"We're on to Cincinnati."
Thanks for reading. This is the 27th edition.
I've found that to keep staying inspired to write a few sentences a week, it's easier when it's relevant to what's happening in the news or the moment of life we're in.
And being a big sports fan, this week was a doozie. Pete Carroll, coach of the seahawks was let go. Jim Harbaugh, coach of the Michigan football team won the national championship. Nick Saban, coach of the Alabama football team retired. Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots was let go.
All of these guys are quote machines. But I decided to go with one that first popped to mind and also closest to home, living in New England.
This quote was made famous by Bill Belichick in 2014 during a press conference after a game where the Patriots got crushed by the Kansas City Chiefs. He uttered this sentence 5 times in the press conference.
It's his job, as the leader of the team, to answer questions about his team's performance and the reporters there have a job to do. They need to write stories about the quotes and things he says after a game.
But on this occasion, he wanted to make one thing clear. The team wasn't going to dwell on this game. It was early in the season. What just happened was a huge failure, but the team needed to learn from it and move on, quickly. They were traveling to Cincinnati in 6 days to play another game. If they didn't lick their wounds and start preparing for the next game, they'd end up in the same spot... another huge loss.
Life doesn't hand you all Wins. In fact, it's probably more L's than W's. But we can get into trouble when we start thinking about the losses, keeping them in our brains, wondering if they will happen again.
Chances are that L we just took really stunk, but it's part of the journey. We've got to accept it, suck it up and trust that if we stay steady on our path, we will figure it out.
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When you take an L, even if it's a big one, you've got to accept it, learn from it and move on. Don't ignore it but you can't keep thinking about it. It'll stunt the growth that you're trying to achieve. Realize that the metaphorical loss you just took is speeding up your growth opportunity.
This quote is funny and sounds really strange without context but when you know where it comes from, it makes sense. Maybe it'll help you keep on keepin' on.
By the way, the Patriots won the Super Bowl that year. The loss in Kansas City was huge news at the time but now, if not for this quote, no one would remember it.
The next time you fail, get embarrassed, lose a sale, make a bad choice, just remember this quote and move on.
Chances are, you've got another shot and it's coming up quick.
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