Overcoming Failure and being Persistent

Post 1 of 3: Failure and Persistence: Nobody plans to fail… but… (Posting while on PTO-Trying out the "Article feature" on LinkedIn)

Put this in the “Random, not really a work post category…”. But if you wanted a break from vendor promotions, here it is… (This is not a self-promoting or boasting post, quite the opposite actually.) Let’s begin…

"Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."? -Yogi Berra

The mental game is everything, in any sport and especially at work. That’s why I love the quote above. Now with that being said, let’s jump into this MESS of a post so you can see where I’m going with this and maybe have a good laugh at my expense.

A few weeks ago (on our Netskope Global Wellness Day) I posted a picture of my Netskope “Bike Sock”, commonly known as a VeloSock. Amazing bike covers that can be customized, branded, etc. I got tons of messages about that VeloSock, the branding, what an awesome piece of Netskope SWAG it was, etc. But I also got tons of (direct) messages about the bike, my events, etc.

The first picture is of my Triathlon bike in a custom Netskope VeloSock courtesy or Team EMEA. It really is an amazing piece of SWAG if you have an active group of people who cycle. I use this thing ALL the time (keeps grease off of everything). So, if you are looking for something amazing to promote your brand and reach active people, this is it! (Stop giving away cheap stuff that ends up in landfills.)

I also got a lot of questions/comments about my bike, triathlon, etc. (Personal note, I hate cheap stuff, in any regard or facet of life. One of my MANY idiosyncrasies.) The bike is a Cervelo P5 that someone paid a lot of money for, and I was happy to take it off their hands for 1/3 of the price a few years later. :0) I’m not cheap, but I’m not wasteful either.

Bringing this all together (SWAG-Bike-Triathlon-Failure-Persistence-Netskope). In August, I was invited to race in the USAT National Championships for Triathlon. I agreed to do the race (it’s shorter & faster than I’m used to) and I was excited to wear some Netskope gear that my good friend Mike Remmerswaal had made and branded. Go team Netskope!

Well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Here’s the (very) short version of the race recap so we can get to the important part. My best event is usually the swim, but not on this day. Three minutes into the race, I found myself gasping for air, treading water and trying to rip my wetsuit off, in short, disaster/panic at the disco 3 minutes in. This was not planned like so many things in life. So what now?

I’m not going to give you some B.S. quote like “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”. That’s outdated and not helpful. What we should be focusing on (and teaching our children) is;

You need to plan for adversity and plan for how to react to unforeseen events. When (not if), something goes wrong, how will you react? What will you do in that moment? You aren’t jinx’ng it, you are planning for unforeseen events (oxymoron? -no). It’s not about control, it’s about taking a breath, evaluating the situation and adapting in real time to what needs to be done.

For me, I realized I was failing three minutes in and that was the reality in that moment. I hadn’t warmed up, I started too fast and I had the wrong wetsuit-all in my control and all my fault. However, I don’t give up and I was there to finish the entire race, not just the swim. And I was going to do it proudly wearing my Netskope gear.

So, I took a pause, slowed down my breathing, pulled myself together and had the worst swim of my triathlon career (dead serious). But I persisted and adapted. My swim to me was a total failure, but like a lot of things in life and at work, you learn more from failure than anything else (more on that in part 2).

Bringing part one to a close, the rest of this day became a mental game. Whether it’s a race, a game or a deal at work, you have to mentally decide if you are going to let one bad item/detail/thing derail you or you’re going to persist. It’s up to you. Your recovery from setbacks is what will set you apart from everyone else. Will you persist? Will you be strong enough mentally to bounce back? What will you tell yourself in that moment? How will you put that aside and focus on what’s ahead of you? Not what just happened. (The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror for a reason.)

For me, I decided to push as hard as I could for the bike and the run. I may have started poorly, but I was hell bent on finishing strong and crossing that finish line wearing my Netskope gear.

So, these pics may look like self-promotion on Social media or a company promotion, but they’re not. To me it’s well beyond that and different. These pictures represent a very tough day for me on the course and some very unexpected challenges. But they also represent “failing fast”, persisting, adapting and a massive learning experience.

Most importantly, it was an event that paved the way for something much bigger to come for me 15 years into racing.

Proving once again, no matter how long you’ve been doing something, you can still improve and learn more. That applies to work, parenting, coaching, sports and so much more.

Onward.

Netskope Mike Remmerswaal Rapha?l Bousquet John Giacomini Mario Puras Dave Peranich Chris Andrews Sanjay Beri David Rogers Christina Pulley