Understanding Your Proximity to Failure

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Failure gets treated like a dirty word.

Something to avoid. Something to fear. Something that means you’re not cut out for it.

I think that’s backwards.

Failure is often a sign you’re doing something right.

After all, we can all walk now. But none of us got there cleanly. If babies approached failure the way many adults do, they’d never make it past the first wobble. They fall again and again before they ever stand confidently. Not because they’re broken. Because that’s how learning works.

The same is true in training. And pretty much every aspect of life.

No failure at all usually means you’re playing it too safe. Staying well inside your comfort zone. Repeating what you already know you can do. That might protect your ego, but it won’t do much for your growth.

But there’s a catch.

Too much failure can flatten you.

Not because failure itself is harmful, but because of the meaning we attach to it. Miss a lift, fall off plan, have a bad week, and suddenly the story becomes: I’m useless. I always mess this up. What’s the point?

That story does more damage than the failed rep ever could.

So the goal isn’t to avoid failure.

And it’s not to chase it either.

It’s to find the right proximity to it.

Close enough that you’re challenged.Close enough that you’re stretched.Close enough that you occasionally miss.

But not so close that every session feels like a beating and every setback feels like proof you’re failing.

That sweet spot is where progress tends to happen.

Enough wins to build confidence.

Enough failure to create adaptation.

Enough challenge to stay honest.

So the next time something doesn’t go to plan, don’t rush to the pity party. And don’t reach for self-deprecation either.

Pause.

Smile, maybe.

Because failure usually means you were in the arena. You were trying something that asked something of you. You were near the edge of your current capacity.

That’s not a bad place to be.

Every rep counts.

Even the ones you don’t quite make.

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P.S. If you enjoyed this week's Thursday Three, please share it with a friend.

Thanks,

Jamie