Mistakes...and failures.

I am half-cringing even as I write those words.

I think I speak for most people when I say that we don't like those words. They make us feel uncomfortable. They make us feel imperfect. They can even make us feel bad about ourselves.

If, and when they do, it's because we have fallen into a trap. Our first misstep was thinking that we were perfect and that there is something wrong with being imperfect or admitting that we're imperfect. ​

Our other foot lands right in the trap and dooms our fate when we attach our self-worth to the outcome of what we're doing. We struggle, we make mistakes, we fail.  And all of a sudden we feel inadequate, we feel worthless and we feel like failures ourselves. We've let ourselves, and everybody else down. The self -talk is brutal, destructive and adds to the downward spiral.

Ughhh...Not a lot of fun. And it's enough to challenge your motivation for attempting to do this thing in the first place. (And if this pain and suffering is greater than your original motivation you may not only have lost this battle but it might also be the end of the war.)

Now let's see if we can re-frame how we look at and feel about those two words; Mistakes...and failures.

If we attempt to do something and we nail it on the first try then that thing hasn't changed us. If we were perfect at it to begin with, then it was already part of us...

It didn't challenge us.
It didn't change us.
We haven't grown because of it.
Net growth = ZERO.

But when we challenge ourselves, when we step outside of our comfort zone and try to stretch our limits into new territory, mistakes will be made. Failures are inevitable. 

As a matter of fact, (and here's the payoff):

Mistakes and failures are PROOF that you've challenged yourself, PROOF that you had the courage to put yourself out there and PROOF that you were brave enough to try something when the outcome was uncertain.

So if you're trying to get better at something, or if you're claiming to be in pursuit of greatness, of something epic, of chasing your dream, then you better have the mistakes and failures to prove it. 

​Thank you for reading,

Whether you are involved in athletics or not, you are most likely part of a team...or group, or company, or tribe or (fill in the blank).

Whatever it is you are a part of and whatever that (fill in the blank)'s mission is, the ability of your team to succeed depends largely on it's strength, it's "strength In numbers".

I believe that this is what most people mean when they use the word but I think that today's definition is missing something.

Let's go back a few hundred years and take a look at the origin of the word.

"To compete", comes from the Latin, competere, which is made up of into two shorter Latin words; com meaning "with, together" and petere meaning "to strive, or seek”.

So when we put those two back together we get the original (Latin) definition of the word compete, which is: “to strive for or seek together (with someone)”.

That is very different than how most people use it today.  While today's definition is very externally focused, ("for position, profit, or a prize"), the origin of the word strikes me far more internally driven.

When we compete, when we "seek together" with an opponent, we are striving to take our game to a higher level, possibly a level which we have never reached before, a level which we most likely could only attain when pushed there by an equally matched adversary.

And that  is why I love to compete.  

Embrace competition.  Use it to seek the best in yourself...​It may be the only way to bring it out of you.

Life is too short to value the wrong things.

Life is too short to not tell the people you love that you love them.

Life is too short to waste time trying to be who they want you to be instead of being yourself.

Life is too short to not know WHO you are, WHAT you stand for, WHERE you want to go and WHY you want to get there.
​​

...He would belt out that awesome yell when he beat on his chest that would summon all of his animal friends. I just thought that was so cool and imposing and would practice it all the time.

...And he had Jane!  Total. Babe. 

But the coolest part of being Tarzan in my opinion would have been the ability to swing around the jungle from one vine to another.  The grace and skill with which he glided through the rain forest mesmerized  me as a young boy.

He would start high on a branch, grab hold of a vine, and launch himself into the void. Gravity would pull his body on a gentle arc towards the ground and then his momentum would drive him back upwards. And then, this was the best part, right as his upward momentum was about to die he would let go of the vine, float through the air, and snatch the next vine to safety. If there has ever been a cooler way to get around, I haven't seen it.

But imagine for a second what it would have looked like if Tarzan was scared... 

Imagine if he gave in to that fear and refused to let go of that first vine, and all of the security and certainty that came with it. He would never have gotten anywhere!  He would have just swung back-and-forth on the same vine....pretty lame if you ask me. 

The only way that Tarzan could get to the next vine was to let go; to let go of what he knew, to let go of the security of the vine that he was holding, and to trust that what came next was going to work out, that he would reach another vine.

Often, there comes a point in our lives where the thing that we are holding on to the tightest actually becomes the thing that is holding us back the most. For Tarzan to fully commit to that next vine he had to let go of the one he was holding on to.

What are you holding on to which is actually holding you back?

What is it that gives you security and safety but is also keeping you from taking the next leap in your growth?

It's time to let go of that old vine.  Take the leap!  Trust that when you let go of that thing, the next vine will be hanging there waiting for you. Have confidence in yourself that you will be able to latch on to it and continue advancing...And feel free to let out a Tarzan-esque yell while you're doing it. 

That time in our lives, as we imagine it, may never come.
That time in our lives may come and disappoint us, and not be as great as we thought.
That time in your lives may come but not last very long.
Some non-related event may happen to us that doesn't allow us to fully enjoy it if it does come.

If we spend time hoping and wishing for that great time in our lives to come, then all we are doing is not realizing how great this time in our lives ​is and how awesome the opportunities that stand in front of us truly are.

Amazing is NOW...if we choose it to be. 

What an event! And to be completely honest with you, I only saw the last half of the fight but the event and build-up was special. It truly was a modern-day spectacle.

Being a UFC fan I was pulling for the Irishman so I may be a little biased but I also came out of it liking Floyd Mayweather more than I ever have.

Two things really stick out to me as I think back on this fight:

1. Connor McGregor's Competitiveness. He gets it. It may have looked like he was challenging boxing's pound-for-pound king but in reality, McGregor was challenging himself. McGregor is not afraid to take on massive challenges. He's not afraid to be the underdog. Connor McGregor is not afraid to FAIL. And that's why he has climbed to the top of his sport, MMA, so rapidly and was able to challenge the throne of another sport, boxing. If Connor McGregor's goal in competing was simply "to be the best", he would've just stayed in the UFC. Switching sports was about daring to do the unthinkable, getting out of his comfort zone and challenging himself to reach new heights. We can all learn from his fearless competitiveness.
2. Floyd Mayweather's Composure. This wasn't an observation that I made myself but something that was brought to light by Connor McGregor's post fight comments in a locker room interview. He said that the major difference between him and Floyd in the ring was not skill (very debatable) but composure (very insightful). What if two of today's fittest, toughest and baddest gladiators engaged in a brutal pugilistic contest and the deciding factor ultimately came down to mental skills and emotional control. That would be something...

​Something that we could all learn from and strive to improve on​.
​

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​If we treat everyone we encounter in our daily lives with Zach's words in mind then the world will be a better place.

​...Zach, will continue to have made the world a better place.

​

​This is a special time of year for basketball players.

Most college basketball players are home having finished their summer workouts on campus. High school players are in their own sort of "limbo" with the AAU season being over and workouts with their high school programs several weeks away.

And that limbo is exactly what makes this time of year so special.

​It's an opportunity. An opportunity to take another step in your development when things aren't necessarily set up for you or "easy". An opportunity to truly ​separate yourself from the pack.

A few weeks ago I was listening to Vince Vaughn speak on a podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. Vaughn provided laughs like he always does, but he also dropped a gem about mastering your craft which made me think about how important these few weeks really are.

Here is the quote below (that can also be heard here at the 1:00:15 mark)

 “...then I started to realize that the week I took off was really two weeks...that it was a week of not getting better and it was a week of getting worse.”

Vince Vaughn is just expounding on an expression that we've all heard before; "If you're not getting better, you're getting worse." but hearing it in the context of losing 2 weeks in your development made it feel very real to me.

So what will you do in the coming weeks?...

Take one step forward? Or two steps back?

​
Whenever competing in life, and especially as an athlete, you need to have a singular focus: Being the best you can be.

Chad Le Clos is a great swimmer. And there is no doubt that he had to have worked incredibly hard to get to where he is. The intensity of Le Clos' focus may even have been at an all-time high during these Olympics...He just happened to be focused on the wrong thing.

Le Clos was obsessed with Michael Phelps.
...with beating Michael Phelps.
...with trying to get into Michael Phelps' head.
...with trying to negatively impact Michael Phelps' performance.

The problem for Le Clos is that he can't control Michael Phelps! And by focusing on Phelps, Le Clos wasn't locked in on what he could control...performing at the highest level that he possibly could for the biggest race of his life.

The Olympics are the biggest athletic stage on the planet. Those competing are there for reason. They are the Elite of the elite. Any slip up in focus will get exposed.

Le Clos got exposed.
​
Control what you can control.
Focus on doing everything you do, to the best of your ability. 

...You will be amazed by what you have the power to accomplish.