How do you measure success? Some days are better than others in the gym. There's times you come out feeling like a champion and times you come out wondering whether you've ever improved at all. If you measure success too harshly you can get strongly discouraged by a run of bad sessions. What you find is that even the worst sessions have some elements of goodness in them. You don't have to win to have a good performance. When I first began jiu jitsu my three most important training partners were ADCC medalists/champions. Every day I got destroyed in terms of overall result. I measured success in terms of how long I could last, or whether I could stop or at least delay a move that they constantly used on me. When overall victory isn't realistic, look for little victories within an overall defeat. It's all about progress and progress can still be excellent even when you're losing every match. In time you'll get better, and as you do, your measurements of success will reflect that as you set bolder expectations for your performances. Remember always that success and failure come in many forms and scales and that the two are tightly woven together. When things seem tough and results aren't in alignment with your hopes keep this in mind and find some comfort in your little victories
