Perks of Being the First Penguin

Odd title, no? Haha. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (can’t endorse this book enough, GET IT!) has a chapter called ‘Being the First Penguin’ and, naturally, I was intrigued. Pausch gave out a ‘First Penguin’ award to the students who had the most “glorious failure” but dared to dream big. Here are two snippets I find really great: 

• “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted…. it’s a phrase worth considering at every brick wall we encounter, and every disappointment. It’s also a reminder that failure is not just acceptable, it’s often essential.“ 
• “First Penguin winners were losers who were definitely going somewhere. The title of the award came from the notion that when penguins are about to jump into water that might contain predators, well, somebody’s got to be the first penguin.”

Why am I posting this to my fitblr? Well, let’s be honest: all of us are on a journey where failure is a constant, unwanted presence. I’ve struggled with maintaining my weight, motivation, and dedication because I know changing my entire lifestyle is a big deal! But how will I ever change it if I don’t mess up? Sure, it feels crappy looking at the scale and not seeing the loss I predicted or not eating as well as I know I can but I always take away something from those experiences. Don’t beat yourself up over your mistakes. 

Essentially, I think the word ‘failure’ needs to be de-stigmatized. By failing, you’re not only helping yourself in the long run but you can offer others advice to help them out. I’m not trying to say fail at everything you do - that’s silly. Dreams and goals take time to achieve and nothing in like that’s worth it ever comes easy. Always aim to be the best but when you’re taking on a huge project EMBRACE FAILURE AND DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE THE FIRST PENGUIN! 

Younger me with braces wasn’t afraid to be the first penguin and nothing’s changed about that :)