Did you watch our latest edit, After the Fall? [scroll down for the full edit]
We couldn't believe the response on Facebook - I think we hit 4.5k views in 24 hours! Almost double She Flies The Movie back in October.
You might agree that the message speaks for itself, but I felt compelled to explain why we made it...
For so many, falling means failing and failing means you can't succeed. If that's the case, there would be an invisible association between falling and not being good enough, right?
Think about it; no one falls on their first go. When you try something for the very first time, you go so carefully and with so much caution, that you never build up enough speed or power to fall.
Falling means that you've tried to do it, again and again and again. You've tried so many times that this time, you sent the move - the board, the equipment, your body - so hard and with so much confidence, that you fell.
How could anyone associate that with an inability to succeed?
Let's put this into context, think back to the very first time you rode a bike. Your willing relative held on to the seat as you quickly lifted your wobbly feet and peddled like a maniac before you slowly started leaning to left and within seconds, your not riding anymore... What happens in those seconds? Your foot is back on the floor, safe, before you fell.
As you get a little bit fiery and a lot more confident, you go faster, pedal harder, be more determined and a slight wobble of the handle bars and you're smash crash on the floor - you fell.
Spot the difference. Confidence, ambition, determination, speed, power. You were succeeding and you were learning the limits that you had that day - and that you're going to work on for the next.
Failing is not about the fall, it's about the incremental gains you make each time you do.
Each time your body hits the water or the pavement or the board or the sand, you've learnt something. It might be a feeling in your muscles that is so subtle your head doesn't acknowledge it, it could be a mental barrier that you've never hit before, it could be an association between the feeling and the visualisation that you've had in your mind.
Each of these lessons don't mean that you won't fail again, but it will mean that you're a little closer to the success.
Tarah Malik is a bit of a hero to me, she's in the movie (3 minutes in) and she is a bomb on the water. She shared 3 of her tricks. For one trick, she sent 21 clips; they were made up of 20 fails and 1 success.
I'm willing to guess that she has failed more times than you have ever tried.
I see so many disappointments with failure and that's a real shame. Failure can bring humiliation, anxiety, embarrassment and all of these things can build up to stop someone trying again. It's a little demon that sits on peoples shoulders and tells them, "Nah, it's not for you". I read a quote on this a little while ago, and it resonated: When a toddler learns to walk, after she falls down 50, 100, 200 times, does she think to herself, "Nah, this walking thing? It's not for me..."
The way you get through it, is to learn how to fail. Learn how to land without pain so that you can do it again and again and again. Put your hands down? Don't put your hands down? Look up? Look away? Push the bar? Roll onto your back? Tuck your chin? Whatever it is, whatever trick, whatever sport - learn how to fail.
If you learn how to fail, you'll start to enjoy it and then you'll realise why the pro's push again and again and again. You're progression will rocket and every time you crash, you'll have a bit grin on your face. That's what it's all about.
We made a movie, to make the point. I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you to all of the amazing lady shredders who submitted their edits for the movie:
Colleen Carroll
Georgia Koudellari
Georgina Monti
Gianna Mewes
Irina Jenni
Ivy Stanton
Jalou Langeree
Jennifer Johnstone
Julia Rick
Kimi Flynn
Kylie Zarmati
Lucy St Jack
Paige Tobin
Paula Novotná
Sarah Dorking
Sensi Graves
Stephanie Van Den Boorn
Tarah Mikacich
Tsu Nami
And to Duotone Kiteboarding for Colleen Carroll and North Kiteboarding for Jalou Langeree.