Failure is a great teacher—actually a better teacher than success. When we have success, most of us believe it is expected and that we deserve it. We follow a formula. We went to college, worked hard enough to be accepted to dental school, got our licenses and opened practices. If we merely continue the formula, we believe that all will be well.

Unfortunately, nobody has success all the time. The reason is that ongoing success means trying new things, moving out of one’s comfort zone. Whenever we move beyond the highly predictable status quo, we run the risk of some level of failure. Without failure, there is no growth. We learn more from our failures than our successes.