Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has spoken of his "lonely" days in boarding school and of how losing the Liberal leadership when in opposition prepared him to become a better leader of his party in government.
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In an interview with journalist Mike Munro at a Lifeline event in Sydney on Monday, Mr Turnbull was asked about the "bleakest" days of his childhood during his parents' divorce and whether standing up to "bullies" in school had prepared him for bullies in public life.
"I was lonely," he said.
"I went to boarding school when I was eight. My parents were in the process of splitting up and I was very lonely.
"The critical thing Mike is just to keep learning. You have to keep on learning.
"The truth is we learn, all of us, vastly more from trying things and not succeeding than we do from trying things and succeeding. Because when things don't succeed we'll generally reflect on what went wrong."
Mr Turnbull said he had been "chastened" by his experience of losing the opposition leadership by one vote to Tony Abbott in 2009.
Mr Turnbull, who served as communications minister in the Abbott government, reclaimed the leadership to become Prime Minister in September's dramatic spill.
On losing the opposition leadership, Mr Turnbull said "I was very glum about it all" but he was persuaded to stay in politics and had become a better person because of that defeat.
"I learnt a lot from that," he said.
"It's a hell of a way to learn I might say, but they say 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'.
"I'm not sure that's entirely true but I'd say this: If you can pull yourself out of those tough experiences you are much stronger because you've got to be.
"The critical thing is to become more self-aware, to be aware of yourself, aware of your own limitations."
"I think I'm as a consequence of that experience, I'm obviously older, but I'm also wiser, more self-aware and that's enabled me to be better, or to do my old job as communications minister better but also to do this job as leader and Prime Minister better."
Mr Turnbull said the events that led to his downfall as opposition leader had made him more aware of his own weaknesses and strengths.
"You've got to recognise that when something like that happens to you, you may not be 100 per cent of the problem but you're a big chunk of it," he said.
"That doesn't mean you're a person of no worth, none of us are perfect.
"Self-awareness is absolutely critical. Talking about mental health, being aware of your moods is a very important thing."
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