" Instead of run from my mistake and get a job, rich dad had me face the mess I had made and begin to work my way out from under the pile of rubble that was once my business. Today, I say to people, "I learned more about business by fail- ing than I ever did by being successful. Working through the wreckage and rebuilding the company made me a much bet- ter businessman." Today, instead of saying, "I'll never do that again," I say, "I'm glad I did fail and learn because I am grateful for the wisdom I gained." And then I say, "Let's start another business." Instead of fear and resentment, there is excitement and fun. Instead of being afraid of failing, I now know that making mistakes is the way we were all designed to learn. If we fail to make mistakes, or make them and do not learn from 198 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing them, the magic goes out of life. Life goes backward and gets smaller, instead of expansive and filled with magic. I failed in high school twice because I could not write. To have my books on bestseller lists such as those of The New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, and The Wall Street Journal is magical. It is ironic that I am well known for sub- jects I initially failed at: writing, business, selling, speaking, ac- counting, and investing. I am not known for the subjects that were easy and enjoyable for me: surfing, economics, rugby, and painting. What Is the Lesson? Whenever I hear people saying, "Investing is too risky" or "I don't like taking risks with my money" or "What if I fail?" or "What if I lose my money?" I am often reminded of my poor dad because what he was really saying was "I don't want to make a mistake." As I said, in his world, the world of academ- ics, people who made mistakes were considered stupid. In rich dad's world, he viewed risk, mistakes, and failure as an integral part of human development. So instead of avoiding risk and mistakes, he learned to manage risk and mistakes. His view on mistakes was that a mistake was simply a lesson with emotions attached to it. He said, "Whenever we make a mistake, we become upset. An upset is our maker's way of telling us that we need to learn something. It is a tap on our shoulder saying, 'Pay attention. You have something important to learn. If you lie, blame, justify, or deny the upset, you waste the upset and will waste a precious gem of wisdom.'" Rich dad taught me to cou'nt to ten if I was angry or to a hundred if I was very angry. After cooling off, I simply say, "I apologize" and never blame the other person, no matter how angry I am. If I blame, I give power to the other person. If I take responsibility for whatever happened, I will learn a pre- The Magic of Mistakes 199 cious lesson that I obviously needed to learn. If I lie, blame, justify, or deny, I learn nothing. Rich dad also said, "Unsuccessful people blame the other person. They often want the other person to change, and that is why they stay upset for so long.