Eighth Commandment: Thou Shalt Frame Failure Wisely

But, during my darkest hour, I knew I would find a way back and I did. From that time, I became relentless.

I took every hard-earned lesson from my colossal failure and applied it to my next moves. By 2015, I rebuilt my finances and became debt free.

Failure reshaped me. Now, it’s clear to me: my failures, far more than my successes, built the real estate success I have today.

Before diving into tips on turning failure into an advantage, let’s recap.

Ten Commandments of House Flipping

1. Thou shalt know the After Repair Value (ARV) ✅

2. Thou shalt keep multiple exit strategies ✅

3. Thou shalt make offers daily ✅

4. Thou shalt leverage the inspection period ✅

5. Thou shalt not advance money to contractors ✅

6. Thou shalt build relationships ✅

7. Thou shalt master Other People’s Money (OPM) ✅

8. Thou shalt view failure as a lesson 👈

9. Thou shalt respect the game

10. Thou shalt be nice

Eighth Commandment: Thou Shalt Frame Failure Wisely

There’s a saying in both life and business: “You either win or you learn.”

It’s a powerful mindset, yet one that feels foreign to those outside the entrepreneurial world. Why? Because from an early age, many of us are conditioned to fear failure. The public school system teaches us that failure is embarrassing, even shameful. It threatens us with being “held back” and instills a deep-seated aversion to mistakes.

This fear doesn’t just hold us back in school—it seeps into our lives. It keeps us in line, steering us toward jobs in big corporations and working toward someone else’s dreams instead of our own. Fear of failure breeds dependence—on others, or worse, on the government.

But here’s the truth: success is born from failure. Real growth comes from taking the losses, learning from them, adapting, and trying again.

Failure is nothing but a data point. Failure is not just acceptable, it’s encouraged. We aim to fail fast because failure is the game giving us direct feedback on what needs to change. The only time failure becomes a problem is when we ignore what caused it and repeat the same mistakes. So fail quickly. Fail forward.

Here are three principles that have helped me, and thousands of top-performing investors, embrace failure as the ultimate teacher:

1. The Scientific Method: At its core, the scientific method involves forming a hypothesis, running an experiment, analyzing the results, and drawing a conclusion. In life and business, this approach is transformative. It requires us to expect failure because each test won’t always work out. But by testing, identifying what works (and what doesn’t), and incorporating real-world feedback, we improve every time. The key? Minimize the time between drawing conclusions and launching your next experiment. Spend a moment reflecting on what went wrong, but move quickly to make your next, more informed guess. This cycle of testing and adapting builds momentum, turning us into unstoppable problem solvers.

2. The Pursuit of Fast Failure: When you fear failure or feel uncomfortable looking “new” in the game, I offer a simple but powerful tip: Put a property under contract this week, knowing you’ll probably screw up the numbers and back out. This task does two things. First, it forces you into an imperfect situation. Second, it will help reframe failure as a step forward, not backward. Without exception, this exercise creates business success. It shows you that failure isn’t something to fear, it’s something to celebrate. It’s a powerful shift in perspective, turning mistakes into leveling-up moments.

3. The Data Point Approach: When we embrace failure and treat it like the feedback it is, we start viewing every loss as data. The process itself shows us what needs to change next time. This can be tough, especially when failure impacts how we see ourselves. If we spiral into negative self-talk, it’s hard to move forward. But if we approach failure scientifically, as a collection of data points, we grow stronger and smarter. Growth builds confidence. Confidence leads to bigger opportunities. Bigger opportunities bring bigger rewards. It’s a cycle driven by the lessons we learn from failure.

For me, business is about solving problems. I make educated guesses, test different methods out, analyze the feedback, and refine my approach. Each time I repeat this process, I tackle bigger challenges, find better solutions, and reap the rewards. And it all starts with the data I gather from my failures.

Failure is the foundation of success. It’s uncomfortable, messy, and sometimes painful, but it’s also the fastest way to grow.

If there’s one takeaway here, let it be this: failure isn’t the end of the story, it’s the beginning. Reframe it, learn from it, and let it guide your next move.