Last week I had the pleasure of getting to sit in and observe one of our “Outdoor Adventures” classes. The lesson for the day was “angling.” They were learning how to fish. More specifically, they were learning how to use a rod and reel to cast a line toward a target.

Coach Youngblood, our Outdoor Adventures teacher, turned the lesson into a competition. He put targets on the ground about 30 feet from the students. They could earn points a couple of different ways. If they cast straight into the target, they received 10 points. If they went past the target with their cast but were able to reel their “bait” back across the target on the way in, they received 5 points. If they missed the target on the cast and the reel, they received no points.

It was a lot of fun to watch. The competition aspect really amped up how seriously our kids took the lesson. The best part about it was watching the improvement that our kids made each time they made another attempt.

I sat there for about twenty minutes watching our students work at hitting the targets, and at one point I started thinking about how this lesson applied to life (outside of the obvious fishing application). Here are the 5 things I learned while watching this class.

1. Sometimes you miss completely, but there’s almost always another cast.

There are very few times in life when we only get 1 shot. Those times do exist, but they are few and far between. The majority of the time we will have opportunities to improve and try again. We shouldn’t beat ourselves up if we miss. We should learn from what went wrong, make adjustments, and then step up to the line and cast again. Failure is never fatal (unless you choose to let it be).

2. Sometimes you nail it perfectly, but there’s almost always another cast.

Sometimes we hit it out of the park on your first try. Sometimes we experience crazy success early in our careers. That’s not normal. That’s the exception. We have to be very careful about letting early success lull us into a false sense of confidence. That leads to complacency. Complacency leads us to inevitable failure down the road. We should certainly enjoy and celebrate it when we hit the target early, but after the celebration, we have to put our heads back down and go back to work. Success is never final.

3. Sometimes you miss, but it was noticeably better than the last attempt.

We have to celebrate small improvements. Sometimes that’s all we have. We need to get excited when we see improvement in ourselves or in our teams/organizations. We may not be where we ultimately want to be, but if we are making noticeable improvements and heading in the right direction we need to make sure to to give credit when and where it is due. Sometimes that small voice of encouragement is all someone needs to take the step that finally gets them to the target. Celebrate small improvements. Encourage yourself and your people to keep pushing by pointing out the noticeable improvements along the way.

4. Sometimes you don’t hit your target with the cast, but you can adjust as you reel it in.

Sometimes it just takes a little adjustment in the moment. Students would fire out a cast past the target, and then you’d see them walking to the other end of “the boat” (area between two cones on the ground) before they reeled in their line. They knew that if they adjusted the angle they had between them and their bait, they could still reel it in across the target and get their points. What a great life lesson! Sometimes we set off on the wrong course. We know what our end goal looks like, but for whatever reason, we get off to a bad start. If we are reflective and self-aware, we can still make an adjustment before we end up too far off course. In order to be able to make those adjustments, there are two things that have to happen. First, we have to know what our target is. Second, we have to be constantly assessing ourselves along the way. If we do not do any type of evaluation/reflection until the task is completed, we will miss our window for successful adjustments.

5. Life is better when it is done with others.

We are social beings.  Certainly, if they wanted to, each of these students in this class could have practiced by themselves until they hit the target. If they chose to do it that way, most of them probably would have been successful. However, if they chose to do it this way, they would be the only ones cheering when they finally hit the target. In the setting that Coach Youngblood created, students were met with the encouragement and cheers of an entire class every time they were successful. Which one is more encouraging? Which one is more likely to produce more accountability? Which one is more likely to result in lifelong learning? I’m not suggesting that we always have to be surrounded by other people. There are definitely times when each of us have to put our heads down and go to work on our own. However, I am encouraging each of us to surround ourselves with like-minded people that will encourage us, hold us accountable, and help us grow along the way.

Who knew that a twenty minute observation of a Physical Education class could deliver such insights? Thanks for taking the time to read today. I hope you got something out of it. See you next time!