I’ll get to the polar bears in just a minute. First I need to say a few things about sports, motivation and failure. It’ll all come together, so just bear with me (pun intended). Failure Perseverance and Polar Bears
The greatest batters in baseball history are those who successfully got a hit on 30% of their at bats. In other words, for every 10 times they came up to bat, they succeeded 3 times and failed 7 times. Nonetheless, in spite of that frequent rate of failure, these hitters are celebrated and are usually inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. Baseball’s best hitter of all time is Ty Cobb, whose batting average was .366 over 24 seasons.
This aspect of baseball has always been encouraging to me and many others because it underscores that no one is immune to failure. Even the best among us frequently fail, lose, get rejected, strike out and wipe out. In fact, the argument is often made that people become successful because of their many failures. The following quote is attributed to Michael Jordan, who is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time:
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Failure Is Part of the Process
These dynamics are a big reason why sports are so motivating to us, even though most of us don’t personally play any sports anymore. We’re busy with other endeavors. We’re trying to launch businesses, not baseballs. We’re trying to make sales, not baskets. Or we’re striving to achieve something professionally or creatively. Whatever it is…failure is part of the process. And if we don’t have a proper perspective on failure, we might quit or conclude there’s something wrong with us.
I’ll admit that I’ve battled these self-doubts many times over the years…wondering whether any of my efforts would amount to anything. And in those gloomy moments of defeat – while dark clouds of discouragement are all around me – my nearby failures are the only thing I can see.
I haven’t been in one of those dark valleys for a long time. I’m actually quite optimistic these days about many things. That’s not to say that I’m standing on the mountaintops. I’m just saying that I can see some good things on the horizon…some visible reasons to have hope. (Polar bears are coming up soon, I promise.)
Don’t Believe What You See
But if I ever fall back into a valley of despair – surrounded by my failures on every side – my plan is to rely on what I know rather than what I can see. Failures are part of the process…and they’re leading me to my success. Not only must I know this truth, but I must also cling to it tightly because everything I see and feel will contradict it.
I’ll do my best to remember what successful people have said about their failures. I’ll try to remember the frequency of failure in baseball and other sports. But perhaps the most motivating, most inspirational thing to consider is something I recently learned from a documentary;
19 times out of 20, a polar bear’s hunting efforts end in failure.
Whatever it is a polar bear is trying to catch, it somehow eludes him 95% of the time. These hunts often require a lot of a polar bear’s time and energy, his two most important resources. He needs to eat as much as possible while there’s still plenty of Arctic ice. The ice helps him to get around. Also, seals often sleep on the ice, which makes them visible and vulnerable to bears. But once the ice begins to melt, so do the polar bear’s chances of catching a seal. He can no longer see them…nor can he outswim them.
Also, for every day a polar bear goes without food, his fat is depleted. That’s the source of the energy he needs in order to hunt. For as long as he’s unsuccessful at hunting, he becomes skinnier and weaker. A polar bear’s desperation for food will sometimes lead him to take dangerous risks. But he has little choice…the alternative is starvation.
Getting Desperate
If only we’d consider the rugged perseverance of these magnificient creatures, we should never be discouraged again. How could we? They’re such an inspiration! These bears fight for survival every day. A mother bear goes around looking for food while her little cubs trail behind her. She’s just as concerned about the survival of her cubs as a human mother is for her babies.
With each hunting failure, a polar bear’s time and energy are spent. But they don’t mope or whine about it. Bears don’t analyze their mistakes or wish they’d done things differently. They don’t complain or throw blocks of ice in frustration. And even if they could complain, there’s no time for that. They must forget about the prey that got away so they can find the next target.
I doubt that anyone who’s reading this is at the point of starvation. I certainly hope not! But at one point or another, we may all find ourselves struggling to avoid a big consequence. Or we may be desperate to rise out of the same status where we’ve always been. Whatever it is…whether it relates to money, a business, health or some other personal goal, we’re going to have some failures…maybe lots of them…maybe even years of them. They’re just part of the process. And in the same way that a bear must fail in order to learn how to hunt, we also need our failures. The lessons and skills we learn in failing are what qualifies and prepares us for the success that is to come.
Keep Trying
I’m still very motivated by hard-working athletes who overcome their failures to achieve greatness. But let’s be honest…when pro-athletes fail, they still get to drive home in their luxury cars to their big mansions and sleep in their fancy beds. The only real consequence of their losses is that they don’t get the pride and glory of winning a game.
After watching this documentary (link), however, I realize that polar bears are the real heroes. They’re also on a field, playing a game. But the stakes in their game are much higher. They’re not fighting for trophies or for pride, but rather, to live. Of course, this not only applies to polar bears, but to every other wild creature in the animal kingdom. Their perseverance should be an example for us.
Having learned all this about my new Arctic heroes, I realize we have no basis for discouragement and certainly no justification for complaining. So your many efforts to launch a business were unsuccessful…so what? Try again. Keep trying until you figure it out. Don’t jeopardize your future with any big, irresponsible risks. But definitely forget about your failures and keep trying. Your failures are not reasons for you to quit. But rather, they’re the reason you’ll eventually succeed!
Bear Tenacity
So people aren’t responding to your ads, to your offers or the products and services you offer. So what? Change it up. Try something different. If a polar bear were running your business, do you think he’d quit after a few disappointing phone calls? No way! He’d be out in the streets, knocking on doors with his big bear paws, trying to make sales. Of course, polar bears can’t talk, use phones or make sales, but you know what I’m saying!
Develop the tenacity of the polar bear. Never give up at the thing you’re trying to do. If 19 employers reject you, get yourself ready for employer #20. That’s what a polar bear would do! Your failures may be big, but your resolve must be bigger. We have one life to live and no time to waste.
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