A few weeks ago, my blog was “all about winning,” with debate being my inspiration (I came 1st). This week, I failed to make it to nationals, so I decided that I would make a “second chapter,” and talk about losing. I’ll be analyzing this idea of losing in depth, and give some personal insight on it as well.
Here’s a brief outline of how I “failed to win.” If you want to make debate nationals, you would first have to get either first, second, or third place in the provincial debate. To do this, you would have to win 3/3 debates. Unfortunately I failed to do so, only winning two.
So what does losing feel like? Of course, as we all know, it is a depressing and miserable feeling. After putting so much effort into something, and dedicating so much of your time and energy towards it and losing, isn’t the greatest thing. At the same time, losing can also help you develop a sense of resiliency. Losing allows you to grow and learn from your mistakes. It can also make you a more experienced person. So next time when you’re competing, learn from your mistakes and take these things into consideration. Surprisingly, losing can also make you better at whatever you’re pursuing. In debate, for example, you might lose to another team. You can then take into consideration what areas other team did well in, and what areas you need to improve in. For example, style of speaking, body language, speech structure, charisma, etc. Going into your next debate, you will be much more prepared.
What did it feel like when I lost? Well, to start off 20% of debate tournaments in Calgary are all about luck (in my opinion). When presenting your speech, you might have the best points, structure, and evidence. The other team might have a speech that has scattered ideas, little evidence, and no structure. The only thing that differs between the two is that the team with the “bad” speech might have an excellent way of presenting themselves, something that your team lacked. Even though the debate is more about the speech, some judges fail to take this into consideration, because they don’t know what debate is about. Many judges evaluate your presentation by the way you look, or how “sophisticated” your speech sounds. Debating, in my opinion, can be very, very subjective. But no matter what, you still have to try your best.
How do you deal with a loss? The best thing to do is to learn from your mistakes. Learn from others, and get help from others. Know that there will always be another chance to achieve success. In my opinion, winning something big after losing many times before can be very rewarding. This year, I had only won 1/3 debates leading up to regionals. After coming first in regionals, it felt amazing, because you feel like your hard work paid off. But sadly, I lost in provincials. So now what? I just have to try harder next year. Learn from others, and from your mistakes, and I guarantee you will succeed. Even if you don’t end up with that gold medal, know inside that nothing can stop you from winning, so don’t take it too personally.