'You learn more from failure than success'

England captain Ben Stokes on how setbacks can inspire you to scale new heights
The Edge LogoThe Edge LogoThe Edge Logo
The Edge LogoThe Edge LogoThe Edge Logo
The Edge LogoThe Edge LogoThe Edge Logo
The Edge LogoThe Edge LogoThe Edge Logo
Down Arrow
"The reality of sport is that you fail more than you succeed, but it's important to be able to turn your failure into something positive as a learning curve, learn from it and get better." - Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes believes you can learn more from failure than you can from success.

The England captain has experienced ecstatic highs and debilitating lows in his career - even though he's considered one of the greatest to ever play cricket.

And Ben uses the setbacks to inspire himself to reach new heights.

The 4CAST founder has a phoenix tattoo on his right arm which he got shortly after England's agonising defeat in the 2016 T20 World Cup final.

It reminds him that sport - and life - can change very quickly, and that bad days are just part and parcel of being an elite athlete.

"When I got the phoenix tattoo it was a long time ago and a lot’s changed since then," said Ben.

"The reality of sport is that you fail more than you succeed, but it's important to be able to turn your failure into something positive as a learning curve, learn from it and get better.

"That’s the way I try to look at it, and when I look down at the phoenix tattoo I know exactly what it represents.

"If you hear 'failure' or say 'failure', it’s a pretty dull word," added Ben. "If you actually think about it a bit more, failing is actually an unbelievable way of getting better and can be a way of dealing with stuff that goes wrong.

"You’re able to learn from success, but you’re able to learn more from failure. In fact, you learn so much from failure that almost it's like there's no such thing as a bad day.

"Because every day is an opportunity to learn, whether you're successful or you have a failure of a day, and I've learned that over the years.

"If you're asking me when I was 21, I'll be like, nah, you'd never hear things like that coming out of my mouth. But now I just see everything as an opportunity to learn from and get better from.

"And, without failure, success would be pretty boring wouldn’t it?"

Download the app
Get it on Google PlayDownload on the App Store

you may also Like

View all posts
View all posts

Want to be a partner of The Edge?

Get in touch
App Splash ScreenApp Explore Screen

Download
the app

The Athlete's Voice by 4CAST gives a voice to people from all sports, from the 4CAST collective's founder members to its ever-increasing roster of athletes, executives and professionals.

Packed with exclusive content about careers, interests and business opportunities, The Athlete's Voice demonstrates the richness of life beyond sport through the lens of its athletes, providing insight, challenging stereotypes and inspiring others.

Download it now to get everything in one place, from cricket and entrepreneurship to gaming and mental wellness, with exclusive and aggregated content, competitions, live match centres and more.

Get it on Google PlayDownload on the App Store
Our partners