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Category: Failing Forward

Embracers of Challenge and Masters of Perspective

When I write about “embracers of challenge and masters of perspective,” here’s what I mean:

  • One of my teenage students was telling me about how she fell down in the middle of her martial arts weapon performance. It was a form she decided to make more difficult the week of the tournament and yet, even though she fell and felt “so embarrassed,” she also said she was so glad she did it and can’t wait to own it at the next one.
  • A group of my adult students were telling me about how they all—maybe five or six of them—forgot the memorization of their traditional weapon form. All of them. Blanked. And yet, this is the email I got from one of them: “Our group of competitors learned a lot of humility when attempting and failing our weapon forms. We all knew we didn’t do it correctly and immediately cheered on our competitors to not quit. We all finished and were able to laugh at ourselves and cheer each other on for our next tournament. This group of competitors is just so amazing.  We all strive for nothing but our best but do not break each other down. Love this family!!!!”
  • Another one of my adult students (48 years old), decided to compete in her first ever tournament. She’s a mother of two, a wife, has been training for 2+ years and simply hadn’t pulled the trigger to do one. And when I asked what her ideal outcome would be she said, “just getting through it—place isn’t important, getting this first one under my belt is the real victory.” …And I couldn’t agree more.

Competition Success vs Life Success

Competitions aren’t designed to build confidence, they’re designed to challenge competitors.

When I think about confidence, I think about success remembered. Remembering a time (or many times) when I successfully did the thing I’m about to do—that I’m scared to do—is about as reassuring as it gets… because it’s tangible, evidence-based proof.

And when I think about traditional settings of competition, where there’s one first place winner and a group of three or more competitors, more competitors will end up losing than winning. And “losing” isn’t the foundation that confidence is built upon.

But—and this is a BIG but—losses learned from IS the foundation that life success is built upon.

As I mentioned in the beginning, competitions are designed to challenge the competitor. And what is life but a disproportionate amount of challenge compared to ease? And what makes challenges so challenging…? The fact that we keep losing when we’re trying to win!

See, when we learn how to manage the “losses” appropriately… when we learn to contextualize what’s really happening when we compete (is it really about the first place trophy?)… when we learn to roll with the punches, extract the lessons, and return to our practice with fresh insights—better insights than we had before…

How could we ever really lose?

Demanding competition success isn’t helping with life success—especially if it’s removing the challenge from the experience. Teaching competitors how to become embracers of challenge and masters of perspective… now that is a foundation that will set them up for life.

The Opposite of Human

I’ve competed in hundreds of martial arts tournaments throughout my life.

And while the goal was always to perform my routine perfectly… or fight my fights flawlessly… or do my demos without even the faintest of mistakes… I can’t think of a single time when I actually did any of that.

What I do remember are highlight moments when I nailed a really hard move or scored a picture perfect point… but most of all… I remember the feelings

I remember the intensity of the nerves… the shakiness of my legs… the feeling of being in a foreign body that felt nothing like it did in practice…

And I remember the intensity of the highs when I triumphed… the sense of accomplishment when I’d finish a long day of competition… the feelings of pride and dignity when I was recognized by others as having done well.

And I think to myself about how many potent life experiences I would’ve missed out on if I waited to compete until I felt perfectly ready… or if after my first few experiences of not having flawless performances—I gave up…

The reality is this: perfect is the opposite of human.

And if you feel like you’re living a lackluster existence… like you’re missing depth in your life… like the days feel more gray than colorful…

Then maybe you should question what kind of role perfection plays in your life. Because as tough as it might sound… embracing imperfect action is the path that’ll lead you the other way.


P.s. ICYMI, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.

What’s Now

While playing football this morning, one of the quarterbacks commented on how upset he was that he threw a couple of interceptions.

While playing basketball shortly thereafter, guys would visibly and viscerally get upset when they missed a series of shots in a row.

And while talking to a friend, it became evident to me that I was still upset about a situation that happened days ago.

In each of these situations, the past was being carried into the present—and it was affecting all of our abilities to perform our best.

Learning how to leave these past moments in the past and enter each present moment as its own refreshed opportunity—is nothing short of a superpower.

And the best way to do this is to learn how to stay calm when mistakes are made, clearly take from them the lessons you’re able to extract, and breathe yourself confidently back into the present.

What’s done is done. What’s now can either be a darker night or a rising sun.


P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.

6 Out Of 10

I taught a Women’s Self-Defense class this past Wednesday.

It’s a free event designed to equip, empower, and prepare the women of our community to protect themselves against bigger, stronger, and faster assailants.

I’ll teach fundamental self-defense strategies, effective strikes from a variety of positions, and how to properly respond against chokes, grabs, bear hugs, etc—all while being surrounded by a respectful, uplifting community of supportive women.

I’ve been leading this session for years and have settled (remember this word) into a curriculum that I feel really good about.

At the end of this past week’s session, I handed out anonymous feedback forms where participants can rate the class on a scale of 1-10 and provide written feedback on what they liked, didn’t like, and what they would’ve liked to do more/less of.

Most of the reviews I’ve gotten since starting these forms have been 10s with the occasional 9. One person, however, after this past session rated it a 6 out of 10.

And here’s what I noticed in myself after seeing that:

  1. A defensive/emotional mental rise: how could they have given that session a 6 out of 10?!
  2. A deliberate attempt to forget about that rating—as if it wasn’t submitted.
  3. A bubbling back up of the rating in my mind every so often, unconsciously.
  4. An acceptance with the rating once I calmed down and put it into perspective.
  5. Active brainstorming on what I’m going to do differently/better for the next one.

…And it’s that last line that’s so key.

Beneath the emotional responses are buried opportunities. Opportunities that, if discovered with enough patience and deliberate inner work, can (finally) take you from “settled” to still evolving.

Tomorrow’s Success

I had a rough day playing basketball today.

I missed almost every shot I took.

But, you know what? I successfully executed a drive-to-the-basket-move for the first time in a live game that I’ve been practicing. And of that, I left feeling proud.

It’s important to remember that success is actually more of a lagging indicator that reflects the work you put in prior. And if you’re not finding success inside of a day, to focus less on forcing it and focus more on setting yourself up for tomorrow.

Because successfully learning and executing new moves in today’s game is precisely the kind of thing that’ll stay with us and lead to the types of successes that both you and I want in our games nowtoday.

…But we have to be willing to put in the work and suck before the today successes can come.

Getting Back Up

My grandmother, 88 years old, fell down yesterday while pulling a big weed from her backyard.

It was one of those: yank, won’t budge… yank, won’t budge… yank, won’t budge… yank, pops out all at once… kind of weeds.

Being that she still lives on her own, falling down abruptly like that can lead to serious consequences… especially when falling straight onto her back and not having anything around to grab onto to help her get back up.

But, fortunately, there weren’t any serious consequences and she was able to get back up on her own.

And hearing her celebrate that victory today, of being able to get back up without anything around to grab onto, was a sobering reminder to not take that simple act for granted.

In fact, it is always a triumphant moment when we rise back up after having fallen onto our backs—be it in the morning as we rise from bed, during the day as we rise from having crashed on the couch, or in the situation where we fell or were knocked down or were depressed—finding the strength inside to get back up again is what living triumphant lives are made up of.

…May you continue to find that strength for many years to come.


P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.