Are You Training To Win Or Learn?

HPW Elite 800m man, Nathan Fleck, training to learn in the High Performance West "Work Shirt."

Recently, I heard the following question posed:  Are you training to win? Or are you training to learn?

If I was asked to pick years ago, I would have (quickly) answered — training to win.

As a younger man, it would have been my gut reaction. But it is a knee-jerk, shallow answer. Often, our first thought is not the best. 

However, these days, my answer is unequivocal: training to learn.

I've decided learning is the real prize, not medals, records, or esteem. What matters most to me is growth, experience, and evolution of thought. All of which are direct by-products of learning. 

A learning posture requires humility, curiosity, and open-mindedness. More than anything, being willing to learn means a willingness to be wrong and be OK with it.

With a training-to-learn mindset, the fulcrum is on getting better, not being correct or incorrect, a success or a failure, or doing well or poorly. Improvement is all that counts, no matter how little.

The irony is when I trained/coached to win, I lost nearly every time. But when I shifted to training/coaching to learn, I always won. No matter the outcome of events I could always walk away having discovered something new.

And that is the irony of the juxtaposition, by seeking to win defeat is likely, whereas by striving to learn winning is never in doubt.

Thanks for reading. I'm glad you're here. // jm