Be the Author of Your Comeback Story
Bounce back and write your own script
We have all faced many challenges over the last 18 months. Several seasons were ended or postponed and hours and hours of preparation put into training were cut short. Athletes all over the world prepared and did everything right, only to be derailed.
Besides the pandemic that cut seasons short, many athletes faced injuries and life events that knocked them from competing in the sport they love. My point is this, things do not always go the way we plan. Life has a funny way of disrupting our path, but here is the good news. You can be the author of your own comeback story. A comeback that you can be proud of and will remember your entire life.
Throughout history, the greatest stories are the ones where people and teams overcame adversity. Stories where they crawled and scratched their way back up the mountain where they once stood or had always visualized themselves being one day. Great athletes and leaders have the ability to adapt, change, find a way, and never waver. Even the G.O.A.T.’s fall from greatness.
Look at Tiger Woods winning the 2019 Masters. He overcame multiple surgery's and years of not winning a major championship. He did not listen to the haters, negative media, or his own doubts and fears. You should not listen to them either. Just recently Phil Mickelson won a major championship at 50. He is now the oldest player to ever win a major. He has been writing his comeback novel.
So, why can’t you?!
Writing your comeback will have its ups and downs, twists and turns, and moments of excitement. Just like any good story.
Act 1
The failure occurred. Life knocked you down.
How do you respond?
US Navy Seal, Jocko Willink, talks about attitude being directly tied to an outcome. Find a “good” in every bad situation.
Who are the characters in your comeback story? Surround yourself with supportive people who will hold you accountable and to a higher standard. Value honesty and integrity.
There are also antagonists to every story, including yours. Author Steve Maraboli writes “If you fuel your journey on the opinions of others, you are going to run out of gas.” Do not let yourself be an antagonist in your own story. Silence the negative thoughts in your head when something doesn’t go your way. Feed your mind with positive thinking and focus on optimistic outcomes.
Act 2
Preparation time! The Plot. Cue up the Rocky montage. Build for the comeback. Do the work!
If you are reading this and you have the opportunity to participate in Performance Course or a summer workout, DO IT! Now is the time. Having had the opportunity to coach with Performance Course over the last 9 years, I have seen first hand teams and individuals overcome the ghosts of the previous season.
They wrote their comeback.
Keep writing yours. Learning to work hard and to work with others is the recipe for achievement. These lessons will stay with you far beyond your days as an athlete. Performance Course is one chapter in your comeback story that will help rebuild your body, mind, and spirit.
Preparation fuels belief and belief fuels confidence. As Vince Lombardi once stated, “The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Work is the key to success, and hard work can help you accomplish anything.”
Act 3
Finish the fight. Your conclusion will be written with yesterday’s ink. I am reminded by motivational speaker Zig Ziglar’s stories of “how to train a flea.” Fleas are great at jumping. If you put fleas into a jar they will jump right out. If you put a lid on the jar, the fleas will jump and hit the top of the lid. Eventually, the fleas will be trained to jump right below the height of the lid so they do not hit it.
After a few days, when the lid is removed, the fleas will no longer jump out of the jar. Do not be like a flea in a jar, conditioning yourself to be average. Push the boundaries and never put limits on your abilities or goals.
There will be challenges that come with writing a comeback, so don’t be discouraged and keep bumping your head on your “jar lid”. Your breakthrough is coming. One of the greatest sports icons of all time, Michael Jordan, stated “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
Failure does not define you, how you respond does. Just keep getting up and believing in your mission and your team’s mission. You are worth it. It’s worth it.
