If there is one thing I’ve learned from sports, it’s that you don’t have to be the best to win. Let me give you some examples.
On my high school football team, I didn’t “fit” my position. I was 5’11” tall and weighed 165 pounds my senior year – and I was the Strong Tackle. The head coach told the offensive line coach over and over not to start me, but coach Epps saw that what I lacked in size, I made up in heart. He fought for me to keep my position. Going against 250-300 pound defensive linemen wasn’t easy, but I found a way around it. After analyzing the situation, I thought, “Well, if they aren’t on their feet, they can’t make a tackle!” so when we ran the ball, I’d just take out their legs. It hurt when all that weight would crash down on top of me, and my hurt shoulders still feel it when I’m in the gym today, but they made very few tackles! When we passed the ball, I remembered Newton’s Law of Motion: An object in motion tends to stay in motion. I’d just let them decide which way they wanted to go, then I’d get underneath them and encourage them to go there! I’d use their weight against them! Success!
In wrestling, being just over the line of heavyweight proved tough! My opponents were MUCH bigger than I was! So I just began by trying not to get pinned. Then I tried to take every advantage I could! But I must say that using my teeth when an opponent flipped me onto my back and I couldn’t breathe wasn’t such a prudent decision – I ended up disqualified that day! However, I did take advantage of the referee’s whistle on the match next to ours! When he blew the whistle and my opponent on top thought it was ours, I turned and tackled him to take a 1 point lead with 5 seconds left! I had beaten a man almost twice my size!
I also played basketball when I was younger. I was never fast or tall, so how would I be able to score points? Well, with a basketball goal in our driveway and two older sisters who were good at it, I learned to shoot from the outside! I could swish a shot before the defender could get close enough to block it!
Then there was baseball. I was a little overweight and very slow. If hit the ball in the infield, how would I ever get to 1st base? So I worked on placing my hits and would punch it just over their heads into the outfield! At least I got to first! Now second was a different story.
My point is that you don’t have to be the best at what you do, but you do have to be a problem solver. Analyze the situation (look), Figure out solutions and multiply them what works), and determine what to get rid of what doesn’t work).
The next time you are up against some odds, follow those three steps! Analyze and try, multiply what works, and stop what doesn’t work. Even if you don’t become an expert at it, you will become better than you were before, which in any sense spells SUCCESS!
I remember a story I once heard my friend Brian Klemmer tell. It went something like this:
Once there was a frog named Andy Average frog. He fell into a rut left by a wagon in a rainstorm. He tried and tried, but he just couldn’t jump out of the rut! It was just too deep. Then Freddy Fabulous frog hopped up. He asked, “Hey down there! What are you doing in that rut? Jump out!” Andy Average frog answered, “I’ve tried, but it’s just too deep. I can’t jump high enough to get out!” Freddy Fabulous frog was perplexed.
“Sure you can,” he said, “Just do a double back flip tuck jump out!” He then jumped down into the rut and did a double back flip tuck jump out of the rut. Andy Average frog tried, but he hit the side of the rut and slid back in. Freddy Fabulous frog said, “Well, just to a triple-gainer out of the rut! Here, I’ll show you!” He jumped down into the rut and did a triple gainer out of the rut. Andy Average frog tried, but again he hit the side and slid back in. Freddy Fabulous frog became frustrated and said, “Well, I hope you get out. I gotta go down to the pond and see what’s up!”
About 30 minutes later, Freddy Fabulous frog was down at the pond when along came Andy Average frog. Freddy Fabulous frog smiled, “How did you get out! Did you do the double back flip tuck jump out or the triple gainer?”
Any Average frog answered, “Neither.” Freddy Fabulous frog then asked, “Well, how in the world did you get out of that rut?” Andy Average frog answered, “Well, another wagon came along and the wheels were in the rut. It was either get out or get squashed! So I just got out!”
The moral of this story is when you really want to get something done, apply a little pressure and you’ll be surprised what you are capable of doing!
Imagine your situation right now. In some area of your life, you may be in a rut. Well, it’s time to get out of that rut. The situation you’re in isn’t all bad, because it will make you grow. If you didn’t have to work to get out, you’d probably just stay in the rut! Birds have to peck their way out of their egg. A seed has to push its way through the dirt to the surface to be what it was meant to be. A rubber band doesn’t go very far if it’s not stretched on your finger! And the farther you stretch it, the farther it goes! A ball doesn’t bounce very high if it’s not thrown hard against the ground. And the same applies to you. So apply a little pressure, a little urgency, a little accountability to get you out of your rut!
I’ll bet you’ll get out in no time!
The other morning was a good teachable moment for my son David. He woke up, came into the living room, and screamed, “Oh no! I left my binder at the main High School! It has all my stuff in it! What am I going to do?! Oh no!” I calmly replied, “Get in the shower and get ready for school.” He continued to panic, and I told him again, “Get in the shower and get ready.” He asked me, “Don’t you care that I might get bad grades if we don’t find it?!” I again replied, “Get in the shower, and get ready for school.”
When he came out, I told him to get in the car so we could go to the main High School and look for the binder. He replied, “It won’t be there! Someone probably took it! The band room won’t be unlocked! I don’t even know where the office is!” I remained silent and drove. Again, David asked, “Dad, don’t you even care?!”
We pulled up to the school and sure enough, the band room was locked. David came out in a panic, “I told you! We’ll never find it!” Then I asked a student where the office was located. He told us and David went to the office. They told him the band room would open at 7:30am when the band director came in. We drove back over to the band room, and David went inside and he came out carrying the binder. He got in the car in silence looking straight ahead. He looked at me and said, “It was the first thing I saw when I walked in.” We laughed and I proceeded with the teachable moment.
The night before, we had watched the movie GRAVITY with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. I said, “Do you know what I noticed last night in the movie? When she panicked, she couldn’t function. She couldn’t focus or do anything at all! Then, she’d calm down, breathe in and out, focus, and get herself out of the situation.” He answered, “Dad, that’s a movie!” I then told him, “Most people die in life threatening situations because they panic – they worry about what might happen before it happens. Survivors find ground and center, breath in a controlled manner, and then respond to the situation by doing what they can do now.”
When we worry, we often live out the worst possible scenario. I’ve found in life that the worst possible scenario rarely happens. If you worry about it, you’re guaranteed to live that scenario in your mind anyway! What a waste! Mark Twain said, “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” Luke 12:25-26 says, “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?” (NLT)
As a man in the airport once said to me when I was in a panic, “STOP! You are scaring yourself!” So I tell you, do what you can do in the moment. Worry accomplishes nothing. Figure out what you can control, and do that.
I then told David, “I told you to get in the shower and get ready for school because there wasn’t anything we could do until we got there. When we got there, if we couldn’t find the binder, then we’d cross that bridge. And look, that bridge didn’t even have to exist – except for your worry creating it in your mind.”
Normally when a business makes it a point to tell you that they have the lowest prices, that often equates to a lower quality product. We all know that it’s common to “get what you pay for”, and with many of these companies you often get less than you pay for.
Southwest Airlines prides themselves on their low fares. But unlike other companies who are racing to the bottom of the price line, they also pride themselves in delivering a high-quality experience for their customers. In my experience, they are the best by far. Here are 5 reasons why I prefer Southwest over the competition…
- They don’t nickel-and-dime you to death.
When you’re flying with a family of eight, it’s not uncommon to get up to $250 or more in various additional charges for a one-way trip somewhere. Not so with Southwest. Their pricing tends to be more straight-forward than the others. Even the “little things” like snacks during the flight are more pleasant. Although the flights I’ve been on didn’t offer meals in-flight, I got to choose from peanuts or pretzels – and if you don’t fly much, you don’t realize how nice having a choice actually is.
- They remember the “customers” in customer service.
When boarding a plane, I often see the stewardesses engaged in conversation with each other, occasionally throwing out a greeting to a guest as they squeeze by on the way to their seat. The Southwest crew seems to be focused on their guests from the moment they arrive. They make eye-contact, greet us individually, and occasionally make fun comments to my kids. Overall, a much more welcoming experience.
- Their crew also uses humor to get important messages across.
Since Southwest has an open seating policy, it’s important for them to help us fill all the seats from the back to the front. One steward made us laugh when he told us that we needed to move to the back if we wanted better service. “The back is the best, the middle is sketchy, and my section – here in the front – is hands-down the worst for service. So sit in the back if you want the best!” Clearly he was kidding and he had a big smile on his face, but it put us all at ease and made the overall atmosphere more enjoyable.
- The distribution of drinks and snacks is often another task that other airline crews seem to endure more than enjoy.
They usually talk to each other as the roll the metal cart down the aisle, giving plastic smiles when required, and looking like they can’t wait to get done. Again, not so with Southwest. They go down the aisle taking orders and then return with a tray full of items for their guests and are quite personable throughout the flight.
- When something goes wrong, they make it right.
The other day my flight got delayed for an hour. Then we were informed that the delay would be an additional two hours. Then it was moved to a different gate. At that point I decided to check in to see if there’s anything I was going to need to get on the plane. Since I had eight in my family, any additional things often take forever and I didn’t want any more delays or to miss the flight altogether. When I got to the front of the line, instead of being dismissed or treated like an annoyance, I got a really nice apology for the delay and eight $100 vouchers for the inconvenience.
For whatever reason, very few airlines understand the importance of taking care of the customer. But Southwest gets it. They are my airline of choice whenever I have options. Apparently others agree. Check their stock. Their commitment to excellence shows – and they have fun doing it!
When you’ve dug yourself into a hole the first thing you need to do is stop digging! But then what?
I’ve been in more than one hole in my life, as I’m sure you have. There are several keys to getting out of the hole you’ve dug for yourself. Hard work and dedication are two, and the most important of all is having the faith that you can do it.
I’ve seen victory after victory in my life, and it all had to begin with a belief that things could get better. If we have no hope that things can change, we will stay stuck. I’ll bet that most of you who are reading this can identify with what I am saying in some area of your life: finances, relationship, health, weight, or even an addiction.
I’ve got news for you. There is hope! There is a way out! And it begins with one step! Let me explain.
When I was 460 pounds, the idea of running was as foreign to me as standing on the moon. Then one day something happened. While walking around the Presidential Mile, Allen Smith, a co-star on Season 8 of The Biggest Loser said something to me. He said, “Let’s run.”
Then of course I said, “What are you, CRAZY?!” Allen replied, “Just to that light pole up ahead, let’s go!” And he took off. I followed, but after 10 steps my mind told me to quit. Allen cheered me on and I chose to keep going. I made it to the light pole, and the next day, Allen challenged me to run a little farther. I noticed after a week of this something was happening. The time from when I started to when I wanted to quit was getting longer and longer.
Nine months later I was running the 114th Boston Marathon, which was my second marathon in only 6 months! And each time I started running, the point where my mind would tell me to stop was getting farther and farther into my run! That day it was mile 13 before my mind said to stop! I’d gone from 10 steps to 13 miles before wanting to quit!
Since that day, the thoughts of taking on seemingly impossible tasks aren’t as scary. In fact, I have the faith that if I begin, stay the course, and slightly increase day by day, I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. And not only the time from starting to wanting to quit gets longer and longer, but the time from when I fall down to when I get back up gets shorter and shorter.
That’s what life is all about. We’re going to be scared of the unknown, but we must be willing to take a step. We are going to fall down, but we must get back up. Faith will help you. And each time you accomplish something new, your faith gets bigger. So whatever you are struggling with today, ask God to give you the strength, then STAND UP AND BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY! Soon you may find yourself in the longest race of your life, and enjoying every minute of it!
As I get older, I continue to learn more about what the concept of “giving” really means. One significant principle I have come to understand is this: The more my heart loves to give, the more opportunities I have to receive.
I don’t give for the purpose of receiving, but it is a principle nonetheless. When a farmer plants a lot of good seed, he gets a lot in return. When we learn to live in the spirit of giving, we will be on the lookout for opportunities to give. They could be as simple as:
- Opening the door for someone.
- Letting a car in front of you in traffic – and smiling.
- Saying “thank you” to your children’s teachers (especially when the kids are older and we don’t know the teachers quite as well)
What can you do this week to give to others?
