Circle of Trust

For my COT I wanted to start with this quote “Failure is part of the process.  You just learn to pick yourself back up.”

I had the honor of completing Grow Ruck this past weekend.  I struggled during the event.  Physically and with mental toughness.  The welcome party workout that we did after completing the PT test portion wiped out my over-confidence going into the event.  I could not keep up.  I was sucking wind.  My left foot started to really hurt.  There was an opening for my jester of lack of self-confidence to creep back in and take control.  I was embarrassed of my inability to keep up with the log carrying by the end of the overnight ruck.  I found myself making the excuses in my mind.  The platoon leader is picking on me.  Or so and so is being a dick, why can’t they just leave me alone?  I’m never doing this again, there is no point.  I was not taking the responsibility of the true problem.  Simply, I failed to prepare properly.  I have been focused on my long distance running and did not train correctly for this event which involved lots and lots of rucking and carrying heavy shit.  I have not been accelerating in that area.  There is no such thing as maintaining.  If you are not accelerating then you are decelerating.

I reflected on my experience after getting a shower and some sleep.  I see it clearly now.  No one else was the blame for my lack of preparedness.  I changed my “one and done” decision about Grow Ruck.  Next year, I will join my brothers and will go do Grow Ruck.  I will learn from my failure and will prepare properly for it next time.  Sad clowns see failure as a deterrent from taking risks and trying the unknown.  The HIM thrives on the challenge of the unknown and understands that failure will happen but that you learn from it and keep trying.  I could have let my Jester of lack of confidence stay in control.  In fact, the old me would have.  F-ck that!  I’m going to go from barely finishing Grow Ruck this first time to preparing so I kick its ass next year.

My challenge to you is to think of a recent failure of yours.  Personal life, work, fitness, whatever and reflect on what have you done to follow-up to that failure.  Have you learned from it and have kept trying?  Or have you not re-attempted whatever it was?  It might be trying to hit a fitness goal or maybe trying to accelerate a stale relationship with your M or trying to do something at work with a new software or something?  If you have not re-attempted then my challenge to you is to think of what didn’t work and come up with a different way to attempt this thing then try again.

Aye?

F3 is not a religious organization but we will end in a prayer.  You’re welcome to join or take a minute to connect with your sky Q.  Are there an intentions we can acknowledge?