Why Failure is Always an Option

“Weren’t you a BeachBody Coach?” someone asks me. I answer, “Why…yes, yes I was a BeachBody Coach…for approximately 2 seconds…ok really…5 months.” Then I was a failure! Complete and utter failure! Now before you worry that I am shaming myself or judging myself too harshly, DON’T. Failure is ALWAYS an option. Failure is NECESSARY. I used my failure to succeed.

Truthfully….I REALLY dislike the word “failure.” I think it evokes negative feelings or emotions. It attaches shame and judgment to an experience. So, rather than “failure” I like to think of these moments as “opportunities for growth.” I have had MANY opportunities for growth. The BeachBody coaching was just another great opportunity for growth.

I started out the year 2016 with a new sense of direction and outlook on who I wanted to be and where I wanted to be going. You can read more about the beginning of the journey here. I spent a majority of the year really working hard on personal development. Big changes were happening and it was great. I was being courageous and things were happening. In May of 2016, I announced to the world that I was going to be a BeachBody coach – you can read about it here.

Fast-forward to September and we are thrown head first into my husband and I working to get a job for him teaching internationally. I was spending several hours a day working on a website for him, updating resumes, and sending off applications. I was feeling very overwhelmed and losing sight of my health goals. I was trying to run challenge groups, (which is what the BeachBody business model thrives on) but felt a lack of excitement when all I wanted to do was get my husband another job.

I finished my last challenge group at the end of October. It was great…I called “Frightfully Fit with Sarah” – pretty clever, right? I helped a few people but felt like I wasn’t making the impact I wanted. I have learned that I do things slowly. The fitness world (and those wanting to make a health change) expect and want things to be fast. My transformation is taking time – because I want it to be lasting.

After the October group, I decided that I would cancel my coaching account. I felt like I was giving up. I felt like I was backing out on something that I was excited to do and committed to do. I felt like….a failure. Even now, I feel a little embarrassed to say that I’m not coaching anymore. I didn’t want this to be another “Ideal Protein” experience. I feared that. I had to process those feelings and trust that I would still continue to progress and I would not fall back again. This time was different than before. This time I had done the internal work as well as the external work.

At about the same time we were going through these other changes, Stewart decided that he was going to get healthy too. You can read about some of his story here. It was amazing having him working alongside me. I was no longer just sitting at the table trying to be strong, eating my salad, and being a short-order cook all while the rest of my family ate carb-laden-sugar-full food. I had a partner who was invested in the journey too. We try to make good choices for our entire family now. It makes a really big difference.

Even though I felt like I had not succeeded as a BeachBody coach, that experience opened up the door to allow for my husband to see my courage and my endurance. He then made changes. We were able to choose change, and start to create the life we really want. It sort of became a ripple effect – all from one “opportunity for growth.”

Now it is a little over a year since I began my “healthy journey” – I am still on my way to better health. I haven’t “made it.” I’m not sure that someone who has the struggle with food like I do will ever “make it.” There are physical and outward results – 50 lbs. GONE. It is the inward results that I try to focus on. I continue each day to CHOOSE joy. Choose health. Choose change. I do know that I am a stronger and more resilient person because of the opportunities for growth. I know that with each little stumble on my path, I gain more clarity about who I am and who I WANT to be. I learn a little bit more about my capabilities. I see my strengths and learn to utilize my weaknesses. Failure stinks! And failure is necessary because it leads to self-discovery, new possibilities, and ultimately – success! There is always an opportunity for GROWTH!