Graduation, good grades, sports and athletic accomplishments make up our society’s “coming of age rituals” and “rites of passage.”
We prize academic and athletic performance as a measure of our physical and intellectual abilities, personal value, and even our self-worth. Winning is important, and here is a different perspective on developing the will to win. Lets fortify your wins with your “why”.
Once in an Uber the topic of football came up and the driver was telling my friend that he met Junipero Serra High School’s football coach who coached the great Tom Brady. He asked him, “So, what was it that stood out to you about Tom? Did he have a special arm, was he an extra hard worker, was he the most talented kid you’ve ever coached . . . what was it that made him who he is today?”
He replied, “It was how his parents raised him. I haven’t seen anything like that ever before or since!”
If you didn’t know, Super Bowl 51 showcased the greatest come back in all of Super Bowl history. For Tom Brady, the Patriots, and (according to his team, Galynn, Tom’s mother) who were down 25 points, it was a win motivated by a “why.”
Galynn was battling a rapidly progressing form of cancer, but she still managed to make it to the game. For that weekend, she chose to focus, not on her cancer, not on her suffering, but on Tom’s game. Brady reciprocated and dedicated that game to her. In the lowest moment of the game Tom’s “why” became the whole team’s “why,” and in that deep difficult time they managed to muster up what was needed to defy odds and stake claim to, what, in the end, was theirs.
What’s the “why” that drives you?
What fires you up with purpose when your fuel tank is low?
Mediocrity plays not to lose. Winners play to win. And champions hold tight to deep motivations.
Victory as your only goal is mediocre; triumph is the greatest success.
Simply striving for “W’s” on the season record is a self-imposed limitation that ends with the season. Ask yourself what’s beyond that “W”; what personal goal, past pledge, or future ambition compels you?
A loss can be a gain, and a great win is the one done with your “why” in mind.
Knowing your “why” is the key to exceeding your own expectations…
and overcoming obstacles that may seem utterly impossible.
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Whether in academics or athletics, going above and beyond your own expectations and moving closer to your goals and highest potential is the conquering of a rite of passage. Challenge yourself to the process of growth, success, and moving through the portal of your coming age by making your “why” your ritual.
Shutterstock Image provided by author
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