Success is the result of good judgment, good judgment is a result of experience, experience is often the result of bad judgment.

Success, the saying goes, rests on a chain that runs backward into failure. Good results come from good judgment, good judgment comes from experience, and experience is often just what remains after earlier bad calls. The point is that wisdom is not something people are born with. It is earned through trial and error, and the mistakes we regret are part of the price of the better decisions we make later.

The idea fits Tony Robbins's outlook as a motivational speaker and coach, who tends to treat setbacks as feedback rather than verdicts. It also echoes an older tradition, going back to Aristotle, that practical wisdom grows through practice and not through theory alone. As for attribution, nearly identical lines are credited to Will Rogers and others, so Robbins may be repeating a well-worn piece of folk wisdom rather than coining it.

Imagine someone running their first small team who hires the wrong person because they trusted charm over evidence. Rather than burying the embarrassment, they could write down what warning signs they missed and what they would ask next time. The mistake then becomes experience, and the next hiring decision is better informed.