“It’s Not Your Day”

Have you ever had a day that went completely off the rails?

I have always been a firm believer in the benefits of team sports.  Regardless of skill level, team sports provide individuals with so many life lessons.  Sports create the ultimate environment for working together, overcoming adversity, and unifying for the greater good.  Sports build character and provide ample opportunities to balance the highs of great joy and the lows of great pain.  And most importantly, sports teach us all about resilience!

To the latter point, I am both sympathetic and appreciative of the individual positions that carry so much pressure and scrutiny.  The pitcher in baseball or softball.  The quarterback in football.  Any goalie with the guts to stand in front of a net.  These athletes tend to carry a larger burden.  Their glory is magnified and their anguish is on full display.

Some days are fantastic.  But some days do not go the way the athlete anticipates.  Despite all the training,  all the hard work, and all the mental and physical preparation, some days go off the rails.  An abundance of interceptions.  An avalanche of goals.  A barrage of hits and runs.  The humanity!

And what does a coach say to the struggling athlete in those situations?  Typically, it’s  a simple but direct proclamation:

It’s Not Your Day.

There is no judgment in that statement.  The athlete is pulled from the game.  It’s not personal.  It’s not an indictment of character or effort.  And it’s not a future-leaning statement.  It just covers this day.  Not every day moving forward.

And it doesn’t just apply to athletes.  We’ve all been there.  And couldn’t we all benefit from understanding that simple perspective in our work and personal lives.

Resilience Requires a Short Memory

In our work lives, things will not always go our way.  We will lose a sale.  We will lose a case.  We will whiff on a market opportunity.  Our students will fail to grasp a concept.  We will be left with the sting of humiliation and defeat.  We will bristle and grind and wonder if things will ever get better.  Our confidence will wane and we will start to question our effectiveness and tamp down our outlook on the future.

But we have to keep things in perspective!  Losing and failing are only happening in the moment.  It doesn’t speak to our future opportunties.   This is not an harbinger of things to come.  And it is not personal.  A rough patch is only a patch.   It may not be our day, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be our week.  We can’t let the emotions of the present carry over to the future.  Sometimes, resilience requires a short memory.

Resilience is a Mindset

And the same is true in our personal lives.  We may have a falling out with our friends.  Or butt heads with family members.  Or struggle with addiction.  Or make a poor decision on the homefront.  The pain is real and the embarrassment is tangible.  But it doesn’t mean we are bad people.  It doesn’t mean we can’t recover.  And it certainly doesn’t mean that things won’t improve.  It is not our day.  Plain and simple. And we need to keep grinding and keep moving forward to ensure tomorrow is better.

But in order to move forward toward, we need to accept responsibility for our performance today.  We are not victims.  No one is out to get us.  We can’t take our anger out on the client.  Or the coach.  Or the co-worker.  Or the family member.  We simply didn’t perform up to our potential.  We weren’t able to execute.  We failed.

And that is okay.  Resilience is a mindset.  It’s all about acknowledging and accepting our setbacks.  By owning the failure, we can also own our future success.  We can move forward knowing we have the power to change.

Tomorrow Looks Fantastic

But getting back on the horse is not easy.  We must fight the urge to walk away.  We must fight the urge to curl up into a ball and give up.  No one likes to fail.  No one enjoys adversity.  But these moments of despair help us appreciate our moments of triumph.  They define our character.  It’s not about the failure.  It’s about how we react.  It’s about our attitude and our capacity to bounce back.  It’s about staying resilient!

We won’t always be at the top of our game.  We won’t always come out a winner.  But we can’t be afraid to fail.  We can’t lose confidence.  We have to keep grinding.  Today may not be our day.  But tomorrow is another day.  And tomorrow looks outstanding.