Why do some athletes never reach their full potential?

It's not a lack of talent, resources, or opportunities — it's the failures we try to bury. As a former National Hockey Player, I've learned that failure is the greatest teacher. It's a data point that we can use to learn, and get back on track.

Here are three unexpected lessons I learned from failure.

Lesson #1: Don't get complacent

At 16, I was playing better than most players my age.

Dropped from a team a few years earlier, the desire to prove myself was my fuel to push harder, and reach higher heights. I was driven, surpassing my peers and winning the Scottish National League and the Scottish Cup in the same year, and playing for Scotland Under 16s and Under 18s. However, riding this wave led to complacency — I thought success would continue passively, not realising my position was earned by effort.

It's like a race where you coast and everyone else catches up.

• When you plateau, you lose confidence.
• When you lost confidence, you stop taking risks.
• When you stop taking risks, you stop learning.
• When you stop learning, you stagnate.

It's hard to break the cycle once you're in it, but not impossible.

Lesson #2: Stay Confident When You Plateau

At 18, I got dropped from my club team — my peers had caught up to me.

I felt like I was drowning in self-doubt, I had plateaued. I wondered why I wasn't improving, or making gains, and felt trapped. One major effect was that I avoided taking risks.

The answer wasn't more training, but a different approach to learning.

Lesson #3: Keep Learning Actively

In hindsight, I wasn't actively learning.

I turned up and listened to my coaches, but I hadn't taken responsibility for my own learning. I realise now that my plateau was a signal to change how I learned: to seek people who were better than me, and to study what they do. Now, I approach every new challenge with this mindset, knowing that continuous learning is the ultimate game-changer.

When you face a challenge or a plateau, don't shirk away from the challenge in fear of failure — embrace it.

Embrace Failure, Continuously Learn

To fail is to learn.

Give your sincere effort into everything that you do. When it doesn't go well, review it and ask yourself why it didn't go well. Find role models that have already accomplished what you want to do, study them, and try to implement what they teach.

Iterate over and over again — never stop the learning cycle for the rest of your life.

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Thanks for reading friends.

Jack