You’ve Done this Before!
Finding inspiration and solutions from your previous experiences
My first few weeks of college football was a roller coaster.
Before the season started, there were 3 weeks of camp where we practiced twice a day, sat in meetings 3 times a day, and did team bonding activities.
I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t scared when I first entered into it.
I was an 18-year-old, first-generation college student who was far from home.
I was practicing on a new team and didn’t know anyone.
Plus, I was playing a game with adults that were bigger, faster, and stronger than me.
The athlete in me was up for the competitive challenge, but fear and doubt leaked into my mind that it made me very reserved in doing anything. And the struggle showed during practice when I dropped a few passes, missed a few blocks, and didn’t understand the new offensive play calling.
So stepping in this environment was not only a physical challenge but also a mental one.
As we were gearing into our final week of camp, I remember sitting in my dorm room reflecting on my mindset and performance. I knew I could play better and had the abilities to compete at this level, but the results weren’t matching my desire.
I shared my frustration with a fellow teammate and he provided some words of wisdom that has stuck with me all these years:
The environment may have changed, but the game is the same.
Even though I wasn’t quite settled in with knowing the plays and the players at that time, there was comfort in remembering that I have been playing the game of football for 10 years at that point.
The years of putting in work on and off the field have prepared me to play at this level.
Yes, the challenges were still there while finding a place on the roster, but I knew how to run my routes, catch the football, and play hard on every down.
That may seem oversimplified, but it was the encouragement I needed to persevere. Rather than accepting defeat, I believed that I could overcome the challenge because of a similar action I’ve completed in the past.
It took me a while to sustain this concept, but by pausing and gaining perspective on my challenge I was able to step into future practices knowing that I could handle it and grow personally through it.
Fast forward a few years, it has been a habit for me to connect the dots from the past to the current when it comes to solving problems at work. Whether its building engagement, buy-in, or collaboration with a team, I recall on my experience as a player and coach on sports teams to seek a solution.
Those moments help me to remember what worked and didn’t work to in the past. And after reflecting, I’m able to apply those concepts in my current team development challenges.
As leaders, we need to develop the practice of pausing and reflecting when facing a challenge. By stepping back for a second, we will be able to find commonality between past experiences and current circumstances.
Not every situation in the past will be a direct relationship to the current. But it is a point of reference we can take that will shape our perspective.
Guaranteed there has been something in our past that will give us insight to our the present. We need to tap into that!
Pausing for perspective allows us to see aspects of our efforts in a new light, seek old actions that will benefit the situation, and learn from our outcomes that will redirect to a better solution.
Pausing can be hard, though. Challenges come quickly, deadlines approach with velocity, and we can’t seem to grasp the time needed to sit still long enough to process.
However, the longer we bud up against a challenge, the more frustrated we will become and the quicker we will burn out with exhaustion.
Then how effective will we be?
We have to build our awareness to know when to muscle through a trial or when to step back and assess the landscape. That type of analysis takes time and experience.
But if we start building the habit of pausing during a challenge now, the perspective we gain over time will give us confidence and clarity to persevere forward.
And know that we can’t do this alone.
We need people in our community who believes in us. Those who know our story, or have gone through similar challenges themselves, to give us the encouragement to stay persistent.
There is no quick fix to removing all challenges in our lives. If there were, then life would be boring.
There are encouraging words that we can be reminded of whenever we do face a trial. Let these words be a reminder for us and our daily activities:
- Receive grace in times of frustration through a challenge. Remember to learn in those moments and continuously improve our craft.
- Don’t disqualify ourselves after a few hiccups and failures. Our identity is not defined by the actions, but those actions can shape our character.
- Develop a rhythm of pausing. Pulling back for a moment gives us perspective on a situation, especially when we know that we have accomplished a similar feat before.
- Often times, someone has gone through the same challenges we are experiencing. Find community and lean on them for guidance.
You got this!
Ray
Q & A: Question and Action
Reflect on the article above and questions below. Share your thoughts in the comments to continue the discussion.
How do you pause when you are faced with a challenge? Do you see any transferable experience from the past that can aid a current situation?
What hinders you from stepping back from a challenge to gain perspective?
Who are you connecting with for wisdom and guidance? How can you be that for others?
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