Forged by Failure

I’m sure many of you clicked on this blog to see why a coach and trainer would be telling people to walk, don’t run.  Seems slightly opposite what most in my position would be saying, but this isn’t about hustling on and off the field, or sprint intervals in the gym.  Instead I’m referring to the journey of life that we’re all on.  I had a short conversation today with a friend who is on a weight-loss journey.  It’s a conversation I often have with people in my gym.  Most commonly I get asked, what’s the best diet?  What’s the best workout routine?  How often should I do this or that?   The usual I want to lose x pounds by this date.  All of this got me thinking about how our society rushes to everything.  How we’re so consumed by instant gratification and immediate results that we forget that everything we want out of life is a journey.  It all takes time if we wish to do it right.  It’s not just weight-loss I’m talking abou...

Today I woke up from a nap to three different texts about Kobe Bryant.  By now I’m sure most of you reading this have heard the news.  Kobe was one of the NBA players I most looked forward to watching play, he had an ability to control a game like few have ever had.  The news of his death is just another reminder about how fragile life is and how suddenly it can come to an end.  I’m not saying this to be morbid or to scare you into fearing life’s uncertainty, in fact I’m hoping to do the opposite.  There is one truth about life, eventually it will end.  Death will come for all of us, and it’s not going to come when we ask him to.  Death doesn’t care if you’re young or old, he doesn’t care if you're rich or poor, famous or unknown.  My point is this, we can’t control when our time comes, we can only have faith that when it does we’ll be ready and that we’ve embraced every opportunity presented to us while we were here. Our time on Earth is pr...

I find myself in conversations about coaching a lot.  I think it’s a fascinating profession that has many incredible people doing an amazing job everyday.  However, we still hear and see stories of terrible coaches.  I often wonder why there are still bad coaches out there?  I think to myself that with all these resources how do we have coaches who still just don’t get it?  A lot of times especially at the youth level.  It’s hard to watch the kids that need the most coaching and teaching get stuck with people who don’t know how to do either.  It’s not entirely the coaches fault in that instance, they are volunteers that got stuck leading a team for a sport they never played because their kid is on the team and nobody else would step up.  This is topic for another time, but to be blunt and simple about it, if you had the chance to coach your kid and chose not to, keep your mouth shut if you don’t like what the coach who did step up is doing....

Recently I’ve been working on building a clothing brand.  More than that I’ve been working on building a brand that reaches beyond clothes.  It’s something I’ve been tinkering with for a while and I’ve really wanted to release something that carried a strong message.  Something that I felt those I coached and trained could grow from.  During my search for a brand name I dabbled with a bunch of different ideas and names, but kept coming back to using the word failure in my brand.  First, I thought Fail Forward would be cool.  I was excited about the idea and meaning and name, until I found out someone already had that name.  So, from there I put out three more options; Forged by Failure, Edge of Greatness, and On the Brink.  I found the feedback interesting.  There was positive feedback on all my logo designs, but one common thing continued to present itself.  “I wouldn’t want the word failure in my brand.”  Why? I’m genuinely ...

I’m not sure why I waited so long to write this post.  I mean I named the whole blog after this title, but here we are finally getting around to explaining why I decided to name my blog Forged by Failure.  I want everyone to think about where they are today.  Think hard about each step, each turn, each obstacle that inevitably led you to where you’re currently at.  Have you got a clear picture?  Ok, now think about some of the failures you’ve faced in this journey.  Think about the times you came up short.  Think about the moments you were pushed to the verge of quitting.  Each failure in your journey is a milestone moment that forced you to make a choice and that choice shaped you into becoming who you are today.  Whether in that moment of failure you chose to forge on or try something new, that moment became a milestone. Ok, so that might have been a lot to think about right now, and you might be thinking what am I talking about....

When you see someone successful, what are your first thoughts?  How many times have you seen a great athlete and muttered under your breath, well they’re just gifted?  Or seen a great work of art and thought, I could never do that, they’re just artsy.  Or seen an awesome invention and thought, I wish I was that smart?  We often get drawn into this cycle of wishing we were capable of someone else’s great achievements.  We look at their end result and forget that they put in hours of work behind the scenes to become the person we see.  Often this leads to resentment or disgust toward that person.  Even excuses as to why we aren’t as successful as they are.  Every person is capable of achieving greatness and success, but few people grasp what it takes to get there.  It comes down to finding our passion, and being just a little more gritty. Why does grit determine success more than any other character trait?  Why is talent not more...

Another year has come to an end and this time it also marks the end of a decade.  It’s kinda crazy to think that I have been around for the end of four decades.  But, that’s a story for another time.  This year I set a series of goals for myself that aren’t just for the coming year, but for the coming decade.  I think that allowing myself an opportunity to look further down the road than just one year will keep me motivated over the next 10 years.  I read a staggering statistic this morning that says, 80% of all New Year’s Resolutions fail.  That’s such a huge failure it makes me wonder why people bother to make resolutions at all.  I personally believe that a big part of resolution failures is the use of the word resolution, the number of resolutions people make, and the lack of a plan on what it will take to get there.  Then there’s the idea that there is not room for failure in the things you’ve set for yourself to achieve.  If you p...