FUTURE STARS

Expectation vs. Reality

It’s not fair. Why is this happening to me? These are common thoughts when reality doesn’t meet up with your expectations. Common, but unhelpful. Life isn’t fair. Bad things happen to good people. Everyone makes mistakes.

Even if you do everything right, you may still fail, but you have an opportunity to learn from this event and prepare for similar situations in the future. One method for seizing opportunities like this is the OODA Loop, originally developed by U.S. Air Force Col. John Boyd: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act

Fail Forward

We hear people say “failure is not an option” so often it’s become cliche. It’s right in one sense, though not the way most people mean it when they say the words. Failure is not an option (or is not optional) because failure is a fact of life. We will all fail at some point.

The only thing optional about failure is how we fail. We can either fail forwards or backwards. If we choose to fail forward, our failures can help us become better. If we choose to fail backwards, our failures will anchor us to our worst moments. The difference lies in whether we allow ourselves to learn from the failure.

Five Star

It does you no good to be a five star athlete if you have zero star character. Prowess on the field is temporary. Eventually, sports will end. When it does, you will still have the character lessons you learned while playing, and the skills picked up from the lessons will help you throughout your life… or not.

Having a five star character requires caring about others. It means leading a life that makes the world a better place.

Humble Warrior

“Humble warrior” might seem like an oxymoron at first glance, but the definitions of both words mesh really well. Humility is giving the best of me for the best of you, even if it costs me. And a warrior is someone who deploys their talents and energy for the good of others, for a cause greater than self. Warriors act not for their personal good, but for the greater good.

Humility gives you the strength to work for others even when it costs you, just as a warrior does.