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Matthew Turner is an author and storyteller who works with entrepreneurs, founders and creative thinkers build thriving businesses that light a fire within them. His latest book is The Successful Mistake. After interviewing 163 authority figures, Matthew’s unearthed how successful people overcome failure and adversity, not only ensuring they don’t end ruin their livelihood but form the basis of their greatest idea yet. Matthew is an English Writer who loves a good story and a rich black coffee.
Matthew’s motivation to write “The Successful Mistake”
“It was a book that I needed and didn’t exist.” That motivated Matthew to create his very first non-fiction and business book, after having written several fiction books.
How Matthew used storytelling throughout the book
Matthew used a few different layers of storytelling throughout the book. First, the 7 stages of failure that fall his own personal story, and then he backs his own story with stories from the featured entrepreneurs. To make it easier for the reader, Matthew divided every stage in chapters and sections, and he approached every section as a blog post.
Sharing your failure stories
Sharing your failures builds trust with your audience. Nobody wants to hear just your success stories.
However, at the time of writing a compelling story, failure stories are harder to write. The reason is that we feel doubts and fears, especially if in the present we don’t feel we are successful. Matthew suggests to ask yourself two questions before sharing a specific failure story: (1) is it going to help me grow? and (2) is it going to help them grow from my mistakes? Both answers must be “Yes.”
Related: Success Stories from Coaching Hundreds of TEDx Talks
Favorite quotation
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we do fall.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Recommended book
Mindset by Carol S. Dweck
Routine to Shine
A four-step morning routine: (1) Wake up early and use two minutes to recalibrate your mind, think what you’re going to do today. (2) Do some exercise. (3) Take a cold bath. (4) Drink a glass of water with lemon.
Links
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