If you have paid any attention to anything related to sports the last 12 months, then you’ll know that this topic basically wrote itself.
For those who are not big sports fans, I’ll be brief so please don’t stop reading here.
I don’t believe we’ve ever seen a series of events unfold such as we have in professional sports beginning with last year’s National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.
For those who are not aware of what’s happened, I’ll fill you in.
June 2016 brought us a repeat of the matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Warriors being the defending champions.
In a best of 7 series (the first team to win 4 games advances), it’s nearly impossible to come back from being down 3 games to 1. Yet that’s what the Cavs were facing going into game 5.
Fast forward to the World Series for Major League Baseball (MLB) at the end of October between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians.
Same story, a best of 7 series, and the Cubs looked up and they were on the wrong side of a 3-1 deficit like the Cavs.
Then, just a few days ago, the National Football League (NFL) held the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.
With only 15 minutes of game time left, the Patriots had dug themselves into a hole, trailing 28 to 9.
In each of these scenarios, we saw almost imminent defeat for the team who was behind in the series or game.
Well, that’s what the team ahead and most every fan thought and felt on how the ending would ultimately shape out.
However, in each case, the teams who were trailing came from behind to beat the odds and emerge victoriously.
The Cavaliers brought the city its first NBA title.
The Cubs ended a drought of 100+ years for their franchise.
The Patriots built on their dynasty of winning 5 Super Bowl Championships in the last 16 years.
For the winning teams, they never quit, never stopped believing it was possible, and never gave up.
Comeback stories like this are rare.
It’s never been the case that we are privileged enough to witness 3 consecutive major championships won this way.
Who were these teams that defied the odds and every probability that history proclaimed them losers at the start of their resurgence?
They definitely have superstars who are at the top of their sports and personalities that draw a massive following from their fan bases.
But are they so different from years past when other teams found themselves in the same spot?
Absolutely not.
That’s why they are playing for a championship in the first place. Because they’re talented enough to compete for a title.
Now, the attitude they displayed, we can learn a lot from.
Yes, there are phenomenal comeback stories that are scattered through time and history. Having some that are so close together, though?
It’s something we just can’t ignore.
If you find yourself getting knocked around, feeling defeated, or going through a period where you think everything is stacked against you – don’t. Give. Up.
During each of these sporting events, there is media personnel that is writing their stories all throughout the games and series.
I’m sure they’d already crowned those teams who were ahead, the champs.
What a mistake that was.
They had to erase and rewrite the ending of their articles because it didn’t turn out the way they expected.
Are we guilty of that?
Certainly, at times, we can be.
We feel as though we’ve failed too many times or not jumped through our window of opportunity, that life has knocked us around and convinced us that we’re already losers.
The final whistle hasn’t blown on your life to signal the end, so why do you insist on carrying on that way?
Is it time for your comeback?
What are you doing about it?
What can you do about it?
1. GET UP
It doesn’t matter how many times you trip, fall, or get knocked down. Every time that happens to you, get up.
It took Edison thousands of attempts before he invented the light bulb.
What if he would have given up after his first failure?
Or if he would have stopped the attempt before he finally got his breakthrough?
No matter if it’s happened to you over and over, if you’re hurt, if you’ve lost something, or if you don’t feel as though you can ever get up again.
Get.
Up.
2. GET MOVING
So you’re up, now what?
Isaac Newton’s first law of motion tells us that “an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force”.
If you get up, great, that’s where we start.
But don’t stay there or according to Sir Isaac Newton, you’ll always stay there.
This doesn’t imply full speed ahead, it just means we need to shake ourselves from complacency.
How do you know you’re actually moving?
You’ll see progress.
3. GET READY
Okay, if you’ve made it to this step in your comeback, it can be difficult to comprehend what’s going on.
What you’ll start to see is momentum.
If you’re up and moving forward, strange things like success, new habits, better moods all start showing up at your door.
The kind of things you looked across the field and saw in others, now begin to manifest themselves in your life.
Success is not reserved for a select few.
Success is not reserved for a select few. Click To Tweet
During the time of progress propelling you into previously uncharted waters, don’t get intoxicated with your own abilities, though.
Stay humble.
You know that at any time, life can send you right back to where you started.
Most of us in life will go through a time where we have the opportunity to write a comeback story.
In the decision-making process, what will you do?
Will you submit to the blow that caused you to stumble?
Or will you rise up even if it’s for the hundredth time and get up, get moving, get ready, and leave the “what if” behind?
Are you facing this right now? Have you already started on your comeback journey?
I’d love to hear from you, comment below!
