TRYBE Tales - Weekly Wellness Edition

Wellness Wisdom Drops

FROM TRYBE

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” - Thomas A. Edison

Failure is not the end; it's a stepping stone to growth and success 🪨

🧠 The Hard Stuff

Did you know that failing is actually GOOD for the brain? When we fail the brain engages in a process called synaptic plasticity, where existing neural connections are modified, and new connections are formed. It’s like your brain is course correcting itself and that moment of failure is the reason it was able to learn and evolve. Imagine that. We can’t evolve without it. It’s like failure takes us from ordinary brain to brain². From brain² to brain^brain. From br— okay I’ll stop 🤓.

In fact, our brain rewards fails differently than success. It triggers a stronger emotional response in parts of our brain that can actually lead to increased attention, focus, and motivation to overcome challenges and improve performance (compared to the components of success). Maybe that’s why videos like this go viral, deep down we know it’s actually helping them evolve. *Warning, get ready for 5 minutes of snort-level laugh content

🍦 The Soft Stuff

Hindsight is always 50/50 they say - baloney! If we get into the spirituality of failure for just one second many people argue that it’s not failure at all - it’s a redirection into what we actually desire. So if that thing with Chad didn’t work out, it’s because it’s taking you from ordinary Chad towards Chad². From Chad² towards Chad^Chad.. Okay, I’ll stop for real this time.

It can be a really powerful moment in our lives where we chose to accept the divergence from what we thought we needed, surrender control, trust in the flow of life, and believe that there is a greater purpose or plan guiding our journey. Don’t get me wrong, this takes a massive perspective shift - it’s not easy - but it is possible and liberating. And bit by bit, fail by fail, we can learn to redefine what it means and feels to fail and accept that it’s just part of the experience and not who we are. Not only will that make us less judgemental on ourselves and others, but it opens the doors and invites us to play again, to take risks again. More on this subject in our next blog post 😉 

 1. Mental Rehearsal 🧠 

This is a powerful tool used by athletes (like 🏀 G.O.A.T who shall not be named* uses this), performers, job candidates, sales professionals, students and more. Try this out:

1. Pick a goal you’re looking to achieve (olympic gold, an interview, not burning your banana bread this time, etc.)

2. Close your eyes and vividly imagine yourself preparing for the tasks at hand

3. Now imagine any potential challenges or roadblocks appearing

4. Engage your senses and emotions to visualize you successfully overcoming them and achieving your desired outcome (mmm 🍞)

5. Rinse and repeat

By mentally rehearsing facing, dealing with and overcoming obstacles, you’re training your mind and building a mental model of positive outcomes. So when (and if) you do face those challenges in reality when they arise, you’re actually better equipped to overcome them…IRL…simply because you rehearsed it in your mind!

*This player shall not be named namely for basketball beef reasons - we want everyone to remain friends here. But you Might Just be able to guess what side of the argument I’m on.

 2. Affirmations 🧠 🍦

Use positive affirmations to shift your mindset, rewire your frame of reference and build resilience in the face of failure:

1. Create a list of positive affirmations related to failure, growth, and self-belief. For example:

   • "I embrace failure as an opportunity for growth"

   • "I am resilient and capable of bouncing back from setbacks"

   • "I have the courage to learn from my mistakes"

2. Choose an affirmation from your list and write them out 10 times daily and repeat them to yourself regularly

3. Internalize the affirmation by really feeling and believing their message and embodying the qualities they represent

Affirmations are actually helping create new, positive neural pathways in our brain that help us embody the feeling. By coupling the words with emotions we’re able to create more intense neural pathways in the brain, and through repetition we can help program our mind with the new, positive identity we’ve crafted and make it part of our subconscious programming.

3. Back in time - the ‘what if’ game 🍦

This exercise can help shift your perspective on failure and cultivate a more positive mindset.

Identify a ‘fail’ moment that initially seemed negative or disheartening. Reflect on how it led to positive outcomes or unexpected benefits (maybe a shift in your journey that led you to new opportunities, or perhaps a lesson you still hold with you, a motivation to get healthy, or a new skill you gained).

Draw inspiration from that past failure and remind yourself that even in current setbacks, there is potential for future positive outcomes. Embrace the idea that failure is not final and that it can lead to unexpected breakthroughs or achievements. 🥳

What’s something that, in hindsight, worked out for the best, but was tough or frustrating while it was happening?