How to Faceplant Like a Pro: And Actually Come Out Ahead
Chandra Eden, The True Me Yogi
Sun Tzu for Women
Author: Becky Sheetz-Runkle
"When you know how to fall properly, you no longer experience the rough spots. You no longer get the wind knocked out of you. You no longer get headaches, bruised elbows, and banged tailbones from the impact. Or, at least, you experience these pains less frequently. You still feel them when you're unprepared or thrown with unexpected force.
It's from falling down that you learn to win, including how not to get taken off your feet in the same way again. You become better, and your footing is more sure. You learn who to trust and who not to trust by who knocks you down and who helps (or doesn't help) you up. You learn the strength of your spirit."
How to Faceplant Like a Pro: And Actually Come Out Ahead
Let’s tell the truth: life is a contact sport, and none of us got pads. The quote nails it—if you learn how to fall, you stop getting wrecked by every stumble. You still hit the ground sometimes, sure, but you bounce, roll, and stand up faster. Less drama, fewer bruises, more progress.
Consider how athletes train: martial artists practice breakfalls, skateboarders learn to roll out, and soccer players know exactly how to slide without shredding their knees. They don’t wait for the big game to learn impact management. They train for it. You can do the same for your career, relationships, health, or creative work: practice falling well so the inevitable bumps don’t become catastrophes.
Why falling well matters more than never falling
Perfection is fragile. If your plan only works when nothing goes wrong, it will fail at the first breeze.
Falls give data. Each misstep tells you where your footing is weak, who you can count on, and what gap in skill or boundaries needs attention.
Confidence comes from reps. Once you’ve fallen, learned, and recovered, fear loses its bite. You trust yourself to handle impact.
What “falling properly” looks like in real life
In judo, you tuck your chin, disperse force, and roll with momentum. In life, it’s similar:
1.Tuck your chin: protect what matters most
Non-negotiables are your chin tuck: your values, health, integrity.
When a project implodes, protect sleep, workouts, and decent food. When a relationship frays, protect your boundaries and self-respect. Guard rails first, solutions second.
2.Exhale on impact: release tension and shame
Tension makes a fall hurt more. So does self-blame.
When you botch the presentation, say: “I blew that slide. Here’s what I’ll fix next time.” Exhale the shame. Keep the lesson.
3.Spread the force: don’t let one failure define everything
Don’t let a bad meeting become a bad week. Partition the pain: “This part went wrong. The rest is salvageable.”
Compartmentalize with intention, not denial. Capture the lesson, then move on to the next task.
4.Roll with momentum: use the fall to move forward
Redirect energy. Missed the promotion? Use the prep work to pitch a new project or strengthen your portfolio.
A creative flop? Turn the unused material into a series of posts. Keep the energy rolling.
5.Get up with a note, not a story
A note: “Start with the conclusion next time.”
A story: “I’m not cut out for this.” Notes improve performance. Stories paralyze it.
Using NLP to Bounce Back Smarter (and Faster)
Now, let’s talk about a secret playbook that isn’t just for therapists and corporate trainers: NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Sounds fancy, but it’s a toolkit for training your mind to reframe those faceplants into fuel for resilience.
Here’s how NLP can help you fall better:
1.Reframe the Narrative
NLP is big on “reframing”—the art of changing how you interpret an event. Instead of thinking, “I failed, so I’m doomed,” try, “That was one rough draft, and drafts are meant to be improved.” You can’t change the tumble, but you can flip the story from catastrophe to comedy (or, at least, to a useful lesson).
Practice: When you faceplant, ask, “What else could this mean?” and “How will this help future me?”
2.Anchor Resilience
NLP uses “anchors” to trigger desired states. Choose a gesture or phrase that you use only in moments of recovery—like giving yourself a tiny fist bump and saying, “Reset.” Train your brain to associate this with bouncing back, not spiraling down.
3.Change Your Internal Dialogue
NLP teaches you to notice the internal voice that pipes up after a fall. If it’s harsh (“Classic you, always screwing up”), swap it with something more realistic (“That was suboptimal, but I know what to do next time”).
Practice: Write down your worst self-talk after a flop. Rewrite it as if you were coaching your best friend. Talk to yourself like someone you want to see win.
Visualize Successful Recovery
The mind loves old movies. NLP encourages you to replay your recovery, not just your fall. Each night, visualize a past stumble and mentally run through yourself getting up—cool, calm, and fixing things. Training in your head builds the neural pathways to do it for real.
How to build your “falling” muscles before you need them
Practice small public reps. Ship version 1. Share a draft with a trusted group. Ask one person for candid feedback. The micro-falls desensitize you to the sting and sharpen your reflexes.
Run pre-mortems. Before a big move, list the top five ways it could flop and your response plan. You won’t predict everything, but you’ll land with less surprise.
Schedule debriefs. After launches, conflicts, or key meetings, ask: What worked? What hurt? What will I change? Turn experience into skill on purpose.
Train your nervous system. Breathwork, a brisk walk, or a two-minute cold splash can dump adrenaline and restore clarity after a hit.
Trust: the quiet lesson hiding in every fall
The quote points out something people learn the hard way: falling teaches you who to trust. Not just who cheers when you’re winning, but who helps you up when you faceplant—and how they do it.
Trust yourself: You build it by surviving your own messes. Handle a setback with honesty and follow-through, and your self-trust compounds.
Trust others: Watch patterns, not promises. Who shows up? Who vanishes? Who offers feedback that makes you better, not smaller?
Be trustworthy: When someone else falls, help without grandstanding. Offer clear eyes, not easy lies. That’s the kind of ally you’ll want when you’re the one covered in dust.
Common fall fails (and better alternatives)
The flail: Overreacting, blaming, firing off five panicked emails. Better: Pause, breathe, write a two-sentence status and one next step.
The bury: Pretending it didn’t happen. Better: Name the mistake, capture the lesson, make a visible fix.
The spiral: Turning one miss into an identity crisis. Better: Keep it scoped—event, behavior, correction. It's not a verdict on your worth.
A simple “fall and recover” protocol
Use this when you take a hit—professional, personal, or otherwise.
1.Stabilize
Breathe: 4 seconds in, 4 hold, 4 out, 4 hold. Two rounds.
Get facts only: What exactly happened? What’s the immediate impact?
2.Contain
Communicate clearly: “Here’s the issue. Here’s what we’re doing in the next 24 hours.”
Protect critical systems: Time, health, key relationships.
3.Learn
Ask three questions:
What signal did I miss?
What assumption failed?
What will I change in process, skill, or boundary?
4.Re-enter
Do one repair action within 24 hours.
Schedule the deeper fix within 7 days.
5.Archive
Write a three-line post-mortem. Store it where you’ll see it before your next big move.
Turning falls into footing
Every time you fall and recover, you lay down better footing: clearer boundaries, sharper skills, steadier nerves. The rough spots don’t vanish, but they stop knocking the wind out of you. You stop being scared of impact because you know what to do when it arrives.
Final nudge
You don’t need a life with no falls. You need a body of practice that makes the falls useful—and sometimes a swift NLP reframe to soften the landing. Tuck your chin. Exhale. Spread the force. Roll. Anchor recovery. Get up with a note, not a story. That’s how you turn bruises into balance—and slipups into solid ground.