The Importance of Losing

Successful people in life do not like to lose. High achievers in all facets of the world will tell you though, they have all lost on their struggle to the top. Most CEO' s of companies will tell you they were fired from at least one job in their life. Michael Jordan will tell you his success only came after numerous failures. Livestock showing is no different and not excluded from this losing philosophy. 

It is always great to scroll through social media and see young people being successful. The banners, buckles, and memories being made are priceless. What is not always shown are the ones that don’t get those banners and buckles. It is what many would call, those who lost. I do see those that are super excited for  simply being at the show, or placing 7th out of 24. Those are losses that need to be celebrated. The reason is, they might have been 23rd out of 24th last year. That is progress and the significance of dedication 

One concern for many should be those that always make sure their kid always wins. They go out and buy, or borrow a great animal,haul it to certain shows, and collect all the awards. These kids don’t always learn to lose. If they do happen to lose, their parents are on the side explaining why the judge doesn’t know what they are talking about, how the other people knew the judge, or the other excuses that go on and on. For young people, teach them the grace of losing. 

As leaders we have to make sure that those excuses are few and far between. You lose in a show because the judge didn’t think you had the best animal or project that day. Period. End of story. It is also important to make sure these kids learn to lose gracefully. Have I always been a graceful loser, no. I have learned from those mistakes though, and I couldn’t have asked for a more valuable lesson.

We are not doing our young people any good by putting them up on a pedestal and constantly praising them for being the best. This does not mean you berate your kids for losing. It means you let them know that when they get knocked down off that pedestal, they are human, this is life and it will happen again. 

So many people seem to be afraid to let their child just take an average animal out in the ring and get the experience they need and deserve.  Michael Jordan is a great example. He didn’t start off as a number 1 starter or draft pick. He practiced and honed his craft. 

If we take our children in livestock and agriculture and don’t let them experience losing or help them understand why losing is important, then we are doing an injustice to them as humans. They will get out in the real world and never understand why they are not CEO’s right out of the gate. 

A young woman went through life always being praised and told she was the best. She never was told no. When she got to college, she signed up to do everything, yet didn’t give her all at those tasks. She didn’t think she had too. Why would she? She was always told she was the best and praised. She had a meltdown because she was failing at college, her job, and was stretched too thin. She didn’t know why. One reason, she was never told no or learned to lose.

This is not an article to stop praising your kids or helping them be winners. This is about stopping you from praising your kids and then never telling them they did wrong. We have a generation of kids that always get a trophy. They are always told they can do no wrong. The real world doesn’t work like that and it actually makes for those young people to be horrible employees. 

It is vital that we let our young people lose. It’s very hard to do. It’s a super important part of life. Most of us that grew up without cell phones, without tiktok, without social media, had to rely on the telephone and the next show to learn something new. We visited ranches, talked to breeders, and learned from the best. 

Every one of those successful breeders and producers will tell you that they have all lost it all or almost all at some point in life. Losing is important because a true winner will take that loss and build on it. They will ask questions and not make the same mistake twice. That is how success is done. Even as adults we lose. I used to see it all the time where people never take responsibility for their losing. They blame others, it’s not their fault. 

If you want to be successful in life,  you own your losses. You have to step up and say, “Yeah, I made that mistake.”. Then you take that knowledge and build a better tomorrow. You win the next round, but first have to learn the importance of losing. 

Albert Payson Terhune wrote, “Win without boasting. Lose without excuse.”