We often talk about embracing failure, and it’s not just educators who do so. In fact, the entire concept has become an industry. From motivational quotes to success stories, it’s easy to find examples where failure is portrayed as a stepping stone to success.
Overload
The overload principle is key to exercise science. It asserts that to improve, the body must be challenged beyond its usual limits. This makes sense: simply taking the stairs occasionally won’t prepare you for a marathon. To see progress, you need to push your body further than it’s accustomed to.
The other day, my 5-year-old picked up a table tennis paddle for the first time. She instinctively knew to grip the handle, but held it like a frying pan, using both hands. When I tossed the ball, she flipped the paddle toward her face, missing every time. After just a few attempts, frustration set in, and she quickly moved on to a new toy.
Practicing
But the next day she wanted to try again. This time she had about twice the number of tries in her, but she also had a few successes. Just like the principle of overload, this thing I witnessed — practicing — is a way we get better.
Melanie Stefan wrote A CV of failures, published in Nature in 2016. A few other academics created and shared theirs shortly after. I’m not sure how I stumbled on the idea, but I whipped up one of my own. I decided to not just list jobs I didn’t get and educational programs I never enrolled in, but also listed some financial failures, and even the worst of my relationship failures.
