“Don’t dwell on losses or setbacks, but don’t forget the pain they cause. If there is no pain, you need to invest more in what you are doing. Mark these losses or setbacks down, and use them as motivation for future victories. Learn from your losses.”—Dan Gable
Remembering. There are no losers in wrestling, only winners and learners. Such it is in life. We look back in remembrance, but not dwell unnecessarily on the past. We can have no regrets, only grattitude. We must learn and grow from our disappointments.
Likewise, we cannot dwell on our victories and become complacent. Even in success, we must remember the pain of defeat and work harder.
Iowa Wrestling ended their run toward a 10th consecutive NCAA National Championship in 1987 because they had lost the level of work ethic that had brought the program to the pinnacle of collegiate wrestling. It was not for a lack of talent. Iowa was consistently bringing in the top recruits. With success, however, it is often easy to forget the discipline and hard work that got us to where we are. Complacency can set it.
There is a benefit in losing, on occasion—if it is coupled with learning. Losing (i.e., learning) propels one forward. Setbacks give us the focus to move toward future victory.
I like to think that I have no regrets. Regret rears its ugly head from time to time, but I let this refine my focus on my present path. I would not be where I am where it not for all that happened to me (and others) in the past. I learn (or try to learn) from history. There are two reasons to ask why something happened in our lives: 1) to hang the streamers for a pity party and 2) to lay a foundation for the road ahead. We either learn from or losses or we don’t. The choice is in what we do with them.
Dan Gable wrote: “If there is no pain, you need to invest more in what you are doing.” My take on this is that, if you are not tasting failure, to need to challenge yourself more. In sport, practice is an opportunity to take risks and fail for the purpose of learning. There is some truth to what Vince Lombardi said: “Only perfect practice makes perfect.” This applies, however, only to execution. To grow/improve, we have to challenge our limits. Perfect practice only makes us best at what we already know to do. Investing in the pain is what leads to growth. I don’t believe Lombardi was not focused on growth. To the contrary, I suspect that “perfect practice” means one is moving toward personal perfection. One cannot move toward personal perfection without addressing one’s limitations, and one cannot know his or her limitations without testing them. So, if you don’t feel some pain, invest more effort in what you are doing.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!
“If you can shrug off a loss, you can’t be a winner.”—Vince Lombardi