Learn and Win
“I never lose. I either win or I learn.” I was struck by this quote from Spartan (an obstacle race course and fitness group) the moment I read it. It’s probably the closest thing I’ve seen to a real credo to live by: embrace setbacks as an opportunity to learn, instead of rejecting them as a personal failure.
Setbacks happen. They happen at work, at home, at the gym. They happen along our everyday road to success. And guess what? That’s okay. It’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s okay to miss the mark – and to fall down – and to be hurt. An old Japanese proverb expresses a similar sentiment: “Fall down seven times. Get up eight.”
When we accept that we will make mistakes, we learn that we will fail before we can succeed.
“I either win or I learn” takes that important acceptance one step further: you can turn that fall, or that fail, into something valuable if you are open to learning from it. I’ve since adopted this credo and apply it to my every day life – helping me to overcome the challenges we all face. Like mom always used to say: if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.
Learning from our past is an important lesson. I know it’s been true for me in a number of different ways. It was true when I was trying to lose weight; when I was training for my black belt; training for a Spartan race; it was true in graduate school; and it has been true in my professional life as well.
While my list of Do’s is long, my list of Don’ts is short:
- Don’t keep repeating what’s not working for you: learn what’s not working, and why, and change it.
- Don’t kick yourself because your diet isn’t showing results; think about where and how it’s not working, and try something new.
- Don’t get discouraged when others don’t understand or deliver on your expectations; ask yourself how you might communicate your intentions differently.
- Don’t hurt your back the same way twice; learn how your injury came about and ensure you move your body differently next time – and call us for help!
Most of all, don’t give up because you’ve tried and failed. Try it again, but try it differently. Fail differently.
Win or Learn…words to live by.
