<h2>Why Mistakes Are Not Failure</h2>
<p><img decoding="async" src="https://www.getmotivation.com/images/speakers_images/jim-stovall-10.jpg" class="alignleft" title="Jim Stovall - motivational speaker and inspirational author" border="0">In business and in life, we should celebrate our victories and learn from our mistakes.  Mistakes are never failure unless we quit.</p>
<p>Mistakes can be the fertilizer for future success, and the experience can create building blocks for greatness.  All mistakes are not created equal.  There are mistakes that involve effort and then there are mistakes that involve apathy.</p>
<h2>What Effort Means for Success</h2>
<p>Effort is the one element that has to exist in all success formulas.  Nothing worthwhile ever happens without our own best efforts. Sometimes, these efforts involve us making an error or mistake. <span class="post-teaser-more"><br /><br />&nbsp;=>> <a href="https://www.getmotivation.com/motivationblog/2010/05/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall/" title="Permanent Link: Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall" rel="bookmark">Click to read the full article...</a> <i></span></p></img>{"id":220,"date":"2010-05-21T12:20:44","date_gmt":"2010-05-21T17:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/?p=220"},"modified":"2023-07-17T14:31:34","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T19:31:34","slug":"effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/","title":{"rendered":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Why Mistakes Are Not Failure<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/images\/speakers_images\/jim-stovall-10.jpg\" class=\"alignleft\" title=\"Jim Stovall - motivational speaker and inspirational author\" border=\"0\">In business and in life, we should celebrate our victories and learn from our mistakes.\u00a0 Mistakes are never failure unless we quit.<\/p>\n<p>Mistakes can be the fertilizer for future success, and the experience can create building blocks for greatness.\u00a0 All mistakes are not created equal.\u00a0 There are mistakes that involve effort and then there are mistakes that involve apathy.<\/p>\n<h2>What Effort Means for Success<\/h2>\n<p>Effort is the one element that has to exist in all success formulas.\u00a0 Nothing worthwhile ever happens without our own best efforts. Sometimes, these efforts involve us making an error or mistake. <span class=\"post-teaser-more\"><br \/><br \/>&nbsp;=>> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/\" title=\"Permanent Link: Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall\" rel=\"bookmark\">Click to read the full article...<\/a> <i><\/span><\/p><\/img>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motivation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.3 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to deal with mistakes, whether they are from effort or apathy, and how to keep trying and succeeding with your team.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Hinds\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.3\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Motivation and Success Strategies | Personal Development, Self Improvement, and Strategies for Achieving Success\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how to deal with mistakes, whether they are from effort or apathy, and how to keep trying and succeeding with your team.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-05-21T17:20:44+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-17T19:31:34+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Learn how to deal with mistakes, whether they are from effort or apathy, and how to keep trying and succeeding with your team.\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#article\",\"name\":\"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall\",\"headline\":\"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/images\\\/speakers_images\\\/jim-stovall-10.jpg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#articleImage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-05-21T12:20:44-05:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-17T14:31:34-05:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"commentCount\":1,\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Motivation\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/category\\\/motivation\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Motivation\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/category\\\/motivation\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Motivation\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/category\\\/motivation\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/category\\\/motivation\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Motivation\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GetMotivation.com\",\"description\":\"Personal Development, Self Improvement, and Strategies for Achieving Success\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\",\"name\":\"Josh Hinds\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/da9aa3920ed7ba7303fdb2d25228dd9c4c61305066323c5b65143d01da1f4ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Josh Hinds\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/\",\"name\":\"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall\",\"description\":\"Learn how to deal with mistakes, whether they are from effort or apathy, and how to keep trying and succeeding with your team.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-05-21T12:20:44-05:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-17T14:31:34-05:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Motivation and Success Strategies | GetMotivation\",\"description\":\"Personal Development, Self Improvement, and Strategies for Achieving Success\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.getmotivation.com\\\/motivationblog\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall","description":"Learn how to deal with mistakes, whether they are from effort or apathy, and how to keep trying and succeeding with your team.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#article","name":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall","headline":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/author\/admin\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/images\/speakers_images\/jim-stovall-10.jpg","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#articleImage"},"datePublished":"2010-05-21T12:20:44-05:00","dateModified":"2023-07-17T14:31:34-05:00","inLanguage":"en-US","commentCount":1,"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"Motivation"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/category\/motivation\/#listItem","name":"Motivation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/category\/motivation\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Motivation","item":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/category\/motivation\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#listItem","name":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/category\/motivation\/#listItem","name":"Motivation"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/#organization","name":"GetMotivation.com","description":"Personal Development, Self Improvement, and Strategies for Achieving Success","url":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/author\/admin\/#author","url":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/author\/admin\/","name":"Josh Hinds","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/da9aa3920ed7ba7303fdb2d25228dd9c4c61305066323c5b65143d01da1f4ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Josh Hinds"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/","name":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall","description":"Learn how to deal with mistakes, whether they are from effort or apathy, and how to keep trying and succeeding with your team.","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/author\/admin\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/author\/admin\/#author"},"datePublished":"2010-05-21T12:20:44-05:00","dateModified":"2023-07-17T14:31:34-05:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/","name":"Motivation and Success Strategies | GetMotivation","description":"Personal Development, Self Improvement, and Strategies for Achieving Success","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"Motivation and Success Strategies | Personal Development, Self Improvement, and Strategies for Achieving Success","og:type":"article","og:title":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall","og:description":"Learn how to deal with mistakes, whether they are from effort or apathy, and how to keep trying and succeeding with your team.","og:url":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/","article:published_time":"2010-05-21T17:20:44+00:00","article:modified_time":"2023-07-17T19:31:34+00:00","twitter:card":"summary","twitter:title":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall","twitter:description":"Learn how to deal with mistakes, whether they are from effort or apathy, and how to keep trying and succeeding with your team."},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"220","title":null,"description":"Learn how to deal with mistakes, whether they are from effort or apathy, and how to keep trying and succeeding with your team.","keywords":[],"keyphrases":{"focus":{"keyphrase":"","score":0,"analysis":{"keyphraseInTitle":{"score":0,"maxScore":9,"error":1}}},"additional":[]},"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":[],"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"Article","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":null,"schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":"-1","robots_max_videopreview":"-1","robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":"default","local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2021-02-04 04:22:14","updated":"2025-08-24 00:10:07","focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/category\/motivation\/\" title=\"Motivation\">Motivation<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tEffort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/"},{"label":"Motivation","link":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/category\/motivation\/"},{"label":"Effort vs. Apathy by Jim Stovall","link":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/2010\/05\/effort-vs-apathy-by-jim-stovall\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/motivationblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}