Several months ago, one of our favorite football personalities, Herm Edwards, delivered a simple message that still resonates well today.
What Coach Edwards is getting at is that collectively, we can’t allow ourselves to cut corners or take advantage of shortcuts for short term gains. If you do 90 percent, there’s someone giving 100. If you worked out for 2 hours, the next guy is likely doing 3. The football season is 24/7, 365. Days ‘off’ are few and far between.
If you’re not playing the game, you’re preparing for the game. Conditioning, scouting, game planning, recruiting – rinse, wash, repeat.
This goes beyond the game and applies to everyday life. You don’t become an expert in anything overnight. It takes a dedicated commitment to embracing the grind, preparing and improving, day after day, even when you don’t want to. Because the one time you do take off, mistakes will find you.
As a youth playing football, one saying that always rang true is, “you can’t hide anyone on the field.” This message is similar in that if you haven’t prepared to make a play, call the game winner, help the star athlete get back on the field, etc., then how can you do it when the opportunity arises?
Games are won and lost in the preparation.
A simple reminder we can all appreciate.