“Always remember the pain of defeat, and never let it happen again.”—Dan Gable
Recently, I shared a video of Dan Gable suffering his only collegiate loss (to Larry Owings). The caption was: “Anybody can be beaten.” A friend commented that “the real lesson here is not that ‘anyone can be beaten.’ More like we learn way more from our defeats than our victories. Less than a year after this defeat Gable was a World Champion. Less than 2 years an Olympic Champion that no one scored a point on.” He is right. This is the sentiment expressed in the Gable quote above.
The same goes for life as it does in wrestling–“Always remember the pain of defeat, and never let it happen again.” In other words, learn from your mistakes—and don’t repeat them. We should welcome failure as a teaching tool. I don’t mean the failure that comes from not trying. Anyone can fail for lack of effort. Failure teaches us when it comes from pushing beyond our limits, taking risks, putting ourselves in challenging situations, etc.
I admonished my son, recently to “Try new things. Take on greater challenges. In wrestling—and in life—surround yourself with people who will make your better. Don’t choose the practice partner you can beat. Choose the practice partner you want to beat. In doing so, you will get better.” In writing to him, I am speaking also to myself.
Self-improvement is no accident. Self-improvement comes from repeatedly failing—and learning—because we are going beyond our current limits. Gable’s record in wrestling is not because he failed repeatedly in competition. He record is because he pushed himself to get better in practice. He knew to push beyond his current capabilities.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!