I heard this phrase in my Weight Watcher’s meeting last week. Failing Forward.
I really like it. A lot. It describes just about any process a person undertakes that requires work, change, and time. When you mess up, and you eventually will, your attitude towards the mistake makes all the difference in the world. If you magnify your feelings of guilt, totally blowing them out of proportion, the odds of giving up are greater. Accepting that you made a bad decision, screwed up, didn’t exercise, whatever it was, is part of the process. Life throws curve balls. You are not perfect. Change is hard.
The trick is to move on. To acknowledge the mistake and keep moving forward. Get back on track and start anew. To stop and think about what you can do better/different for the next meal, step, day, or whatever is your goal. Mistakes are learning.
Now that I have used every cliché in the book, I “failed forward” with my weight loss goal for March. My goal was to reach 205 pounds by March 31st. At my weigh in on 3/29 I was 207.8. I gained 2/10th of a pound over Easter which in the grand scheme of things is not horrible. I didn’t make my 205 goal but I am okay with that. I managed to break my 210 plateau which makes me happy.
My end of month goal for April is 200 pounds. Considering I spent yesterday snarfing brownies all day long I have a long way to go. On the plus side I did yard work over the weekend so my activity level was up. Here’s to failing forward!
