lessons from a serial loser

Dear you,

I watched an anime about gods coming together to destroy humans. The humans chose to fight the gods to keep humanity alive. The terms were simple, if gods win, destroy humans. If the humans win, they live.

It was a battle of ten gods against ten humans. It was crazy. The men kept losing to the gods, even though they put up a good fight until ep 9: a battle with Kojiro Sasaki - a man with a reputation for losing. He would pick challenges with people he knew he had no chance of beating, just to learn their fighting styles. He would lose and then replay the fight over and over in his head, trying new tactics until he won. Then he'll face the person physically.

Watching his episode, I learned that the more you practice, the more you evolve. The more you lose, the more you evolve. You find a path to victory with each loss by refining your style. Simulate your options and try again. Don't give up. Be grateful for people who make you stronger in the heat of battles.

I am currently a serial loser, relearning how to play FIFA. I have been losing. I lost the first round of games in my learning phase. After that, I played the practice round and tried to play the semi-pro level. In the beginning, I lost all the games I played against my partner. I learned how to defend, so he never had more than three goals ahead of me. I have been practising. Last week, I won him once, drew twice, and he defeated me about three times. I played against the semi-pro AI and scored ten goals, while they had 1. I increased to the professional level, and I won two times, and they defeated me twice. I am so much better than I was last month! I didn't realise how much I had improved by just failing and re-strategizing every time I failed.

Think about all your failures or even your most recent ones, and instead of wallowing in the shame and disappointment you felt, think about the lessons you learned. What could you have done better, or would you like to do better? Write them down. Allow yourself to feel gratitude for your failures and recalibrate your mindset about your failure because every single failure has led you up until this moment. It has made you better and taught you something new. Scars are proof that you survived! They are stories! That's exactly what failure is.

Everything you learn, apply. Apply it as a tribute to your learning. What lessons have you learned from failure?

With love,

Blessing Abeng

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