Here is a quote from the coach of an NFL football team:
“There’s a lot of things that we didn’t do as well as we needed to do as a football team. You name it, it was a problem. We gave up a couple long turns. Defensively, there were signs we didn’t play well. Offensively, we didn’t play well, but when we did play well it was in the fourth quarter, when we needed to make those plays, and that was important. The coaching plan, certainly, needed a lot of improvement.”
And the same team’s quarterback:
“We have to execute better, run better routes, throw better passes, make better catches, block better.”
And the same team’s safety:
“I felt that this was the first time all year that we got bullied. We can’t allow teams to run the ball and pound it like that. There are times this is a “mano-on-mano” battle and they were winning it. Tonight’s game showed we have a lot of problems and we’re going to look at film and make corrections…”
Sounds pretty dire, huh? That team’s record?
12-0
See, the New England Patriots don’t look at their success and rest on their laurels. They are constantly trying to improve. Analyzing what went wrong, even when they win. They never settle for being good, when the goal is to be great. They want to play the perfect game and are never satisfied with anything less. Now that can be a tough way to live your life, but you can be happy without being satisfied. Moving forward is the key. And you can only move forward by taking an honest look at the missteps you’re taking.
Don’t be afraid to identify at what went wrong. Know your strengths. Keep them honed. But to move forward, you need to know your weaknesses. Find ways to overcome them.
Like the old proverb says:
“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”
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Do you believe another factor in “moving forward” is the effect that emotion has on our decisions? If the team, reffered to here, were to play with the misguided emotion that their opponent played with last night; surely the outcome would be different.
A prime example of this was when “Bart Scott was assessed two 15-yard fouls following the winning touchdown, one of which came when he picked up a penalty flag and heaved it into the stands.” That’s pure rage!
-Zrtist – Emotion can be a good and bad thing. Even when people don’t show emotion they most likely have something brewing under the surface. Don’t let outside appearances fool you. Bill Belicheck may dress like a homeless person and wander the sidelines like a zombie, but that doesn’t mean he has no emotion. He chooses to show it differently or express it at another time. Patriot players showed emotion when Rodney taunted the Ravens coach. They just didn’t do anything that would cause a penalty. So I guess it depends on the strength of the emotion and how you express said emotion…Does that even make sense? I need a nap…