Failure. Keep Reading.....

Failure. On the outside, it's a very scary idea and for the most part, nobody wants to experience this. Why? Because it is something that humbles us and makes us think we are not good enough to perform the task in which we have failed to complete.

I am no different in this regard but now in the last few months I have began to think about it differently and have begun using it during coaching sessions and talks with athlete's and members.

The photo above is a shot form last weekend's Fittest Games competition. When the pic went up on Facebook, a few comments came in and said, "Sic!" and "Awesome!" I really appreciated all of these comments and I felt the same way 100%. But what most people don't know is that this rep never actually made it to the top. It was a failed rep that resulted in a DNF (did not finish) for the workout. Only the second time during any competition that I have failed to finish a workout. Crushed and beaten down mentally doesn't begin to describe how I felt.

Then, I began to think about what failure meant to me and how I had been dealing with it over the last few months. When I fail at something, it's because I gave it all I had. Not because I bitched out and didn't want to do finish. When I fail at a certain weight but i gave it my all, I learn more about the lift and the struggle then I do when I complete a rep. I accept the challenge that I need to get better but I don't discount what I can take away from the effort I put in. If I am constantly only doing weights I can always complete, then I am never experiencing things I cannot do and am unable to develop goals for myself. In a sense, I am never improving. I am staying stagnant at best. Not a place I want to be. Ever.

Learn from your failures. Take away the positives and use those learnings on your next attempt. it will be so much more rewarding in the future. Most of all, always have fun.

After that workout, I was being extremely hard on myself and someone came up to me and said this to me, "In a week or two, you're going to think about this workout and ask yourself why you lead people in fitness and what business you have teaching people about fitness." Then he said to me, "I just want you to know that you inspire me every day. Every day."

In closure, when you come into CFRR, don't approach the workout with the mindset of doing a certain weight just so you can complete the workout in the alotted time or to have one of the fastest times. Choose a weight that challenges you but you can still manage proper range of motion. Forget about the time. If you finish, great. If you fail, who cares. Worry about giving it everything you've got and getting better.