Failure can teach us life lessons, resilience Published June 17, 2016 By Chief Master Sgt. Paul Luebkert 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Legendary UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden defined success as peace of mind which results from knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable. You may have seen this featured on a television commercial this spring. I first saw it many years ago while researching a paper on leadership. To me, simply put, it means do your best. I’ve read a couple of different accounts about how the coach arrived at his definition. One said it was the result of an “F” he earned on a ninth-grade English assignment. Another story said it was an assignment he gave to his class when he was an English teacher. Which is true is not important. What matters is that he spent some time thinking about what would make him and his teammates more successful. We should all do the same. I like the coach’s definition for two reasons. First, because of the natural tie-in to our Air Force core value of excellence and, second, because it is entirely self-defined. By self-defined, I mean only you know when you’ve given your best effort. Others may think they know but in fact only you when you’ve done all you can or when you have not. An honest assessment of your own effort will guide your reaction to both success and failure. When you make the effort to truly do your best, success is sure to follow. Success, however, is not always immediate. We have high goals in the Air Force and occasionally we may miss the mark temporarily. Your best effort, excellence in all you do, enables you to walk away with your head held high even if you fall short of the goal. Your best effort will help you recognize where you need to improve or what additional help your team needs to be successful next time out. As Airmen, we have varying degrees of intelligence, physical strength, mechanical ability, etc., but we are equal in our ability to try our best. Effort is the great equalizer. This is true in the classroom, on the athletic field, on the flightline or in your work center. On my team, I’d rather have the Airman who gives max effort day-in, day-out than the Airman who, though perhaps more gifted, constantly complains, does just enough to get by and makes excuses for average performance. In the maintenance group we teach the “Pillars of Aircraft Maintenance.” They are technical data compliance, documentation, safety and training. These are the basic elements of maintenance discipline and fundamental to the work we do. I suspect these or similar elements apply to all Airmen whether you see patients at the hospital, support our communication systems or stand guard at a post. Ignoring the fundamental elements of your job indicates not only a lack of effort, but a disregard for your teammates and for our core values of integrity, service and excellence. Air Force success comes from our strict adherence to the core values and from your focus on the basic elements of your job. Anything less than your best effort adversely affects the unit and detracts from our mission to fly, fight and win. So, don’t whine, don’t complain and don’t make excuses. Take some time to define your own success and let excellence be your guide.