PAC Perspective : The FI Button

In our mentorship discussions this week, I was again reminded of the overwhelming power of a negative moment. For whatever reason, our feedback receptors are much more responsive to negative information than positive affirmation. We can receive five compliments, five thank-yous, five "I love what you do," five "you look great," and five "congratulations" all in one day, and yet be completely derailed by one solitary negative experience. At that moment, the "FI" button starts pulsing, trying to draw you into the “failure mindset” that it loves to call home.

In my experience, the people who succeed in getting the results they want find ways to avoid the “FI” button. Rather, they let it fuel the fire. As the old saying goes, “you either win or you learn.” Negatives are teaching points and are also a guarantee. We cannot expect to go through life skipping down a road of high fives, smiles, and rainbows. At some point, there will be a tough moment: a comment we don’t appreciate, a body scan that didn’t give me the information I was hoping for, a lack of enthusiasm for something we were passionate about, or a “no” that we wanted to be a “yes.” All manner of obstacles lay in our path. The size of the obstacle is not what defines us; our reaction to it does.

Negative thoughts exist in all of us, from the top athlete to the beginner. We have to accept them and not let their effect send us backward. Rather, we must be real, honest, measured, calculated, and determined. Take the teaching moment for what it is and learn. Or understand where the voice came from and find a louder one. These things are not bookends but new opportunities; they are feedback. They are testing the sturdiness of your story—the one you are telling right now. Is that story strong enough to hold its ground, or does it collapse under the first storm?

The “FI” button will always be there throughout our lives, in many situations. We must have enough self-respect to not tap out of our own journey. We have to have the courage to go the distance that was promised. I guarantee no one reading this is setting out to have a “failure mindset.” That isn’t who we want to be. That isn’t how we want others to see us or how we want to see ourselves. Remember, the win in the real world doesn’t come with a trophy; it just comes with a stronger reflection looking back at you in the mirror.

See you in the gym!

PV