Are you falling forward?

Last week I attended a cross country ski clinic. While I can ski and get myself places I love learning and I figured learning from coaches in different sports always helps me learn something about my own coaching practice. 

While I learned that the correct body position in classic skiing is TOUGH and I have a lifetime of learning ahead of me, there was one particular coaching tip that I learned that isn't just helpful in skiing but in life. 

In cross country skiing you want to your weight forward, your hands in front of you and hips especially forward putting you into a challenging position for balance and something your brain fights against. Leaning too far back or keeping your hips back or hands cattywampus will often result in a fall backwards, onto your butt. A fall backwards means you were in a weak starting position, in bad posture, and not starting from a position of learning/trying.
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A fall forward means you are starting in the correct position and leaning into the strong posture you need but you just lost balance. A huge difference. It is great to fall forward because that means you are starting in a power position, stretching your skills and going outside your comfort zone. A pretty good life lesson.

This week when my website had the incorrect link and early morning athletes couldn't log into the workout, I thought, was this me falling forward or falling backwards? I am trying a new business model moving from mostly individual coaching to group classes and a subscription model. I hope I am falling forward. Falling forward, I am outside my comfort zone as my own webmaster and I am messing up while trying to learn from mistakes and make things better.    

Going into the New Year, I hope to stay mostly upright, but I can only hope my falls are forward. 

Cheers to all of you falling forward. Trying hard from a position of strength is the goal and perfection is overrated! 

Me, skiing, and hoping if I go down, I fall forward!