Fitness: What if I fail?

By That's PRD, April 21, 2015

by Kara Wutzke

We’ve all heard the saying that “trying and failing is better than not trying at all.” It’s another thing to put these words into action: making an attempt, sometimes failing, but learning from our mistakes and going at it again.

Trying makes you vulnerable to failure, and that can be scary. But what happens if you don’t make an effort at all? When you do nothing, then there is no failure to deal with. But is it going to make you better? Can you get healthier one step at a time by inaction? No. Unfortunately, you get worse. Doing nothing is safe and comfortable, but gets you nowhere.

What’s the worst thing that can happen if you try? Okay, so you fail. But you won’t die from trying to do a chin-up and realizing that you can’t even manage one. You’ll think, ‘Man, that sucks’ – and that’s it. So how can you accomplish that one chin-up? That’s when you assess and tweak your methods. Go through the steps you need to take. Think about how you can build the strength you need to reach that goal. Make a plan and see it through. You can and will reach your goal if you keep trying; it just takes time, practice and dedication.

If you're dreading what you have to do, remember why you're doing it. Visualize your success. If you're having one of those days when the thought of a workout leaves you cold, convince yourself to do just 10 minutes. Get yourself ready, put your runners on, pop your earphones in and by the time you step out of the door, you’ll probably find yourself in the zone. Once you start your training, if you really can't push beyond those 10 minutes, then just go home. But if you’ve gone past the point of no return, remember why you're there, and get your head in the game. You’ll be done before you know it. Once you've completed this task, you will feel better, and you’re that much closer to your goal.

We all occasionally miss workouts or gorge on an unhealthy meal, but it’s your reaction that counts. Do you just give up and resign yourself to staying the same? Or do you pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and have another go? If you don’t succeed today, dedicate your mind and body to pulling it off tomorrow.

Attempting and failing is a process that takes you to your end result. Try and persevere. Ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take.”

Take a shot now.

// Kara Wutzke is a fitness trainer who offers boot camps and individual classes in Guangzhou. She can be contacted by emailing k2fit.gz@gmail.com or through WeChat ID: KaraK2Fit.

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