An engaging, inspiring exploration of the surprising value of setbacks—and how we can use them to succeed As an award-winning sports journalist, Sam Weinman has long studied the ripple effects of losing. But as a father of two competitive boys, he struggled to convince them that failing—whether losing a hockey game or bombing a math test—can actually be a critical part of success. So he sought out the perspectives of men and women who have turned significant setbacks into meaningful comebacks—and sometimes even new careers—to illustrate how we can not only overcome defeat but grow stronger from the experience. Blending firsthand interviews and advice from professional athletes, business executives, politicians, and Hollywood stars with expert analysis from leading psychologists and coaches, Win at Losing reveals how renowned figures—from Emmy Award–winning actress Susan Lucci to golfer Greg Norman and politician Michael Dukakis—have prevailed and even triumphed in the aftermath of loss, humiliation, and rejection. In showcasing the ways our most difficult moments can be turned into powerful growth opportunities, this lively and moving guide asks readers to redefine what constitutes success and failure, and offers an essential blueprint for harnessing the power of setbacks to achieve what we want in life.
Most everyone, voters, political scientists, even lawmakers, think Congress is dysfunctional. Instead of solving problems, Democrats and Republicans spend their time playing politics. These days Capitol Hill seems more a place to bicker, not to pass laws. The reality is more complicated. Yes, sometimes Congress is broken. But sometimes it is productive. What explains this variation? Why do Democrats and Republicans choose to legislate or score political points? And why do some issues become so politicized they devolve into partisan warfare, while others remain safe for compromise? Losing to Win answers these questions through a novel theory of agenda-setting. Unlike other research that studies bills that become law, Jeremy Gelman begins from the opposite perspective. He studies why majority parties knowingly take up dead-on-arrival (DOA) bills, the ideas everyone knows are going to lose. In doing so, he argues that congressional parties’ decisions to play politics instead of compromising, and the topics on which they choose to bicker, are strategic and predictable. Gelman finds that legislative dysfunction arises from a mutually beneficial relationship between a majority party in Congress, which is trying to win unified government, and its allied interest groups, which are trying to enact their policies. He also challenges the conventional wisdom that DOA legislation is political theater. By tracking bills over time, Gelman shows that some former dead-on-arrival ideas eventually become law. In this way, ideas viewed as too extreme or partisan today can produce long-lasting future policy changes. Through his analysis, Gelman provides an original explanation for why both parties pursue the partisan bickering that voters find so frustrating. He moves beyond conventional arguments that our discordant politics are merely the result of political polarization. Instead, he closely examines the specific circumstances that give rise to legislative dysfunction. The result is a fresh, straightforward perspective on the question we have all asked at some point, “Why can’t Democrats and Republicans stop fighting and just get something done?”
#1 New York Times bestselling author John C. Maxwell believes that any setback, whether professional or personal, can be turned into a step forward when you possess the right tools to turn a loss into a gain. Drawing on nearly fifty years of leadership experience, Dr. Maxwell provides a roadmap for winning by examining the eleven elements that constitute the DNA of learners who succeed in the face of problems, failure, and losses. 1. Humility - The Spirit of Learning 2. Reality - The Foundation of Learning 3. Responsibility - The First Step of Learning 4. Improvement - The Focus of Learning 5. Hope - The Motivation of Learning 6. Teachability - The Pathway of Learning 7. Adversity - The Catalyst of Learning 8. Problems - The Opportunities of Learning9. Bad Experiences - The Perspective for Learning10. Change - The Price of Learning 11. Maturity - The Value of Learning Learning is not easy during down times, it takes discipline to do the right thing when something goes wrong. As John Maxwell often points out--experience isn't the best teacher; evaluated experience is.
The modern day youth sports environment has taken the enjoyment out of athletics for our children. Currently, 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by the age of 13, which has given rise to a generation of overweight, unhealthy young adults. There is a solution. John O’Sullivan shares the secrets of the coaches and parents who have not only raised elite athletes, but have done so by creating an environment that promotes positive core values and teaches life lessons instead of focusing on wins and losses, scholarships, and professional aspirations. Changing the Game gives adults a new paradigm and a game plan for raising happy, high performing children, and provides a national call to action to return youth sports to our kids.
Winning at competitive games requires a results-oriented mindset that many players are simply not willing to adopt. This book walks players through the entire process: how to choose a game and learn basic proficiency, how to break through the mental barriers that hold most players back, and how to handle the issues that top players face. It also includes a complete analysis of Sun Tzu's book The Art of War and its applications to games of today. These foundational concepts apply to virtually all competitive games, and even have some application to "real life." Trade paperback. 142 pages.
Winner of the New Manager category at the CMI Management Book of the Year Awards 2014 Whatever your job is, chances are you find it hard to switch off. Today, we work longer hours, at weekends, at home and on the move - while the office is only ever a click away via smartphones and the internet. But as much as we assume that this is the price of success - it doesn't have to be this way. Bjergegaard and Milne are here to show you how to build your business into something big, sustainable and widely recognised - and still lead a happy and balanced life. In sixty-six short insights, they reveal strategies and methods which will allow you to combine professional success with putting friends, family and happiness first. So wave goodbye to guiltily checking your emails on a date, or getting home when your children are already in bed - this is your route to winning on every level. With first-hand advice and profiles of top business mentors, including Caterina Fake, Jake Nickell, Jason Fried, Brad Feld, Derek Sivers and Tony Hsieh.
'A great and inspiring book from Doncaster's bravest son. Read it in a day' - Jeremy Clarkson 'Ben is the embodiment of positive thinking. What he has achieved, in large part through willpower, is nothing short of miraculous. An inspiration to us all' - Ant Middleton The story of Ben Parkinson MBE, the most injured soldier to have survived Afghanistan --- What were you doing when you were 22? Where were you in the world? What did you want to do with your life? Ben Parkinson was a 6'4" Paratrooper. He was in Afghanistan fighting for his country. He wanted to always be a soldier, to be a father and to get home in one piece. But we don't always get what we want. So the question is: how do we react when that happens? Easy: You find something new to fight for. Ben Parkinson MBE is an inspiration to everyone. He suffered 37 injuries when his Land Rover hit a mine in Helmand in 2006, including brain damage, breaking his back and losing both his legs. This book follows the story of what led him to that moment his life changed forever - and what happened next. Doctors didn't think Ben could survive the trauma - then they didn't think he would wake up, or talk again, or walk again. Time after time, Ben pushed the ceiling on what was possible, going on to carry the Olympic flame in 2012 and receiving an MBE for the enormous feats he has undertaken for charity. What he has achieved in the face of adversity - for others as well as for himself - is nothing short of a miracle. Nerve-wracking, heart-warming and full of classic soldier's humour, Losing the Battle, Winning the War is a book you'll be thinking about long after the last page. 'Ben Parkinson is my hero. His story is one of immeasurable courage and character, a testament to the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit' - Dan Jarvis MP, author of Long Way Home
A DISCIPLINED STRATEGY FOR AVOIDING MAJOR DOWN MARKETS AND PARTICIPATING IN BULLISH MARKETS Your financial advisor's strategy to buy-and-hold a diversified equity portfolio sounded good. Diversification promised to protect your wealth. Now, however, more than a decade of hard data shows it didn't work. And, more than likely after a decade of multiple financial shocks and crashes, your account balance is not what you hoped it would be when you started saving years ago. Much of your investment life has been spent just trying to make back what was lost. Win By Not Losing reveals how you can make smarter, more profi table investments by first protecting your capital from major bear equity markets. It also shows you how to identify major bullish equity market trends and guides you on how best to participate. By avoiding the major downs and catching the ups, your portfolio compounds gains and allows you to achieve your financial goals. Chasing returns leads to the poorhouse. With this book's disciplined system for knowing when to buy, what to buy, and when to sell, you can build and protect your portfolio through active management techniques. It walks you step-by-step through growing your portfolio in bull and bear market cycles. You will master a concrete investing method that lets you trade with emotionless confidence and precision. Packed with links to online resources and personal tips from successful, high-profile traders, Win By Not Losing gives you everything you need to: Identify the market metrics that are important to building wealth Detect and measure the market signals foreshadowing major moves Build a portfolio with strong downside protection, full transparency, immediate liquidity, low fees, and incredible risk-adjusted returns Your portfolio returns will continue to be disappointing unless you act. It's time to make up for lost profits by taking an active, professional, and nonemotional portfolio management approach to avoid major losses and capture gains. Win By Not Losing provides everything you need to build wealth in today's stock market. Stop watching your money rise and fall without signifi cant net gain with a "buy-and-hold" strategy and optimize your positions as market sentiment changes. In a nonappreciating market, investors must actively manage equities to acquire gains. Win By Not Losing presents an active approach that uses rigorous risk-management techniques to preserve your wealth and generate high returns in all equity market environments. Prominent authors and lecturers Nick Atkeson and Andrew Houghton have culled the best of their work to help you revitalize your trading habits, protect your capital, and beat the market. Through real-world stories demonstrating fi nancial theory in action and how-to instructions for executing their strategic investment approach, these expert authors enable you to: Achieve sizable returns through an investment strategy equally focused on when to invest and when to sell Avoid major down markets and fully benefit from major up markets Access unique financial information to help you stay current, think ahead, and build and protect your wealth Whether you're an independent investor or a professional financial advisor, this refreshing look at investing will change the way you see the markets. Forget what you know about modern portfolio theory and trade to make money in today's markets with Win By Not Losing. "Anyone with some experience in the stock market, especially the person who wants to move beyond a buy and hold strategy, can find useful tidbits in this book.” ReadingTheMarkets.com
After having her classmates walk away from her during a soccer game at recess because she hogs the ball, is bossy, and cares only about winning, Sally gets some good advice from her teacher and her mother. Includes note to parents.
New York Times Bestseller Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman's work changes the national dialogue. Beyond their bestselling books, you know them from commentary and features in the New York Times, CNN, NPR, Time, Newsweek, Wired, New York, and more. E-mail, Facebook, and Twitter accounts are filled with demands to read their reporting (such as "How Not to Talk to Your Kids," "Creativity Crisis," and "Losing Is Good for You"). In Top Dog, Bronson and Merryman again use their astonishing blend of science and storytelling to reveal what's truly in the heart of a champion. The joy of victory and the character-building agony of defeat. Testosterone and the neuroscience of mistakes. Why rivals motivate. How home field advantage gets you a raise. What teamwork really requires. It's baseball, the SAT, sales contests, and Linux. How before da Vinci and FedEx were innovators, first, they were great competitors. Olympians carry Top Dog in their gym bags. It's in briefcases of Wall Street traders and Madison Avenue madmen. Risk takers from Silicon Valley to Vegas race to implement its ideas, as educators debate it in halls of academia. Now see for yourself what this game-changing talk is all about.