Last Saturday I was at my daughter’s gymnastics practice meet. One of her teammate’s mother was telling me how her kids respond differently to failure.
The first child, when given a bad score, simply shrugs off the negativity and continues on her way. It appears that she not moved by what happens.
The second child is greatly affected by it. But she doesn’t take it as defeat, but rather as fuel. When she get’s a bad score or negative marks, she works extra hard to overcome for the next time.
The next day I ran in my second marathon. I thought I was fully prepared, but ended up having striking cramps in my quads and thighs for last 10 miles.
I was quite disappointed in that I wasn’t able to meet my goal. But it’s ok. I just signed up to run another marathon in 4 months. 🙂
How do you respond to failure?
Are you indifferent? Broken? or Fueled?
Note, I don’t want to convey that fighting harder is the only response. Sometimes you can learn lessons from failure and choose a new adventure.
I remember when I was in undergrad studying engineering. I failed and retook many math and physics classes. Many students elected to simply drop the class early. I personally never wanted to drop because I believed I could eventually overcome whatever difficulties I was having.
But at last, I eventually dropped a class. My reason for dropped was because I realized I was in the wrong major and that particular class wasn’t required for my new direction.
How should you respond to failure? It’s about your goals, your future, and well you’ve come to know yourself.
All I can suggest is don’t waste your time fighting battles in a game you don’t intend to win.