Ever heard the saying “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”? But have you ever prepared working towards something only to fail to meet your goal anyways?
At work maybe you thought you were going to meet you targets or get that next promotion…
Maybe you wanted to exercise four days this week, but one thing leads to another, and the week flew back without any workouts…
Or maybe you are an athlete who wanted to play in a match on the weekend but your rehabilitation was slow and you were not cleared to play.
Working hard towards a goal and then not achieving it can be deflating and frustrating- leading people to shy away from perusing and working towards their goal the next time! This is difficult since it may seem that on social media or the people around you, everyone is able to achieve what they set out to do, but that is because people do not like to talk about and admit failure.
But failure is normal, and even, can be beneficial. By reflecting on what we wanted to achieve and see what influenced us to not achieving the goal allows you to learn for the next time and implement changes.
An example that I had last year was running my second marathon in Dublin. I trained hard, without any issues, and was excited to compete! But, on the day of the marathon, I unexpectedly was not able to finish the last few kilometers of the race because of an episode of low oxygen. This was unexpected and something that I did not plan for as a possibility and left me confused and disappointed.
When learning from failure it is important to reflect on how you planned, prepared, how you tackled the situation and then see if there are any variables that you cannot control! Therefore, I reflected on the experience. I realized that although I planned for the event and prepared, I learned that I did not execute my nutrition and pacing during the race properly! Therefore, I am more prepared for the unexpected in the future and can make changes to prevent this from happening again.
So, weather it is exercise, sport, hobbies or work failure is normal, common and happens to everyone. It is important to reflect on the experience and learn from mistakes to help you to improve!
If you find that you need help, you can even get advise from a professional to help overcome some of the barriers you have that are stopping you from achieving what you want. As physiotherapists, we can help get you back from any injuries, sprains, strains or episodes of pain, getting you moving and working to attack your goals head on.
If you have any questions on if physiotherapy can help you with your goals, big or small, call us today at 045-853726 or https://physiotherapyworks.ie/book-online/!
By Tara Moore MISCP