It’s come to my attention that people don’t like failing. What a surprise right. In our classes we put a heavy emphasis on standards and I am upfront about my expectations from the beginning of class. In the end it’s still their own performance matched against standards that leads to a pass or fail.
Everybody’s a winner
One of the cultural norms we see popular today is how everybody graduates, I use the term everyone gets a juice box to describe this theory. Basically, there are no losers. All I have to say to that is it’s no wonder our country is going down the toilet. Even as a father I know the importance behind teaching the boys why winning is so important. It has to do with hard work, discipline and failure. We’ve created a society where failure is to be avoided at all cost for fear of traumatizing the psyche. What a bunch of bullshit!
The Formula
The most important things to take from that last thought is hard work, discipline and failure. There is no substitute for hard work, natural talent will only get you so far, luck is never to be relied upon and good looks will fade. And then what separates world-class athletes and operators is the hard work they put in to bring them to a whole new level. That hard work leads to discipline, you have to be disciplined if you want to be the very best that you can. It takes doing what the other guy is not willing to do. The discipline to stay focused on the task at hand, to get that extra rep at the gym, to fight through discomfort and awkwardness, the list goes on and on. Ultimately, all of this will eventually lead to failures. If you are working to be then set you can be you cannot expect to be perfect or not make a mistake. If you find yourself in that situation, your mindset is that of ego driven versus performance driven. You’re more worried about the failure than what it takes to succeed.
The baseline of all baselines
In all of our programs there are standards everyone across-the-board must meet. The integrity of the standards is beyond reproach, and we will not sacrifice them for anything or anyone. Too many people have come through our classes over the last decade to throw their hard work to the side. I take great pride in knowing the graded evolutions we administer on the East Coast is the same as the ones we do on the West Coast. The ones we do in Texas are the same as the one’s in Minnesota. My point is folks know they can measure themselves, they can use the class as a baseline for their improved or sustained performance. You don’t have to understand all of the testing and grading regarding our training programs. What I suggest instead is you consider every round fired is purposefully, willfully launched to achieve a hit. If you fail to perform during a graded evolution and you use the excuse you didn’t know it was a test, that’s an epic failure. Every round you fire should be fired under the assumption it is for real. Therefore, you should naturally assume in our classes every round fired is a graded round and why wouldn’t you, that is reality.
There are a lot reasons not to attend our training classes, but fear of failing and the damage to the ego shouldn’t be one. To those folks I offer the Juice Box Award.
Well said…and something we all need to be cognizant of, in ALL areas of our lives. I recently took a CP2 class and I failed to meet the standard. The reasons were not a standard that was too high or unclear. It was because of my performance only. While disappointed in my performance, it has given me a shining light on where I need to focus and improve. No excuses. Don’t forget that excuses are reserved soley for those who NEED them. Frankly you did me a favor by being 100% results driven versus an “A” for effort approach. Why do say this? Easy. The class is for one thing and one thing only. In a gunfight there are winners and losers and since you won’t be there to help, guide or handle the threat for me, you are giving me the tools to take on-board and keep improving. I have a 100%, clear path to hitting the standard next time. And I will. To all those who whine about your high standards I say this: Take the experience of the instructor staff and use it for what it is: A solid, combat tested method to winning when winning means 100% more than in any other aspect of your life. No one will be there for you, and your family will thank you for your focus when YOU go home safe. You can keep your juice box. I don’t need one. I will return and I will perform to the standard because THAT is what will help me when I need it most.
Outstanding points!!! Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, I was pretty butthurt when I epically failed the pistol 1 class. So much so that I went thru and failed the rifle 1 class (but not by as much). I have a wall of training memos to show for the classes, and I am proud of them both. I don’t need a piece of paper on a wall to tell me that I learned something, and I learned A LOT in both of the classes. The misses were all mine, and I take credit for them. Jeff emphasizes the point that you are responsible for EVERY round you fire, and that could not be more true in law enforcement. I love the fact that the standards are so exacting, and I will be back for more classes. They make me a better shooter. I was shooting with a friend this weekend, and we were going thru some drills. When we looked at the targets at the end of the drills, he wanted to “discuss” the scoring…..,all I could say was “on the line doesn’t count”….
Right on…lines don’t count!
No excuses. I did not pass the Combat Carbine Level 1 class due to a lack of the necessary shooting skills on my behalf. Instead of being butt hurt I have used the failure as motivation to train harder. Jeff’s class helped me identify the holes in my game.and for that I am thankful.
That is exactly what we want to see, motivation to train harder. Nice job!
One must learn from the mistakes and failures that are inevitable in life…they are what drives you to become better, to succeed, to prevail. This “everyone’s a winner” political claptrap is what’s ruining our culture.