4 Valuable Life Lessons I Learned From Competitive Figure Skating

I was three years old the first time I wore skates and stepped (or rather, crawled) onto an ice rink. At the time, my parents just wanted to enroll me in some type of sport. No one expected that figure skating would become the love of my life for the next 16 years.

I adored everything about figure skating; learning new jumps and spins, striving to land the next jump, perfecting my routine, the one-on-one coaching, the competitions. But the biggest thing for me was the constant challenging myself. I loved pushing myself and my body to its limits, it made finally landing that next tough jump all the more satisfying. 

However, figure skating isn’t only about the physical, mental also plays a huge role in whether or not you’ll be successful at the sport. I learned so many valuable lessons from figure skating and a lot of what I learned I still apply to my day-to-day life and career now. 

These are some of the biggest lessons competitive figure skating taught me that have been instrumental in my daily life:

1. Don’t let the fear of falling hold you back

Nothing quite compares to the feeling of the icy wind in your face and the sound of your skate blades gliding across the ice as you skate full speed preparing to jump. 

In figure skating, there are two outcomes when attempting to jump; you either land it or you don’t. Is it scary hurling your body into the air with absolutely no protection or padding to soften the potential blow? Absolutely. But you’ll never land that jump if you let the fear of falling hold you back. 

This can be applied to any big decision or risk in life. You could potentially miss out on something amazing if you’re too afraid to try. Even if it doesn’t work out, when you look back you’ll be happy you at least gave it a shot. I’m a firm believer that there is no such thing as failure when there is a valuable lesson to be learned.

2. Always get back up

That being said, when you fall you must always get back up. Sure, falling hurts. But there is likely a lesson to be learned there and applying what you learned to your next jump might just make you land it perfectly. The reason I say when you fall and not if you fall is because you absolutely will fall. And if you don’t, you’re probably not trying hard enough. The important part isn’t that you fell, it’s how you get back up and try again. 

In life we all get knocked down at some point, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. I’ve learned that no one remembers the fall, what sticks with them is what you do after. So get up, smile at judges, and keep going.

3. There is always going to be someone better than you

This can be a tough pill to swallow in figure skating. But the reality is, there is always going to be someone that can jump higher than you, spin faster than you or skates more gracefully --- and that’s ok. You can always learn from those people and use them as your motivation to improve. 

Just like on the ice, there will always be someone ‘better’ than you off the ice. If you’re the smartest, most talented person in the room; you’re not surrounding yourself with the right people. You should always strive to learn new things, and the best way to learn is from highly skilled people. So don’t feel bad about yourself in those situations, instead embrace them! You’ll better yourself because of it.

4. Be coachable

One of my favorite things about figure skating was the valuable one-on-one time I got with my coaches. Getting instant feedback from my coach and real hands-on training was invaluable to me. I liked it even more when my coaches were tough on me and challenged me, because that ended up motivating me the most.

I looked to my coaches for guidance, advice and to teach me everything they knew. Since figure skating, I’ve found that I learn best in an environment where I’m coached directly on a one-on-one basis. The thing is, you have to be willing to take their feedback and apply it to improve. You have to want to learn.

This is also relevant to your day-to-day life. There are always opportunities to be coached. Whether it’s by a superior at work, a professional mentor, or even just by a subject matter expert you want to learn from --- schedule time with them and ask to pick their brain. You’ll find that one-on-one time is invaluable.