14 Aug Taking a Punch to the Face Was the Best Thing to Ever Happen to Me

By: Lisa Guggisberg

My ears were buzzing, an instant numbness turned into a burning feeling of panic, disbelief, shame, sadness, rejection, embarrassment; these were just a few of the emotions that hit me as I walked off the stage at the Arnold after I bombed out on squats. First bomb out ever. Was I angry? You betcha I was. But the biggest concern was that I had let everyone down, Brian my coach, Todd who had pretty much given up 10 plus weeks along with me as he gave me unconditional support, my team and myself. I remember looking at Brian, tears were brimming in my eyes, and the water works were just seconds away, thinking about all the people I had let down or disappointed.

[wa-wps]

I was hesitant to write about bombing out on the stage at the Arnold. I mean who wants to relive an embarrassing failure? Who wants to talk about their mistakes? But then I figured if my mistake and failure helps someone else then it was worth writing about.

Here’s what I learned: Failure will happen.  Everyone should accept that failure is inevitable. Everyone will fail at something in their life at sometime whether it be their personal life, marriage, parenting, work or on the platform.  Disappointment can happen and it will happen, it’s a part of life.  The great basketball coach John Wooden once said “If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes”.  Failure is a teacher.  How a person responds to failure and learns from a failure is how we become successful and grow as a person and an athlete.

I told myself I could react to the bomb out two ways; learn from it and move on or feel sorry for myself and learn nothing.  After I came back to my senses I swallowed back my tears and decided I would not feel sorry for myself. Lamenting and feeling sorry for yourself is just lame and there’s no crying in powerlifting right? I took a timeout, collected myself and took Paul Key’s advice; the best thing I could do that day for myself and the team was to throw myself into helping the rest of the team have a successful meet, which is what I did.  In the end this turned out to be just as rewarding as if I had continued to lift that day.

Failure is also not final and is only temporary. Taking a punch to the face isn’t the worst thing. I learned that I am not breakable; I am not made of glass. Failure builds resilience and in the long run it builds confidence.  You cannot be confident if you don’t overcome some difficulty right?

I’m glad I took that punch. It taught me there are worse things that could happen and in reality as so many of the seasoned lifters on the team told me I was just punching my lifter card.  I got my first bomb out of the way and I grew as a lifter at the Arnold by learning from my mistakes and becoming a little more resilient.

I finally did have my moment weeks after the Arnold. A fellow firefighters wife reminded me that the fact that I made it to the Arnold, on Pro day, was a big accomplishment in itself. She told me that I was an inspiration for her to continue on her fitness journey. I cried like I wouldn’t let myself do at the Arnold because I realized she was right. I had set huge goals for myself for the Arnold and along the way lost my passion for the sport and forgot about everything I had accomplished up to that moment.  I am thankful for that wake up call from her. It took someone from the outside, someone who was just starting their fitness journey, to remind me of the bigger picture and not get so lost in goal chasing. Set goals and work towards them but don’t get so lost in them that you lose your fire or yourself and don’t be afraid to take a few punches along the way.

Photo Credits: Trey Vollmer of Vollmer Images

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Lisa Guggisberg

A self-proclaimed former high school band nerd turned meathead nerd, Lisa has been coached and mentored by Brian Carroll using 10/20/Life principals for 3 years. She started CrossFiting in 2006 but gave that up after realizing all she wanted to do was squat, bench and deadlift heavy. She now competes as a raw and multi-ply powerlifter in the 114 and 123 weight classes. Lisa has All-Time top 10 totals in both raw and multi-ply in her respective weight classes with a raw pro total of 936 lbs at 114 and a pro 1118 lb multi-ply pro total at 123 and 1090 lb multi-ply total at 114. She is currently ranked the #1 female multi-ply lifter at 123, #2 at 114 multi-ply female and #3 raw with wraps. Lisa has a B.A. in Political Science and a Masters in Public Administration, but hates politics and political debates. She is a mom of two, a firefighter wife and has worked as a full time litigation paralegal for almost 20 years.

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