“You failed.” Maybe some of the most difficult words to hear, especially since a common interpretation of them is “You are a failure.”

But is it that simple? Are we a success or failure based on a failed attempt at one thing?

Though historically failure has often been perceived as wholly negative, today our culture is learning to embrace failure as a way to learn and move forward. Never before would “Fail Forward Fast” have become a common and understood term.

But if failure is such a great teacher, how do we teach failure, or at least become accustomed to it? USAW goes so far as to incorporate “how to fail” in the basic coaching of their main exercises or lifts. It’s not necessarily that they are so far ahead of the time, but that they have had to incorporate this mindset for the safety of people learning the sport.

First, though, some background. Weightlifting is the sport of lifting heavy weights dynamically from the ground to overhead. The snatch and the clean and jerk (one lift with two movements) are some of the most technical and demanding lifts in existence, requiring speed, strength, power, and flexibility. USAW, meanwhile, is the key organization in the United States that teaches this sport and sends competitors to the Olympics.

Considered to be generally safe, there are, throughout the movements of these exercises, a number of points where they can become dangerous if performed improperly or when the lift is missed at a heavy weight. USAW carefully constructed a training program that incorporates learning to miss, or fail, as a key principle taught to new lifters.

“The ability to miss a lift safely is a prerequisite to safe practice. Misses are unavoidable, thus the ability to miss safely must be learned.”
– USAW Level 1 Manual

USAW places such importance on learning to ‘miss’ that it is the first thing addressed in their level 1 training manual; it’s literally the third item in the table of contents after the introduction and first chapter title. Olympic lifting is a skill that requires training and practice, and has potential for injury if not done correctly. As a lifter learns it gets progressively more difficult – first adding additional movements and body positions, later adding weight. Unexpected failures or worse yet injuries early on can not only end a new lifter’s enjoyment of the sport and prevent them from making forward progress, it can make a new lifter give up completely.

“Failure is success in progress”
– Albert Einstein

Failure is the single-most effective method of… learning what doesn’t work. Which means it is part of the path to learning what does. Too often we tell children (and ourselves) that what we want to see is success, correct work. So why do math books have the answers in the back of the book? It’s partly to verify answers but it is also to help identify when something went wrong. We need to teach children, and allow ourselves, to step back through a process and identify where it went wrong. We need to fail gracefully so that we can pick back up and fix a problem as part of the path forward to success.

“The journey to better nutrition is not, for most, a one-time simple decision. It’s a path to find what works for you…”

This is just as applicable to anything else – how many people ‘fail’ at their diets and just give up? The journey to better nutrition is not, for most, a one-time simple decision. It’s a path to find what works for you both in motivation and ongoing lifestyle. For some the best choice is keto, others paleo or primal, others can’t have cheat days while still others use a cheat day as motivation. Whatever that best choice is for you, you have to find it through trial and error (read: ‘trial and failure’).

What does this look like in life? It means making a diet plan and following it, but not giving up after a weekend binge. It means when you miss a workout you don’t beat yourself up, you make sure to get in the next one. It means if you didn’t get the laundry done, made a mistake in your presentation, or developed a product that isn’t selling, you learn from your mistakes and do your level best to fix them next time. Because you don’t give up, and there will be a next time.

I believe we could safely re-engineer USAW’s statement:

“The ability to fail safely is a prerequisite to good learning. Failures are unavoidable, thus the ability to fail and recover must be learned.”
– A lesson for life?

What’s that? You wanted a hard takeaway? Ok, how about these 5 tips based on the USAW’s thinking about failure:

  1. It’s ok to fail
    – Failure is part of learning. You need to accept that it will happen, and it is OK. Don’t beat yourself up for it, learn from it.
  2. It’s ok to let go
    – If it is ok to fail then you need to know when to let go. In lifting it is that moment when you lose your balance, don’t get enough drive, or something else goes wrong. In everything else it is when you look honestly at the situation and recognize it is going downhill. Each situation will be different, but be honest with yourself so you don’t give up too early OR too late.
  3. Whether you fail forward or back, you’ll be in a position to get back up. (See the video at bottom for examples of both.)
    – When something doesn’t work, get out from under it as quickly as possible, note what went wrong, and adjust. Don’t get too caught up in the how. Often the sooner you get out from under the problem, the sooner you can move forward again.
  4. Account for the rebound
    – Even when letting go is the right choice, there will be consequences. In weightlifting you need to be aware that a heavy weight will rebound. In life it might be financial, legal, social; it might mean time invested or money invested. Be ready for the rebound so you can resolve it and move on.
  5. Sometimes you need to push through
    – With all this talk of failure and missing, let’s not forget one thing: learning, trying again, and putting in the effort is hard work. Some times you just need to grind*.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill

Just for fun, check out a video compilation related to the subject from the 1980 Olympics, put together by the Olympic Channel on YouTube.

Curious about Olympic Weightlifting? Click the logo above or just click here to find out more!

* Ok, so that wasn’t that much of a grind, but the principle is there. 😉

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