Failure Is Tuition

Why Every Fall Is Worth the Price

Failure isn’t a tragedy. It’s tuition.

You either pay for the lesson up front with a scraped knee, a lost game, or a bad grade, or you pay much more later in life when reality cashes in.

Kids shielded from failure grow into adults terrified of risk, and worse.

Every stumble teaches them something critical: what works, what doesn’t, and most importantly, that life goes on.

In Navy SEAL training, struggle was constant—12-mile run on the beach, 2-mile ocean swims for time, sand in your teeth (and other uncomfortable places!), exhaustion at the edge of collapse.

But it built the mental muscle to keep going no matter what life throws at you, and it comes for all of us eventually! Am I right?

Parents can give kids the same gift without sending them to SEAL training: the understanding that failure isn’t final, it’s feedback.

So when your kid falls short, don’t swoop in to rescue.

Ask instead: “What did you learn?” or “What will you try differently next time?”

I share an intimate story in my new book, Puddle Jumpers, about a conversation my daughter and I had about failure, but no spoilers! It comes out in May.

Failure is tuition. Pay it early, pay it often, and you’ll raise kids who can afford life’s biggest challenges.