I hate chemistry.

I have no desire to even look at anything to do with chemistry.

I never took it in high school and as part of my Exercise Science major in college, I had to take it.

At first, I thought I would like it, but I quickly hated it.

I failed chemistry the first time I took it.

I took it again the following year...

failed again.

I had to pass chemistry in order to solidify my degree, there were no other choices.

I took chemistry a third time (I believe this was one the one that I met Coach Josh, he was my lab partner and I cheated off of him).

I still failed.

It was three strikes in your out in my book, I was about to throw in the towel.

I gave it a fourth try.

During my fourth attempt at Chemistry, I was in the midst of the lowest point in my life, my mom had cancer and I was commuting back and forth dealing with all of that.

The day she died was actually the day of the final exam, what a coincidence!

My professor let me make up the exam a week or so later, and I'm pretty sure I failed the test, but somehow when the grades came out I got a C and finally "passed" Chemistry.

I think the professor just felt bad for me.

I still hate chemistry.

But I learned a lot during that entire bout, nothing about chemistry, but a lot about life, and why it's so important to fail.

Everybody has this picture in their head that success is this straight, linear line.

We just keep losing pound after pound, and it's going to be this slow and steady progress.

But in reality, you will fail.

Let me repeat that, you will fail.

And that's perfectly okay, in fact, you need to fail.

Failing is when you learn the most about yourself.

Failing is when you learn what not to do.

FAIL: First Attempt in Learning

Right now my son is six months old and just starting to learn how to crawl.

He gets up on his knees for a split second and then drops.

He pushes himself up, straight arms, and then drops.

As he learns to walk he'll fall.

As he learns to drive he'll crash.

It's all a part of the journey.

It's in the moments of a failure that you learn what it actually takes to be successful.

If you get to know any successful person or business they all failed thousands of times, but are known for their one success.

When it comes to fitness, we need be okay, and in fact, crave, that it's not going to be this linear journey.

Through our life, throughout this year, throughout this month, you're going to go through ups and downs.

You're going to celebrate some wins and you're going to smack yourself for making some poor decisions.

The scale is going to go up and it's going to go down.

All of that is what makes this journey a journey.

It's like a rollercoaster...

What makes the ride so fun?

The ups and the downs!

Be okay with failing, and learn from the failure, use that as motivation and drive to push yourself forward to the next level.

Oh, and I still hate chemistry.

1% Better.

Dedicated to Your Success,

Doug Spurling

PS: If nutrition is where you tend to fail the most our 90 Day Clean & Lean Challenge may be a good fit for you. We are capping the program to 20 spots and we start on 2/19---click here for details.