Welcome back! I took last Friday off from posting as I was helping crew for a friend who was finishing her first 100 miler (and doing it virtually, no less).

I’ve been particularly interested in the topic of FAILURE lately. Yes, FAILURE, all caps. Seems odd coming from someone who should be interested in helping you become your best athlete self, and for someone who just watched her friend complete her first 100-mile race, no? But there is an important lesson in both our successes and our failures. And it’s not always a good thing to “ignore” our challenges or obstacles.

there’s this thing called growth
Are you learning from your mistakes? What lesson can you find in previous failures? Do you associate your failures with who are you are as a person? (ex: “I am a failure” versus “I have experienced failure.”)

what do I really want?
Growth EQ asked this in a recent blog post regarding success. I think this poses some really great insight into if you’re chasing (and opting in) for what you really want… or what you think you might want (or worse, focusing your “wants” on what others have). Consider this if you’re experiencing “success” and still not feeling fulfilled.

lead us not into existential dread
Hammering home this topic of success, Mark Manson takes this approach of redefining success one step further, calling success a false concept. I encourage taking some time with this longer read to help you define what makes success a success for you (and by extension, what makes our failures, failures). When is success enough? Do you ever stop pursuing more in the name of success?

lend me your ear
I listen to a surprising number of podcasts about failure: The End of Sport, Going Through It (I was so excited to see this one return!), Without Fail (seemingly on hiatus? but definitely worth listening back to old episodes), and How to Fail. Highly recommend any of these for those reconceptualizing their ideas of success and failure.

must-see tv
I had a mini sports-themed film festival last weekend, watching The Weight of Gold – failure of the Olympic committee to protect its athletes and provide support on mental health issues, United Skates – my second viewing of this film about black culture and roller skating; speaks also to the unfortunate failure of skating rinks, closing, and the impacts on black communities; oh yeah, also a failure of our society to see the racist policies that some of these rinks hold that directly target POC, and Athlete A – woooo boy, talk about failure; failure to protect athletes from abuse, failure to report… it’s a hard watch but it’s necessary if you work with either gymnasts or young athletes.