Mindset: How Can I Serve Today?

For the past two weeks I have been trying out for the UFL and the St. Louis Battlehawks. When I first arrived at training camp, I was a little taken a back as of how much of a step down it was from the NFL. The lesson I learned is to never expect anything to be a certain way and adapt to what is needed. In the beginning of training camp, our coach warned us of taking too long to warm up and that each one of us needed to act with a sense of urgency if we wanted to be on the team. Sometimes in life we don’t get that time to settle in. We live in a result based world. The world is only getting more competitive. If you sit back for a second thinking that you have time to soak it all up before taking action then you may be losing some vital opportunities that determine if you are successful or not. This reminded me of a story when I was a rookie in the NFL. During the 3rd game of the season, our team had a punt gunner get hurt during the middle of the game. I wasn’t really being used much but coach was looking for someone to jump in the game and I made myself available. I had never played gunner before or even made a tackle in my life. Sometimes you just have to go for it and trust that God will work it out for you. Low and behold, I finished the game playing pretty well and was awarded the starting job for the following week. In that game vs the Seattle Seahawks, I made two big tackles. Just from jumping at the opportunity and acting with urgency. 4 years later and I was getting opportunities to still play special teams. I can say with certainty that it was because I jumped at that opportunity my rookie year. At that time in my rookie year, the team hadn’t found a role for me and sometimes it is up to you to find the role that best suits you to make the most impact on whatever team you are on. Our head coach of the Battlehawks talked about this, finding a role on the team. There is a role for everyone if you fight hard enough to create one for yourself. With only 3 weeks, you must act with urgency in doing so. All the players have talent that are trying out and to be honest everyone can find a role if they want it bad enough. Now the UFL can be a little humbling for some players that are used to playing in the NFL. The facilities aren’t as nice, the food isn’t as good, we are working not a lot of money and blah blah blah. To be honest all of that shouldn’t and doesn’t really matter. Instead of looking for what your situation can give you. We all can find ways to better serve where we are. The last couple days I’ve tried to switch my mindset and look for ways that I can serve better. How can I be an asset to the team rather than how can everyone be an asset to me? This for everything. The family you are apart of, any work situation, the world we live in and the community you live in. It all has to do with how can you serve best where you are? I believe that if we come into it with that mindset then the world will start to bend towards your favor. Find ways to serve today. Find ways to give back. Keep Going!

Questions:

1. How can you serve this week?
2. How urgently are you acting? What is one area of your life that you can begin to act more urgently?
3. What skills do you have? How can you use those skills to help others?

Photo: Final cuts are coming up. Some things are out of our control but how we show up each day isn’t. Keep Going!