, and more—that much is guaranteed. What is not guaranteed is how you react to those challenges.
As John discusses in this book, there is a marked difference between the people who learn from their losses and the people who do not. Do you want your spirit stuck in the infirmary, too battle weary for another try? Or do you want to seize the opportunity to study, evaluate, and reconsider what happened—and use that knowledge to arm yourself for another charge at life?
The elements of learning that John outlines in the following pages are profound observations as to how the process happens, and he pinpoints what character trait or attribute comes from each. By dissecting the “DNA of those who learn,” as he so succinctly puts it, John walks us through the necessary components of dealing with different types of loss and turning those lessons into valuable weapons both to ward off and fight through future challenges.
I would challenge anyone who has ever suffered a setback, felt disappointment, or been the recipient of bad news (in other words, every human who has ever walked the earth) to read John’s message and not find at least one insight that can drastically change his or her own perspective on life’s darker moments.
If we follow John’s advice and learn to look at losses as opportunities for growth through learning, then we become undefeatable. Life will always be fraught with loss, but if we are properly armed, the loss will not overcome us. Because the man or woman who takes something worthwhile from the bad times strips them of their control over our minds, bodies, hearts, and souls.
These pages offer more than just a how-to manual for getting through difficult times; they offer the most valuable gift of all: hope.