Takeaway: We cannot prevent ourselves from making mistakes, but what truly matters is not the mistake itself. What matters is our response after the mistake. What do we do next? That's the most crucial aspect of growth and improvement.
Welcome to the Fitness Fortune series, where I take inspiration from fortune cookie messages and explore how they apply to your health journey.
Today’s fortune: “Failure is the mother of success.”
I recall one of my high school classmates saying once, “You don’t learn anything when you’re right.”
That fleeting comment has stuck with me ever since. Constant success and winning don’t teach us much, it only reaffirms something we already knew.
Failure is the real teacher.
Failure reveals a lot about our character and resilience. Think about it—how do you react when things don't go your way?
Perhaps you didn’t lose as much weight as you expected in a week, your workout didn’t go as planned, or sticking to your diet was tougher than anticipated. Many people let one bad day, or even one bad moment, spiral into a bad week, then a bad year, and eventually, it can stretch into years of stagnation.
There’s a counterintuitive saying that goes, “If you want to succeed, fail early and fail often.”
The more you fail, the more success you are likely to achieve because each failure is a learning opportunity. You understand more about yourself, your limits, and how to navigate setbacks.
Remember, a setback does not have to define you or your journey unless you let it. Embrace the lessons from your failures, and they will guide you to greater successes.
P.S. Struggling with stagnation in your own health journey? Click the button below to book a free health assessment with an A-Team coach. You’ll gain more clarity to step back into the healthy routines that will get you to your goals.