Pick up the bag!
I started working with a personal trainer a few months ago. The beginning sessions were rough, and I would need an hour-long nap after the workout just to recover. After the initial 2 workouts the sore muscles from head to toe was intense and silently I cursed my trainer every time I moved. In time the conditioning began to take hold, recovery time lessened and I began to feel like this old body could be strong again.
However, there are several exercises that continuously challenge me. The most challenging is the weighted lunge. There is 14 steps(lunges) across the room. I started out simply lunging the room in my routine. Then she had me lunge while carrying a 25 lbs. bag. The exertion was intense. I couldn’t suck enough air in my lungs to recover from the routine. That exercise is the toughest in the room! It didn’t take long that my trainer bumped me to 35 lbs., then 50 Lbs. Oh, and if you can lunge while carrying 50 Lbs. let’s try 35 lbs. over your head and lunge that! Brutal just brutal.
Today I progressed to lunging 75 Lbs. and as I made my way across the room I began counting off the 14 lunges required to cross the room while keeping my eyes focused and chest up. I made it to number 10 and then dropped the bag. I was exhausted and panting trying to bring in enough air to recover. The instant I dropped the bag I felt remorse. I was disappointed that I did not hang in there for another 4 lunges to completion. It did not take me long to process this failure and then decided to pick up the bag and finish.
On the way back to my office I started thinking about the leadership implication failure plays into our life. I have failed at many things in my life but how I respond to that failure makes all the difference in how it is going to affect my life. John Maxwell wrote a book called “Failing Forward” that emphasizes our reaction to failure directs the course of our life or career. Many people you admire have failed at some time in their life: Arnold Palmer, Hank Aaron, Wright brothers and even Mother Teresa. They all learned how to turn their failure into success. Mistakes really do pave the road to achievement!
When you are knocked down, frustrated or drop the bag. Your response to this will determine the outcome. Will you pick up the bag and finish? Suffering through your challenges will shape your career, business or life! Winners don’t fail! They fail forward, learning a life lesson that will continue to shape them. Pick up the bag! Press on and be a life long winner.