Grover feels strongly that failure and triumph are mental decisions. Cleaners never really fail since they see bad situations as setbacks and figure out how to use their knowledge to make a comeback. For instance, Michael Jordan lost the NBA playoffs after his brief baseball career but came back to succeed again.

Grover has experienced his own setbacks with his business but always finds a way to make it work. Everyone can choose to turn their failures into successes. While a Cooler “admits defeat” and a Closer “works harder,” a Cleaner actually “strategizes for a different outcome” (183). For instance, when Grover was in college, he experienced many injuries playing on his school’s team. He thought of it as weakness and failure at the time but now realizes that it was the perfect preparation for a career helping people rehabilitate and reenter the game. When he realized that he couldn’t play at the NBA level, he adapted his dream to become the best trainer possible.

He urges the reader never to think about “trying” something but instead to commit to doing it. All athletes go through pain and disappointment, and Grover admires the ones who work through it and truly commit to making themselves a success. While all careers must end, Cleaners can retire on their terms and develop themselves in a new way, coming back to experience a new form of success.

Chapter Lessons

• Failure is a choice.
• Reframe disappointments as temporary setbacks.
• Use strategy, hard work, and decisive action to build on setbacks.

Reflection Questions

• What has been the most painful or disappointing experience in your work? Did you interpret this as a failure? Why or why not?
• Grover calls success and failure “100% mental.” How might you reframe your challenges and think about them in a new way?
• If you have already reached your goal, how could you explore a new avenue of challenge? What would the purpose of this work be?