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I was fortunate enough to recently be interviewed by local news anchor Sonya Heitshusen for a podcast series she's working on about people who accomplish amazing physical feats and/or overcome obstacles to achieve them. She was interested in my Double Anvil finishes and the backstory with how I ended up competing in them. Near the end of the interview, she asked a few 'rapid fire' questions, one of which was: What was my biggest failure?
In the context of the interview, my response was that I was fortunate to not have any DNFs (Did Not Finish) - at least not yet - so I couldn't really didn't have a good answer for her. After I left, I thought a bit more about the question, and here's what I wish I would have said:
I don't like to use the word 'failure' because it has so much negative connotations that go with it. I don't ever think that I'm going to fail at anything I attempt. I know things can - and DO - go wrong, but I just adapt and keep moving forward.
When I'm training and have target goals for a workout, I never consider it a failure that I didn't hit that goal. Instead I acknowledge that there's more work to be done, and at least I got in some work instead of doing nothing.
If I miss a goal during a race, I never think of it as failure either. Just making it to the start line without injury and able to compete is an accomplishment in and of itself. I'm appreciative for the opportunity to be out there and competing with others.
One of my favorite shows was Mythbusters, and they did a funny turn on a classic phrase about failure, adapting it as their mantra for experiments that didn't go according to plan: "Failure is ALWAYS an option!" What I loved about that is they embraced it, because they knew that even a failed experiment yields results. You learn from failure. When I trained field technicians, I reminded them that training environments are the best place to fail, because you learn more from failure than you do from success.
As humans, an evolutionary trait that is hard-wired into all of us is the ability to recall painful incidents with relative ease. The logic being is those memories are quickly accessed so we avoid them in the future. ("'Member that time you ran so hard you almost passed out?" "Yeah, I 'member!") What's amazing about that is despite those negative experiences being so accessible, we still continue to grow and evolve our entire lives. We push THROUGH the pain and the failures. We don't always find the success, but we almost always end up in a better position that where we started.
"The only failure is in failing to try." Someone else said it before, but I agree completely with this sentiment. That's why I don't ever think of failing, because I'm always trying. I'm sure some day my body may fail me with a random injury or I may have an accident during a race that will lead to a DNF. I'll deal with that when the time comes. I'm sure I'll be upset, but I'll only be upset at not being able to finish what I started on that day. I won't label it a failure. I'll learn from it, apply it, and be better because of it.
