Prepare to Fail and Success is a Guarantee!
Prepare to fail and success is a guarantee!
-Dana Forbes, PSIA AASI-RM CEO
Michael Phelps set a world record when his goggles, just seconds after he dove in, filled with water. He did not panic because he had prepared for this; he had swum blind before. When it happened, he settled in and without hesitation he counted his strokes, so he knew when he was going to hit the wall.
A few weeks ago, Linda Guerrette, long time member and consequently former president of RM when I was hired, asked me on a scale of 1 to 10 how hard has this year been. I laughed out loud and said, 2. She smiled, and I know why. Linda knows me and she knows I love a challenge because that is what I prepare for. Covid-19 has impacted all of us in EVERY direction; the perseverance, resilience, consciousness, and excellence gained from this precipitous experience has only strengthened our ability to adapt and grow in times of uncertainty. The GRIT achieved through failure transcends to our future success.
I have been working in this industry for over 30 years and I am caught off guard when a seasoned pro is injured and is so thrown by the situation, they crumble. Or when their landscaping season ends earlier than expected due to snow and they are financially unprepared. Many of you know I own a CrossFit gym; what is so incredible about what we do, is we train for the unknown. One of my favorite workouts in a competition is when you have no idea what you will be doing, for how long you will be doing it, and if there is something after it. Recently at the “Games” (biggest CF competition) they sent the competitors out on a mountain run. As the first competitor crossed the finish line, the games coordinator pointed back to where he came from and said, “this is the halfway point, run it backwards.” I often wonder how much better marathon runners and ski racers would be if they trained more often on different courses, never getting a “pre-run”.
Most of our best leaders including Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison and Thomas Jefferson were born into adversity. Lincoln suffered from severe depression and debilitating asthma, Edison was deaf in one ear and Jefferson had a speech impediment. All three credited these constraints to their success. They pushed themselves to develop in areas they otherwise would not have pursued. I am sure many of you have been injured at some point in your life and hopefully it strengthened your body and mind in other areas. I will assume that someone reading this may have been injured this year. If so, how did you react? I broke my foot in the fall and within a few hours I was back at work as if nothing had happened because I had already imagined it. Is it weird that I imagine my life with a missing limb, no home, an incurable disease, or any of the many obstacles we could face? I imagine how I will overcome it, remaining happy and able to still function at a high level.
This season started off slow with low snow and less business. I was so impressed with many of your preparedness for this. I believe it is because each one of you truly learned to prepare yourselves this season for the worst because of covid-19. I encourage you to take these lessons into every possible situation you could encounter in the days, weeks, and years to come. I genuinely believe if you prepare for failure, you will be ready for success no matter what happens.