Pole Vaulting - A Journey of Failure

I love sports. I can’t think of many other activities that test the limits of a human the way that athletic competition can. When you see someone like Mondo Duplantis set the National High School Record for pole vault at 19’1” (2017), it’s an amazing feat.

The point is this: In certain contexts and activities, failure is viewed in a much healthier way.  Sports is one of those contexts, except in sports we often call it “practice”.  We often say “Practice makes perfect.” without really thinking it through.  Let’s unpack that for a second — if we practice (fail) enough, then we will perfect what it is we are trying to do (succeed).  Every failure is an opportunity to move closer to our goal, as long as we make that failure work for us.  In sports, we have managed to develop a mindset that facilitates that process.  If we can develop a similar mindset in other areas of our life, then we can “practice” instead of failing and giving up.