Humans love a disaster. Great entertainment.

When there is a car accident at the side of the road, we slow down to look. 

Why do we love stories about failures?

First, it makes us feel better about ourselves. Admit it. We like feeling superior to others. Nothing wrong with that. It is being human. 

Second, imagine we tell a story of our failure. What will our listeners think? “Oh, this must be true.” No one is skeptical or questions the facts about our failures.

Third, no one likes someone who brags and tells others what to do. By admitting failures, we create a more human connection. Listeners know it is hard to admit personal mistakes.

Fourth, admitting our mistakes to others shows that we care about their success. We are willing to be embarrassed for the benefit of them knowing what could happen.

Imagine how much attention we get when we say, “Let me tell you my biggest mistake.”

Every listener wants to know. 

If we are normal, we won't have any shortage of disaster stories. We make mistakes daily, as that is how we learn. Yes, some mistakes are larger than others. And when we start our business? Oh my! We will create so many mistake stories. 

Some examples?

My biggest mistake in front of a group?

When I started network marketing, I was too shy to speak in public. So I took a public speaking course. To start the class, they prompted each student to stand in front of the group and tell them our name and what we do. How hard could that be?

As my turn approached, my fear increased. When it was my turn to tell the group my name and what I did, my lips moved but no sound came out. My face turned bright red. I knew I should have practiced before my public speaking debut. I learned to always practice before I did something for the first time. 

My biggest mistake at my job?

I stayed too long hoping things would change. I hoped I would get a surprise 50% raise so that I could pay my bills. Yeah, I was delusional. Well, that didn't happen, and my bills got larger. My finances got worse instead of better.

My biggest mistake in qualifying for an incentive trip?

My company announced a one-month contest to win a one-week trip to Acapulco, Mexico. My strategy? I made a beautiful graph so that I could chart my progress each day of the month. Unfortunately, I didn't have the skills to talk to prospects to qualify. Instead of drawing goal boards of what I wouldn't achieve, I should have learned better skills on how to talk to prospects. 

My biggest mistake in making business opportunity presentations?

I thought prospects, needed information to make an intelligent decision. But the more information I presented, the more they would back away. I was so convinced that information and benefits were the key, at one point I even doubled the length of my presentation. That ended badly.

My prospects didn't care about the information. They only cared about how my business would affect them in the future. The outcome was more important to them than the details of how we would get there.

My biggest mistake when I started to learn better network marketing skills?

I didn’t learn fast enough. Trial and error took too long. I needed to know what to do that worked instead of wasting time testing. Every prospect who I failed to close 50 years ago could have made me a fortune in bonuses over those 50 years. 

Not having skills is so expensive.

Enough about my mistakes. We don’t have time to go through them all.

So what mistakes would interest our prospects?

Let’s think about what happens when prospects don’t solve their problems. If we, or someone we know, made those same mistakes, that story would mesmerize our prospects. They want to know how to avoid mistakes in their future.

Some examples of what happens when prospects don’t solve their problems:

• They miss out on their children's activities
• They work hard but never get ahead
• They continue to struggle and feel stuck in their job
• They hate Monday mornings
• They stay fat
• They hate looking at their wrinkles in the mirror
• They overpay for their utilities
• They have to vacation with their in-laws
• They can't afford to buy their dream home
• They spend all their time in traffic
• They feel stressed and overwhelmed

The list goes on and on, but we get the idea. These are common problems that we might have faced ourselves.

Can we relate these mistakes in our mini-stories? Yes. 

Here are some examples. 

 "My biggest mistake was waiting three years before I figured out that my rent payment was making the mortgage payment for my landlord, and not for me. I didn’t have enough money for a down payment for a home until I started this part-time business.”

"My biggest mistake was not understanding that if I went on a diet, then eventually I would have to get off the diet. Of course, that meant that all my weight would come back. I solved that by never going on a diet. Instead, I drink this low-calorie breakfast shake to control my weight naturally."

"My biggest mistake was thinking I was too old to try something new. But later I decided to try this part-time business. Because I had experience in life already, this new business was easy to learn. I should have started earlier."

"I messed up thinking that my company pension would be enough. It wasn't. Inflation stinks. Now I feel better with a part-time income from my business. And as a bonus, I feel younger and more involved in life. Retirement was so boring."

"I hated hiding when my home-wrecking grandchildren visited. Those monsters would wear me out. I fixed this by taking this natural energy drink 15 minutes before they came. Now I enjoy running with them."

"This was dumb. I thought retirement would be a breeze. But my government pension doesn't even pay the rent in my city. I love my network marketing business as it gives me enough extra money so that I don't have to move away from my friends."

"My biggest blunder? Thinking I had to stick it out in a job I hated. I hated Mondays. But then, I realized life was too short for misery. I started building my side business in network marketing and now I do it full time. To celebrate, I sleep in every Monday morning."

"I messed up. I thought putting more moisturizers and magic serums on my face would make a difference. I lost a fortune. Finally, someone told me the secret. Make our skin younger from the inside. That is why I drink this collagen every day."

"My biggest mistake was not joining right away. I thought I had to know how to build a part-time business before I started. I didn't know that learning how to do this business happens during the training after we start."

"My biggest mistake? I put all my eggs in one basket. Yep, 100% of my income came from my secure job. But when our company was sold, the new owners didn't need me. I had nothing to fall back on. Zero. I should have started building my part-time business earlier."

“My biggest mistake was getting a nice car and home before I could afford it. This put me in debt with huge monthly payments. Thank goodness someone told me how to build a part-time network marketing business. This helped me and my family recover from a near financial disaster.”

We live ... and then we learn

When we talk about our mistakes and failures, prospects listen. Let's make these mini-stories more powerful by adding a lesson.

 Prospects feel better when we aren’t perfect or have all the answers in life. By admitting our failures, we become more relatable and trustworthy. This builds genuine connections with others.