Why Losing is More Exciting Than You Think
2 months ago, I got 2nd place at a badminton tournament.
As much as I’m grateful for winning 2nd, I’m frankly angry and disappointed I didn’t get 1st. It’s been my goal for a few weeks now and failing at it just makes me feel sad.
I even ended up internally blaming other people for it.
I know I should focus on what I can control, but I guess I kind of lost control over myself.
Anyway…
While taking a shower after the tournament, I listened to one of Kobe Byrant’s speeches.
And one of it caught my attention.
The interviewer asked him:
“What are your thoughts on losing?”
Kobe replied:
“It’s exciting. Because you get to know your weaknesses and improve on them. It sucks to lose, but the hard part is facing it. You kind of have to get over yourself. You gotta see it with rationale. Why did I shoot a lot of airballs? Got it. It’s because I didn’t have the legs. I gotta switch up my training schedule so that next time the ball gets there.”
This was really empowering and insightful.
I may have lost, but I can use this as an opportunity to reflect on what I did wrong, and how I can improve.
I realized I allowed my anger to take a hold of me. Even though it made me more aggressive and think less, I could’ve been more rational and targeted the weaker player, which would have led to easier setups and more winning shots. Instead, I just kept smashing and smashing without any effective strategy.
Sigh… well the past is in the past.
All I can do now is focus on improving upon my weakness. It’s not like I’ll quit playing badminton altogether. And it’s not like my life is on the line.
What would Kobe do?
He’d definitely see this as an opportunity to grow then work 2x as harder.
Which means I have to get over myself. This is still badminton. The whole process. Me failing, me getting upset, me discovering my weaknesses then acting upon it.
I can’t give up now.
And I hope that you, with whatever you’re working on right now, won’t give up too.
Arlo
P.S. you know what… losing is exciting.
