FAIL BEAUTIFULLY!!!!

What does it mean to “Fail Beautifully”?  Isn’t failing bad?  How can something you think is bad be beautiful?  If I were to fail in school, I could get in trouble.  How can I fail and not get in trouble? These are all questions I get on a regular basis.

First, it is important to know that the failing I am referring to is not failing because you give up. It is not failing because you did not study for a test.  It is not failing because you did not try. Instead, I am talking about failing in spite of your best effort.  Have you ever worked so hard in a class that you struggled with only to barely earn a B or C?  You did all the homework.  You got tutoring.  You had the opportunity to drop the class, but instead you spent hours upon hours trying to grasp the concepts.  And eventually you did, but despite all the effort you still only got a B or C in the class.  Yet, that B or C was possibly the most fulfilling grade you ever received.  Why?  Because despite all the challenges and difficulties you faced you never gave up.  In fact, you likely proved to yourself what hard work looks like and you now understand what a sense of accomplishment truly mean.  And it felt good.

To “Fail Beautifully” you must take a risk. You must put yourself out there.  You must push yourself to the point of physical failure.  You make yourself vulnerable by going outside of your comfort zone.  This might mean being a little more aggressive earlier in the race than you normally would, doing a couple of extra dolphin kicks off the wall, or putting your head down into the finish before you normally would.  These are all skills we work and talk about in practice.  These are the skills we want to implement in our races. But many times swimmers are too afraid of being uncomfortable and pushing their limits that they ignore everything we do in practice.  These are the swimmers that swim the same races every meet and wonder why nothing ever changes.  However, to “Fail Beautifully” we must step outside of our comfort zone.  We must push ourselves to our limits.

My swimmers and I talk about making ourselves uncomfortable every day.  Because if you never push your self to the point where you fail (physically), you will never know your limits.  If you never know your limits, you will never grow and learn how to push those limits even further.  That is what makes failure beautiful.  The beauty is knowing you have given 100% and understand your limits and you are continuing to expand your limits.    

The idea of failing has become so stigmatized.  However, I try every day to help my swimmers understand that failing is not a bad thing.  When we fail, we learn.  When we push our body’s to their limits, we grow.  When we do this repeatedly, we become better athletes.

Who remembers Michael Jordan?  I know many of you will laugh because I asked this question, but most of my swimmers are familiar with LeBron James or Kevin Durant and there are some who had never heard for Michael Jordan. However, to me Michael Jordan is the epitome of someone who “fails beautifully.” Jordan was once quoted saying the following, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.  I’ve lost almost 300 games.  26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.”

Does anyone look at Michael Jordan as a failure?  Instead, almost 20 years later we are still referencing Jordan as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.  

The truth is, you will fail far more than you will succeed.  You will stumble along the way.  You will make mistakes.  You will choose to follow comfort instead of testing your limits.  You will win races you should have lost.  You will lose races you should have won.  Instead of looking at these situations as setbacks and true failures, find what you can learn from it.  In failure you can learn more than in success.  You can learn to be better.  You will learn humility.  You will learn resiliency.  You will learn that you are far stronger than you every imagined.  You will understand the true meaning to “fail beautifully.”

If you never take risks and constantly avoid failure you will never know your true potential.  Michael Jordan said it best, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”

So I will end with this…I challenge each of you every day whether at practice, a swim meet, dryland session, school, work, whatever it may be to make yourself uncomfortable and take risks.  Do not run away from challenges, rather embrace them.  Allow yourself to fail and when you do fail, both figuratively and literally, do so with dignity and respect. Because than you will have “failed beautifully.”

What is Developing the WHOLE PERSON?

It has been over 5 years since I have added anything here.  I have been feeling inspired the last couple of weeks so I decided to try diving back into writing.  Please share with anyone you feel could get something out of this.

Coaches talk about developing not only the athlete, but the WHOLE PERSON.  Have you ever sat back and thought about what that meant?  I am going to try and explain what it means to me in 10 simple parts.

1. Time management/Punctuality – It is not just about being able to manage your time with all of your different responsibilities, it is also about being on time.  “Early is on time, and on time is late, and late is unacceptable!” -Unknown
2. Goal Oriented – Understanding how to set not just BIG long term goals, but also set short term SMALLER goals that help you continue to work towards that long term goal.  A good example is I (Coach Anthony) am trying to walk 1500 miles in the calendar year.  Each month I set a goal of what mileage I want to be at by the end of the month in order to ensure I will succeed if not supersede my goal.  
3. Responsibility – Being accountable to yourself and others.  When you say you are going to do something, follow through.
4. Teamwork – Swimming may seem like an individual sport, but it actually requires a lot of team work. This means developing friendships, mutual inspiration and admiration, and respect amongst team mates.  Great examples of teamwork would be cheering on everyone swimming in your lane as they finish a long set, providing words of encouragement throughout a long set, or challenging each other during a tough set.
5. Confidence – Having belief in yourself AND the group.  Believing in your coaches, leaders and team. 
6. Courage – The ability to “Fail Beautifully”.  During points of failure is where you can learn the most about yourself.  If you are not willing to take the risks, you will never know your true potential. Despite what you may think, no one succeeds at everything they do the first time.
7. Communication – Being able to communicate with your teammates, coaches, parents, teachers and anyone else in your life.  You need to be able to communicate your goals, schedule, and conflicts.
8. Honesty – Being 100% honest with yourself. 
9. Diligence – Being able to continue working towards long term and short term goals even when obstacles or setbacks happen.  Working towards a goal is never a straight line.  Life will get in the way.  It is how you work your way through the hard times that you will begin to thrive and grow not only as an athlete but as an individual.
10. Leadership – Not everyone is a vocal leader. I was not a vocal leader growing up.  I would lead by example, meaning I would know the whole set, know the intervals and when we were leaving and I was going to push everyone by pushing the pace every day.  Vocal leaders need to be a positive force that rallies their teammates towards their own goals.  Leaders are about the “WE” not the “ME.” As cliché as it sounds “There is no I in TEAM.”  Leaders look for the glory of the team, not just themselves.

If as coaches we are able to help hone each one of these skills and traits we will be doing a tremendous job.

Disclaimer:  These are my opinions and are not to be a reflection on anyone other than myself.