I failed.

Any form of the word “fail” is hard to say out loud, much less to write in a blog post. Yet, that’s exactly what happened.

On Saturday, I took a team of young women entrepreneurs to Trapeze U in Chandler, AZ.

What’s trapeze got to do with entrepreneurship?

Quite a lot, as it turns out.

It wasn’t my first time flying. I’d learned almost 10 years ago; it’s been a while since I climbed 20-plus feet to willingly swing through the air. The experience left such an impression on me that I’ve decided that trapeze must be an integral part of my coaching programs.

As a coach, I’m never one to ask my clients to do something that I wouldn’t do myself…and I love to fly.

Until Saturday, I had never learned how to perform a “catch”.

The catch basically involves this: the “flyer” (that’s me) takes off from the platform, transitions to a “knee hang” position on the bar,  lets go of the bar with her hands and extends her reach toward the waiting “catcher” whose job it is to literally catch her. You can see the knee hang and extension to reach for the catcher in the picture, below.

My first attempt at the catch was a #fail.

Why?

I had spent a lot of time imagining the completed catch. I knew I could do it. And perhaps more importantly, I knew I would. I could feel the success of a  completed catch my bones.

So what was the problem?

I botched my take-off from the platform. To no great surprise, the take-off affects your entire flight. In my case, my departure from the platform made it impossible for me to connect with the catcher.

After I tumbled gently to the net, trapeze coach Dylan pulled me aside and helped me practice my take-off from the ground.

10 minutes later, I ascended the ladder once more.

30 seconds later: #success!

What did I learn?

There’s a passage in the i-Ching that reads (paraphrased) something like,
“as it begins, so it ends“.

Which begs the question, where else in my life could a botched take-off affect the outcome?

Where else in your life, too?