--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was growing up, my dad would…" description: "\"When I was growing up, my dad would encourage my brother and I to fail. We would be sitting at the dinner table and he would ask, 'So what did you guys..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/sara-blakely-7253_age_when-i-was-growing-up-my-dad-would-encou_3191797.png" --- # When I was growing up, my dad would encourage my brother… ![“When I was growing up, my dad would encourage my brother and I to fail. We would be sitting at the dinner table and he would ask, 'So what did you guys fail at this week?' If we didn't have something to contribute, he would be disappointed. When I did fail at something, he'd high-five me. What I…” quote by Sara Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/sara-blakely-7253_age_when-i-was-growing-up-my-dad-would-encou_3191797.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/sara-blakely-7253_age_when-i-was-growing-up-my-dad-would-encou_3191797.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/sara-blakely-7253_age_when-i-was-growing-up-my-dad-would-encou_3191797.png) > “When I was growing up, my dad would encourage my brother and I to fail. We would be sitting at the dinner table and he would ask, 'So what did you guys fail at this week?' If we didn't have something to contribute, he would be disappointed. When I did fail at something, he'd high-five me. What I didn't realize at the time was that he was completely reframing my definition of failure at a young age. To me, failure means not trying; failure isn't the outcome. If I have to look at myself in the mirror and say, 'I didn't try that because I was scared,' that is failure.” [Sara Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-blakely/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Failure should be redefined as not trying; embracing mistakes as learning opportunities fosters growth and resilience. **In simple terms:** Failure is not trying, not the outcome. Key Takeaway Embrace effort, not just results. Themes failure growth resilience Mood encouraging reflective Type advice motivational When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - education - personal development Key Concepts mindset learning theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate fear from failure? - What steps help you turn setbacks into learning? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on failure can cause fear of risk. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Brother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brother/) [Dad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dad/) [Dinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dinner/) [Dinner table](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dinner-table/) [Disappointed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointed/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [Reframing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reframing/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) [Young age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-age/) ## Related quotes > [The sun does go down but it always comes back up everytime it goes down. Never give up when you're down. 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I learned a lot out of that. Because it makes you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-think-it-s-important-to-have-a-good-hard-failure-when-you-re-young/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Our task is to become our best selves. One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-s-monson/our-task-is-to-become-our-best-selves-one-of-god-s-greatest-gifts-to/) [Thomas S. 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Many successful people will tell you that if you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying—that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/to-cultivate-bravery-and-courage-change-your-attitude-toward-failure/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [“make your worst day is the best day in your life,because surely there's something missing within our self without it,so we can be who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faiz-triumph/make-your-worst-day-is-the-best-day-in-your-life-because-surely-there/) [Faiz Triumph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faiz-triumph/) > [Change is a pesky notion. 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This way, it is about answering to yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-blakely/failure-is-not-attached-to-outcome-but-in-not-trying-this-way-it-is/) [Sara Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-blakely/) > [It's really a full-time job to manage our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-blakely/it-s-really-a-full-time-job-to-manage-our-lives/) [Sara Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-blakely/) > [I cut the feet out of control top pantyhose one night, threw them on under my white pants and realized that the toning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-blakely/i-cut-the-feet-out-of-control-top-pantyhose-one-night-threw-them-on/) [Sara Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-blakely/) > [Don't let what you don't know scare you, because it can become your greatest asset. 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But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. 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