Forged by Failure

I spent a lot of time as a coach talking about the importance of controlling what you can control.  I use this saying to keep my players minds focused on themselves instead of the things occurring around them in every moment that is not within their control.  Outside of our attitude and our effort everything else is up to chance and not within our control.  While I mention that I use this saying for my athletes this applies to all aspects of life.  How often have you found yourself in a moment and thinking about the past and wondering what you could have done different?  Or thinking about the future and what might happen next?  Both of these things are not within our control.  We can’t change the past and we can’t make the future happen how we want, at least not exactly.  The moment we’re in is the only place where we can affect change. I used to dwell on past mistakes and wonder what might happen in the future.  I’ve spent a good amoun...

Anyone who knows me knows that I think failure is a key component to success.  It’s something I talk about often and odds are you have heard me talk about it at some point being the difference between the good and the great.  However, there’s a chance that after hearing about the great things that failure can bring you, you didn’t know where to start.  How do I start to fail and grow?  What does that look like?  The truth is that even though we know failure is a part of our future success and that it leads to growth, we still don’t want to fail.  Even knowing that without failure we can’t fully achieve great success, we avoid failure.  Failure still hurts, and it’s still uncomfortable, and when possible we choose the easier path.  So, what do we do?  How can I become great?  How do I accept failure?  How do I learn how to fail well?  The answer is simple but not easy, much like most things that lead to success.  Practice...

Beep, beep, beep, beep.  My alarm rang out causing me to roll over to stop the beeping sound.  I pushed the button on my phone and laid in bed waiting for my eyes to come into focus.  After a moment, I swung my legs off the side of the bed and sat there starring into the darkness of the room.  Another few seconds passed and I turned the flashlight on my phone on and moved over to my dresser.  I grab some socks first, then move over to determine which pants I will wear today which will ultimately determine what shirt I’ll wear.  Finally, finished dressing myself, I turn back to my phone and turn off my back up alarm before heading downstairs to start making breakfast.  Once downstairs a whole new set of habits (or routines) take hold and this continues until I get to work.  My whole morning passes in a sort of blur as I follow one routine after another.  Take a moment and think about the routines and habits in your life.  There are boun...