The process matters

My pinky toe was crushed by a prop as I helped roll equipment off the performance grounds at the marching band state championships. While I was frustrated that a broken toe would mean scratching from an upcoming 100km race, I accepted my injury with a degree of joy as I thought about how wonderful it was just to be able to help out with my kids’ extra-curricular activities. It took about a month before I could resume training and three months before I could get to the degree of fitness I had achieved before breaking my toe.

It has taken many injuries and setbacks to appreciate races for what they are, single events that help me objectively assess my progress against goals I hope to achieve. The reality is that the training itself - the process - is more consequential to my life than any one race. Similarly, no single event in your professional life will define you as much as the work you do day-in and day-out.

—> To learn from failure of any kind, shift your attention to the process. How did you get to this situation? Have you thoroughly debriefed with a trusted partner? Have you kept emotions and narratives in check? Can you identify specific gaps to mitigate or opportunities to lean into?

—> Consider an activity outside of your day job to serve as your own Growth Lab. A pursuit completely separate from your profession can offer a safe way to test and evolve approaches to goal setting, discipline, resilience, and teamwork.