Adversity Is A Gift

Every single one of us will face adversity. How you handle adversity is vital if you want to be the best at whatever it is you are trying to do. A giant key to success is how you respond when things don't go your way. The most successful people in the world, regardless of industry, know that adversity is a major part of life. They understand that adversity is not only a major part of life, but adversity is necessary for success. 

When faced with adversity you have two choices: You can take the easy way out and quit, or you can look at adversity for what it is-- adversity is a gift. About 80% of you just gasped and said with a boatload of sarcasm, "yeah right, adversity is a gift." But that's because most people don't want to face adversity. They want to be as comfortable as possible. They simply want to always take the path of least resistance, and that easy path leads to nothing worthwhile. Mediocre people see adversity as a hindrance. The truly elite see adversity as an opportunity. 

If you are going to be the very best at whatever it is you are trying to do, you need to embrace adversity. You need to welcome adversity into your life, as adversity does five key things for you: 

1. Adversity Stretches You

Adversity is going to get you out of your comfort zone. You can't improve and grow if you are comfortable. When you are uncomfortable you are going to push yourself beyond what you think you can do. Adversity works like the weight room. When you lift weights, you get stronger when you lift heavier weights. The more adversity you face, the more you will grow. 

2. Adversity Humbles You

Sometimes we need a humbling experience. When we get humbled we find ourselves looking in the mirror and doing some self reflection. This is very important if we want to be elite. Being humbled opens you heart and mind to learning and growing. The key when you are humbled is not losing belief in yourself and your team or organization. 

3. Adversity Forces You to Adapt

When you face adversity you have to be willing to adapt and change. You have to find a new way to do things. Adversity forces you to find solutions to problems that sometimes you don't fully understand. You may have lost a patent to a product, or a key player may have gotten injured. This is when you get to be creative and find an innovative way to get the job done. 

4. Adversity Brings People Together

Adversity forces people to come together as a unit. It doesn't matter if we are looking at a family facing adversity, a team facing adversity, or a fortune 500 company facing adversity. When you face adversity together your team bond will strengthen. There is something very special about having to push through a very difficult task as a group. You will form a much stronger bond when you face adversity together. 

5. Adversity Requires You To Push Through

This is very important in our question for greatness. If we truly want to be the best we can be, we must learn to push through seemingly insurmountable adversity. Too many people are coddled, and they never have to fight through anything. Pushing through makes the result that much more worth it. If you are a parent, make sure you don't make things easy for your child. You want them to have adversity before they leave your house as adults. 

Thank about that. When you win at something that is easy, it is meaningless. When you have to work really hard to accomplish something, it becomes much more fulfilling. If you only do easy things, you will only get mediocre results. If you have to fight through adversity, every accomplishment will be worth so much more. 

Most people are happy being average and below average. Understand that if you want to be elite, you will face resistance. There will be many people who will not understand why you embrace adversity. There will be people who will encourage you to give up. These people are not your friends. They are not your trusted advisors. These are people who don't care anything about you. Don't let people steal your dreams just because they gave up on theirs. 

Make sure you fight to embrace adversity and overcome the obstacles life throws at you. Remember, you are not a victim unless you choose to be! Everyone in the world faces things that test them. The difference is, successful people push through the adversity and fight until the finish. 

Over the last several months, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and wrote a new book about faith and purpose. The book is available as a paperback on Amazon, and as an eBook for the Kindle App. The cool thing about the Kindle app is that you can read the book on any device. I invite you to read it, and discover the power you receive when you make a decision to walk with the Lord. Here is a link to the book: Finding Faith

Since publishing the book, I have received numerous texts, calls, and emails, from people who are going through similar trials and tribulations. They were feeling many of the same things I was feeling. The found comfort in the book. They also found they had a desire to change and to live better. They wanted more joy. 

Preparation Resources

As you prepare for the upcoming season, I wanted to make available our game planning resources for you! These helped us to have one of the most explosive offenses at every level I have coached. Coaches from some of the top high school programs in the country use these documents to prepare. Coaches at more than a dozen BCS programs have also downloaded these documents to help them in their preparation.

Here is a link to my offensive game planning documents: https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today and start preparing for your first game right now!

Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/ These are what we used to post 6 shutouts when I was a defensive coordinator.

And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/

 Last year I got hooked up with CoachTube, and put together three courses for offensive football coaches. I put together two courses on RPO's, and a course on Building An Elite System of Communication. All of these courses will help you to score more points! 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

All three of these courses are detailed, with everything you need to be more explosive and to score more points. 

The course on communication gives you a detailed approach to your gameday communication. I give you a system and a process to improve the quality of conversations, leading to improved play calling on game day. This course has received outstanding reviews from coaches at all level of football. A coach with multiple state titles told me this course helped them to be much more efficient and explosive this season. 

My two RPO courses take you through a systematic process of installing RPO's into your offensive system. RPO's put the defense in conflict, forcing them to defend all 53 yards of width and all 6 skill players every single play. I not only give you a system, but I teach you the methods to develop your own RPO concepts. 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

If you want to learn more about installing RPO's, I wrote a book called Installing Explosive RPO Concepts Into Any Offense. I wrote it for iBooks, which includes cut-ups to reinforce the application of these concepts. In the book I give you a systematic process for installing 2nd and 3rd level RPO's. Coaches at all level of football tell me this is a game changer! The book can be found for iBooks here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959

The iBooks version can be viewed on any iPhone, Mac, or iPad. It is a game changer in book technology! This book will give you everything you need to build RPO's into your offense!

If you don't have an apple device, you can order the paperback version! It is available on Amazon!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1520447485

Follow me @coachvint on Twitter and Instagram! I am also working on two new book projects, as well as a podcast. If there is anything I can do, please let me know. 

Let Me Help Your Organization

Over the last 20 years I have traveled throughout the country speaking to teams and organizations. I have worked with some of the top high school and college programs in the nation, and have also spoken to business leaders and leaders in the classroom as well. If can help your organization build an elite culture while increasing the footprint of the impact you are having. If there is a need, please reach out to me and I will tailor a program to fit your needs. 

I hope you found something in this post you can use with your program! Good luck in your quest to be elite!