So What?

A golfer misses a putt. A basketball player misses a shot. A baseball player swings and misses. Often those misses seem like a matter of life and death before, during, and after the moment. But, the truth of the matter is they are not. Your ability to recover is where mental toughness lies. Over the past few days my work with athletes brought discussion on perspective. Perspective on the tragedy in Newtown served as a simple reminder that our misses are not nearly as big of a deal as we make them out to be. A game is a game. Many of us fear failure and the emotions that come with it. Yet, it’s failure that allows us to grow, which allows us to live. Failure is where brilliance is born. It's how we learned how to walk, talk, and read. It's all part of the process of greatness.

So next time you miss, and your thoughts start racing about all of the bad that can happen; give yourself perspective on the situation and ask yourself, so what?