Legitimate Reason or Excuse For Failure?

Is it a legitimate reason, or is it an excuse in case of failure?

I hate to admit it, but I have often been guilty of the latter. I would start making excuses for why I didn't succeed at something before the event took place.

"I will lose 15 lbs before summer, but it will be hard with multiple work trips, shows, and events. It's always hard to stay on track when I am traveling."

Can you relate? We give ourselves an out before we start.

It's a common theme in shooting sports too. As we attend matches and talk to shooters, it's rare to find somebody that will tell you they've been practicing, are dialed in, and are ready to win. It's more common to hear that they didn't have enough time to practice, life got in the way, and they will see what happens.

On the surface, this happens from a good place - a place of humility, not wanting to disrespect their competitors. This attitude may have the opposite effect. If an up-and-coming shooter has put in the work and falls short to a competitor that "didn't have time to practice," it may come across as "cocky" as they are good enough to win without practicing.

Although, they have more than likely put in more practice than they will admit to.

Is there more to it, though? Are they subconsciously giving themselves an out if they don't win? Is it easier to handle than going all-in on your preparation and still not winning? That way we can tell ourselves that "we would have finished better if only we had the time to prepare."

If we look at the competitive shooters that have been able to do it at the top level consistently year in and year out, they show up with the expectation of winning. It doesn't always happen, but facing that failure drives them during those practice sessions when nobody is watching.

Feel free to go all in and see what happens. If we go all in and fail, there's a good chance we are still better off than where we were before getting started.