What if you lived life like you were training for the Olympics? What would you do different? 

That’s the question I asked myself that stopped me in my tracks.

I realized I wasn’t playing full out. Yes, there are days I’m giving everything I have – and I’m leaving it out on the field wherever I am present, but there are many days that I just don’t’ have it. There are days I just don’t give it my best and I fail to FOCUS.

Why?

It’s not because of a lack of intent. I want to play full out. My aspirations are there. The reason why I don’t FINISH is because I can get out of balance.

The balance revelation drew my attention to something called the Eight Dimensions of Wellness. Maybe you have heard of them.  Here's a hokie graphic that illustrates them.  (thanks Adobe Stock)

Here are the 8 in no particular order. Each of them have an equal weight of importance and value.

1. Occupational
2. Social
3. Emotional
4. Physical
5. Intellectual
6. Environmental
7. Financial
8. Spiritual 

The truth is I ...

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go”
— T. S. Eliot

We just launched  a new three part series on Resilience on the Breaking Average Podcast.  Have you seen it? The first episode aired recently centers on the concept of Acknowledging the Threats.  The next episodes take it even further.  This is such a powerful principle.  Resilience is a secret untapped strength each of us have, we often just don't know it.

There's an old line from the legendary Japanese Military Strategist that sets the table.

Know thyself, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.

What he's saying is spot on.  You can't be yourself and face your challenges until you know yourself.  That's where it starts.  But that's not enough.  He's also saying you can't face the enemy and defeat the enemy without knowing the enemy.  Both are vital.

There are some battles ahead.  Many of them.  But there are some major victories in store.  If you want to experience vi...

There is a great scene early in the movie Remember the Titans where two teammates are in a huge disagreement. Gerry Bertier, the captain and star linebacker, who is white, is arguing one point with his teammate Julius Campbell, another talented linebacker, who happens to be black. Bertier is pressuring Julius to step up his game. 

Julius counters with a different perspective reflecting on the clear lack of hustle between whites and blacks on their team.  Because of the dysfunction, Julius openly wonders why he should care for anybody other than himself.  In response, Bertier tells Julius, "That's the worst attitude I have ever heard."  It's in that moment, you wonder if Julius is going to clock Bertier, but Julius responds candidly and calmly putting the pressure back on Bertier.  "Attitude Reflects Leadership, Captain."  Bertier is left standing there with no words. It's as if he got hit by a 2x4.

It turns out to be a powerful moment in the movie. A wake up call. At the next practic...

Let's face it.  Life comes at has hard.  How we handle those challenges reflects our character.  None of us are perfect though.  They are times in our life where we feel the  pressure.  We struggle. It's inevitable.

The good news is that there's a way around it.  There are some tricks of the trade that we can leverage to overcome the emotional hit -- at least minimize it.  I call it Emotional Retelligence.  It's about retelling - essentially hacking -- your emotional state realtime.  It's powerful! Here it is in a nutshell. 

#1 - Acknowledge the Emotion.   Admit what you're feeling.  Don't deny it.  Let's say you are planning a big event, and that sense of overwhelm just hits you hard.  In that moment, admit to yourself what you are feeling. It might be something like,

• "man, I'm feeling little anxious about this"
• "no lie, I'm worried about this won't go well"
• "I have no idea how I'm ever going to get this done." 

Being honest with how you feel opens up the opportunity to harn...

I need to make a confession. I am a recovering reluctant leader, and I'm doing everything I can to avoid a relapse. 

The problem started way back when. Probably when I was just old enough to notice classmates (maybe even my older brother and sister) discrediting my unique ideas or thoughts. You know, an idea that disrupted the norm. Like,  "What if we built a maze fort out of these cardboard boxes?” Or, “Want to help me build a wall of Legos to blockade mom and dad's room while they're sleeping?”

"No!"  My brother and sister didn’t like either one of those ideas from their little brother. Sometimes I struggled with my voice being heard. Being the youngest, you often feel overlooked and ignored. It's frustrating. I remember when I was six knowing exactly what to do to put the family door knocker on the door, but no one wanted to hear my suggestion.  I felt unheard and insignificant.

Eventually many of my imaginative ideas  would stay just with me. I got tired of sharing potential  “o...

Hope actually is a strategy.

• "There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off." - Prov 23:18
• "Know the hope to which He has called you..." - Ephesians 1:18
• "Hope does not put us to shame." - Romans 5:5
• "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very BOLD." - 2 Cor 3:12
• "Let us hold unswervingly to the HOPE we profess, for He who promised is faithful." - Hebrews 10:23
• "Be Joyful in Hope. Patient in Affliction. Faithful in Prayer" - Romans 12:12
• "What matters in life? What will last? Faith, Hope, and Love." - 1 Cor 3:13

The proof of our HOPE is in the actions we take!

The art of winning is something almost everyone of us would love to know and understand. It doesn't matter your gender, your age, your culture, or your position.  We all want to know what it takes to win. Surprisingly the game of football can reveal some of these secrets, but you don't have to be a fan of football to benefit from the knowledge.

In this blog, I share with you 5 takeaways on the Art of Winning.  These are 5 Principles, while borrowed from a story related to the game of football, are precepts any one of us can learn to apply in our life going forward.  They are difference makers for teams, businesses, organizations, schools, and more.

Introduction

The 5 Principles come from my  takeaways from a documentary about a forgotten era when the NFL faced a real challenge.  The documentary is an ESPN 30 for 30 film on the 1987 NFL Replacement Players.  It chronicles the NFL strike ridden season, that challenged the league, fans, players, ownership, and a surprising group of onc...