Overview

Many of our greatest athletes, scientists, and entertainers failed repeatedly throughout their careers, yet they refused to allow past mistakes stop them from striving for future success. Instead, they turned those so-called failures into opportunities to learn, improve, and eventually earn the achievements they are celebrated for today. Why, then, is failure considered negative in our society? Perhaps failure is not, in fact, something to be avoided, but something to be encouraged. In Praise of Failure: The Value of Overcoming Mistakes in Sports and in Life aims to change the way our society defines and perceives what is commonly called “failure.” Mark H. Anshel provides a refreshing, new perspective on how we can embrace failure as part of the process of achieving and succeeding at the highest level. Anshel uses sports psychology in a grounded, easy-to-read manner to examine failure in sports settings, revealing that not only is failure inevitable in an imperfect world, it is essential. He addresses such issues as how to properly promote failure in sport and exercise settings, how errors lead to improvement, ways to constructively cope with failure, and how to help child athletes fail “safely.” In the process, Anshel shows that the highest-performing athletes have one characteristic in common—they learned and improved from apparent setbacks. In Praise of Failure shares stories of professional athletes, business professionals, scholars, and famous inventors who failed repeatedly before attaining their dreams, revealing the integral role failure plays in success. Offering a fresh and exciting take on how to approach the failures we face in life, this bookwill be invaluable for athletes, coaches, exercise and fitness trainers, dieticians, students, and even for the corporate world.

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9781442251571

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Reviews

Rather than seeing failure as an end point, Professor Anshel outlines a compelling case for using failure to propel oneself forward. Enduring success is seeded and nurtured through one's failures. When approached from this mindset, failure can result in creativity, persistency, resiliency, and other positive psychological traits. Professor Anshel makes the case and provides practical tools for doing so derived from his own life experiences, including decades of years researching, teaching, and consulting about performance psychology. -- Bradley J. Cardinal, professor of kinesiology, Oregon State University Can failure be good? Can we learn to appreciate it? Dr. Anshel's book gives in-depth insights into the role of failing in our maturing both as performers and people. Scientific foundation, facts, and dialogue clearly support the book's message: failures, mistakes, and errors are natural parts of life. In fact, when handled effectively and safely, failures are necessary in developing resilience and pursuing higher levels of performance excellence, exercise adherence, and life satisfaction. -- Artur Poczwardowski, professor of sport and performance psychology, University of Denver, and coeditor of Expert Approaches to Sport Psychology A must-read book for those seeking to enhance performance. A wonderful perspective is offered in reframing how we think about failure and changing that perception to use failure to our advantage to enhance our likelihood of being a Success! -- Michael Sachs, professor of kinesiology, Temple University

Anshel examines the occurrence of failure, providing both theoretical and real-life perspectives. His description of failure parallels Carol Dweck’s growth-mindset philosophy—as presented in Mindset: The New Psychology, which this book complements: i.e., he explains that failure is an essential part of the learning process and a necessity for future success. As Anshel points out, society considers failure taboo—a mark of disappointment, missed opportunities, frustration, and dissatisfaction with performance both on and off the field. Anshel encourages readers to redefine and embrace failure, to see it not as a blemish in one's life but instead as a tool for harnessing success and striving toward improvement. The author provides readers with a series of tips for coping with and overcoming failure—many will be useful far beyond the boundaries of sport—and he discusses complex issues in language that is easy to understand. Offering an interesting mix of academic terminology, reality, and evidence-based research, this book will be accessible to a broad audience. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. * CHOICE * In a culture where tolerance of failure can be low, and fear of failure potentially paralysing, how important is this book? Well precisely for those reasons there is a need for books such as this…. An enjoyable read that balances theory and empirical research with illustrative accounts of famous individuals who have followed failure with success. At times, thought provoking, Anshel’s applied experiences shine through when illustrating the ingredients required to best learn from failure. The relevance of concepts such as motivation, coping and attributions are described in terms of optimal growth from failure. The book targets a broad audience from those delivering or partaking in sport and exercise, to students or individuals working in business contexts. I would recommend this text as suitable for anyone wishing to create a climate where growth is more likely to follow failure. * The Sport and Exercise Scientist * Rather than seeing failure as an end point, Professor Anshel outlines a compelling case for using failure to propel oneself forward. Enduring success is seeded and nurtured through one’s failures. When approached from this mindset, failure can result in creativity, persistency, resiliency, and other positive psychological traits. Professor Anshel makes the case and provides practical tools for doing so derived from his own life experiences, including decades of years researching, teaching, and consulting about performance psychology. -- Bradley J. Cardinal, professor of kinesiology, Oregon State University Can failure be good? Can we learn to appreciate it? Dr. Anshel’s book gives in-depth insights into the role of failing in our maturing both as performers and people. Scientific foundation, facts, and dialogue clearly support the book’s message: failures, mistakes, and errors are natural parts of life. In fact, when handled effectively and safely, failures are necessary in developing resilience and pursuing higher levels of performance excellence, exercise adherence, and life satisfaction. -- Artur Poczwardowski, professor of sport and performance psychology, University of Denver, and coeditor of Expert Approaches to Sport Psychology A must-read book for those seeking to enhance performance. A wonderful perspective is offered in reframing how we think about failure and changing that perception to use failure to our advantage to enhance our likelihood of being a Success! -- Michael Sachs, professor of kinesiology, Temple University [In Praise of Failure provides] an underappreciated perspective, probably more so in an era in which everyone gets a trophy; I am still failing but the journey and such experiences have also led to the successes that I have had. All parents, educators, coaches and athletes/students/performers—everyone, for that matter—should read this book. -- Roland A. Carlstedt, Chairman and Chief Sport Psychologist, American Board of Sport Psychology

Anshel examines the occurrence of failure, providing both theoretical and real-life perspectives. His description of failure parallels Carol Dweck's growth-mindset philosophy-as presented in Mindset: The New Psychology, which this book complements: i.e., he explains that failure is an essential part of the learning process and a necessity for future success. As Anshel points out, society considers failure taboo-a mark of disappointment, missed opportunities, frustration, and dissatisfaction with performance both on and off the field. Anshel encourages readers to redefine and embrace failure, to see it not as a blemish in one's life but instead as a tool for harnessing success and striving toward improvement. The author provides readers with a series of tips for coping with and overcoming failure-many will be useful far beyond the boundaries of sport-and he discusses complex issues in language that is easy to understand. Offering an interesting mix of academic terminology, reality, and evidence-based research, this book will be accessible to a broad audience. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. * CHOICE * In a culture where tolerance of failure can be low, and fear of failure potentially paralysing, how important is this book? Well precisely for those reasons there is a need for books such as this.... An enjoyable read that balances theory and empirical research with illustrative accounts of famous individuals who have followed failure with success. At times, thought provoking, Anshel's applied experiences shine through when illustrating the ingredients required to best learn from failure. The relevance of concepts such as motivation, coping and attributions are described in terms of optimal growth from failure. The book targets a broad audience from those delivering or partaking in sport and exercise, to students or individuals working in business contexts. I would recommend this text as suitable for anyone wishing to create a climate where growth is more likely to follow failure. * The Sport and Exercise Scientist * Rather than seeing failure as an end point, Professor Anshel outlines a compelling case for using failure to propel oneself forward. Enduring success is seeded and nurtured through one's failures. When approached from this mindset, failure can result in creativity, persistency, resiliency, and other positive psychological traits. Professor Anshel makes the case and provides practical tools for doing so derived from his own life experiences, including decades of years researching, teaching, and consulting about performance psychology. -- Bradley J. Cardinal, professor of kinesiology, Oregon State University Can failure be good? Can we learn to appreciate it? Dr. Anshel's book gives in-depth insights into the role of failing in our maturing both as performers and people. Scientific foundation, facts, and dialogue clearly support the book's message: failures, mistakes, and errors are natural parts of life. In fact, when handled effectively and safely, failures are necessary in developing resilience and pursuing higher levels of performance excellence, exercise adherence, and life satisfaction. -- Artur Poczwardowski, professor of sport and performance psychology, University of Denver, and coeditor of Expert Approaches to Sport Psychology A must-read book for those seeking to enhance performance. A wonderful perspective is offered in reframing how we think about failure and changing that perception to use failure to our advantage to enhance our likelihood of being a Success! -- Michael Sachs, professor of kinesiology, Temple University [In Praise of Failure provides] an underappreciated perspective, probably more so in an era in which everyone gets a trophy; I am still failing but the journey and such experiences have also led to the successes that I have had. All parents, educators, coaches and athletes/students/performers-everyone, for that matter-should read this book. -- Roland A. Carlstedt, Chairman and Chief Sport Psychologist, American Board of Sport Psychology

Author Information

Mark H. Anshel, PhD, is professor emeritus at Middle Tennessee State University. He has consulted with youth and professional sports teams, and has applied performance psychology concepts in medical, law enforcement, and corporate settings. Dr. Anshel is the author of numerous books, including Sport Psychology: From Theory to Practice (Fifth Edition), Aerobics for Fitness (Fifth Edition), and Applied Health Fitness Psychology, as well as the editor of the Dictionary of Sport and Exercise Sciences. Dr. Anshel has written and published over 140 articles in scientific journals and 22 book chapters in areas of sport and exercise psychology. He is a former college baseball athlete.

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