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What Storms Reveal

Can you imagine what Tony Bennett must’ve been feeling?

It’s 2018 and his Virginia Cavaliers have just completed an incredible regular season, good enough to earn a coveted top seed in the NCAA tournament. Their hopes are set solely on a national championship and there are plenty of ‘experts’ endorsing their chances.

But they were wrong - way wrong. 
The Cavaliers would become the first No. 1 seed in tournament history to lose to a No. 16 seed. It was the biggest upset in tournament history and one of the most notable in all of sports. The loss was an event that would challenge the strongest person, with the potential to destroy one of the most elite programs. Some of these same ‘experts’ were quick to call out Virginia’s “Crash and Burn” performance and deem the program incapable of post-season success.

Fast-forward one year and the Virginia Cavaliers are cutting down the nets as the national champions of college basketball - from the first one out to the last one standing. Throughout the storm the leader of the team, Tony Bennett, never allowed the loss to define him. “If you learn to use it right, it will buy you a ticket to a place you couldn’t have gone otherwise” Bennett was noted as saying. 

The loss wasn’t the end - it was the beginning of something greater.
And, without the storm that possibility may have never been revealed.

Why Should We Care?
Storms are never going to be something we intentionally seek out. I mean, storm chasing sounds pretty cool, but .... Of course, if we’re serious about being our best we find ways to engineer them. A tough workout, a marathon, or writing a book are simple ways we attempt to put ourselves in the path of potential storms because deep down we really know the benefits of them. We seek them out because we know what they reveal.

The first thing they do is remind us that we’re going to be ok regardless of the outcome. Afterall, if you’re reading this, then you’re undefeated against all the storms you’ve faced so far. Maybe you chose fight or maybe you chose flight, but either way you won. Ultimately our storms tell us we can.

Storms also reveal our belief system. They are an incredible crucible for simplifying life. The chaos presented by a serious storm erases a number of seemingly important values that we may have held for years. The storm clears them away leaving only our strongest, most important values. As they support us through our struggle, the commitment to them only grows stronger.

Storms also tighten our circle. There are usually three types of relationships when navigating storms becomes the focus. The first are the people who simply leave. As soon as the wind starts to blow, they bolt. You should avoid them at all costs. The second group of people get some distance, but check on you. They show empathy and concern, but are careful not to make your storm their storm. You should be aware. The third group marches right into the storm with you. They hold your hand, prop you up, or carry you if necessary; but there’s no way they allow you to face the storm alone. You should hold on tight to them.

Those are three pretty important aspects of life that storms bring clarity to.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
Now that we understand the value of storms, here are a few thoughts on how we can best prepare ourselves, and those we lead, to optimize them them:

• Embrace the Infinite Game 
  
  • Storms are opportunities to grow. They don’t feel like it at the time, but we are almost always better after them. The quicker we can embrace the pain, the quicker we can appreciate the opportunity. The finality we feel is fiction.
    

• Hold Fast to Your Values
  
  • Do the work to know them, figure out how to intentionally live them daily, and refuse to waiver from them. Your values are your safe place, your basement during a tornado. Allow your values to guide your decisions and the storm will pass much quicker.
    

• Know Your Who
  
  • Rather than figuring out the people who have your back in the storm, it's much better to just enter the storm with them. It may take a storm or two to figure it out, but at this point in your life you probably know. Take the time to reflect and assess, then double down on those relationships.
    

What a storm reveals is a ‘to be determined’ type thing, but one thing is for sure, good or bad, it’s going to reveal something.

Checkout Surrender the Outcome on Amazon and order The Score That Matters with Ryan Hawk & Brook Cupps. The latest blog from Blue Collar Grit can be found here!