By Mallory Mattingly
According to former NFL star Tim Tebow, the “most important thing you can do is fail.”
“The faster you fail, the faster you learn. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s progress,” he shared in a post on Instagram.
“Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid to stay the same. Every loss has something to teach you, if you’re willing to learn,” he continued.
Three weeks ago, Tebow also shared how he thinks failure should be motivation.
“I believe failure should motivate you not cripple you…I still think about one rivalry loss more than all the wins combined,” the former quarterback wrote. “Not because I love the pain, but because it propelled me forward. Because I was able to learn something for the next game and the one after that.
“That’s the thing about losing…It can either paralyze you or teach you. You get to pick,” he added. “You win some, you lose some. But either way, you should learn.”
Tebow knows firsthand about doing something even when failure is a very real possibility.
In 2017, he decided to leave the NFL to pursue a career in the MLB. Ahead of his first day of spring training in First Data Field in Port St. Lucie, Florida, Tebow told SportsCenter why he made the switch.
“There are certain things in life we love and we have the chance to pursue, but a lot of the time fear of the unknown, fear of failure gets in the way,” he said. “If I fall flat on my face, then guess what, I’m going to get right back up again.”
“People will say, ‘What if you fail? What if you don’t make it?'” Tebow added. “Guess what? I don’t have to live with regret. I did everything I could. I pushed it. And I would rather be someone who can live with peace and no regret than being so scared I didn’t make the effort.”
When Tebow decided to go against the grain to play baseball, In Praise of Failure author Mark Anshel lauded Tebow for his boldness.
“I applaud what he’s doing. So many of us are crippled by high expectations that we tend to quit things way too early,” Anshel said. “I think Tim Tebow knows exactly what he’s doing. If helping people deal with failure is how you believe you were called to serve God, then I’d say attempting to become a professional baseball player out of the blue at 29 is the absolute best place for him to be.”
If it weren’t for Tebow’s determination to take risks, he wouldn’t be where he is today. We can all learn from his willingness to fail as he trusts God’s plan for his life.
Read Next: Comparison Steals. Tim Tebow Says God Wants This for You Instead
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