"When the Going Gets Tough" - Part 5

"The 3 R's of Change: Retreat, Regroup, Rethink"

Yesterday we looked at the first "R" of "The 3 R's of Change" when we examined the thoughts behind the word, "RETREAT".

Again, the word "retreat" DOES NOT mean surrender! Do NOT forget that and do NOT confuse that point. It is vitally important to your success as you move on with your decision to "get up and get going" again.

Think of this analogy as we consider "The 3 R's of Change"...

This example is true whether you are talking about college football or the pros (it's also true in basketball as well as other sports) - there is a halftime for a reason.

Halftime gives each team a chance to RETREAT, REGROUP and RETHINK!

When that horn or whistle blows signifying that the first half is over and done with, each team retreats to the locker room. Have they given up? Have they forfeited the game by leaving the court? NO!

They have simply "retreated" so that they can "regroup" and "rethink" before beginning play in the second half of the game.

Now think about this - even if everything has been going in their favor the whole first half of the game the players still need to regroup! Perhaps someone needs to have an ankle taped or they all need to rehydrate and catch their breath before going back at it again.

And, even if everything has been going in their favor the coaches STILL need to "rethink" what has gone on and decide if they want to keep doing the exact same thing (that has been working) OR change it up a little bit to throw the opposing team off of their guard a little bit more.

Now, let's go to the other locker room. Let's go to the locker room where NOTHING seems to have been going in their favor for the first half of the game. They were HAPPY to have the chance to retreat to the locker room before things go any worse! They were HAPPY to have the chance to "regroup" and "rethink" what has been going wrong with their game plan.

They may need to completely scrap their original game plan and go with something different. Why? Because what they have been doing has not been working!

If you know anything about sports then you know what would happen if that team were to go back on the field without having changed their approach. You would hear a chorus of "boos" coming from their fans if they came out and did the exact same thing that WASN'T WORKING in the first half of the game!

And, likely, that coach would end up losing his job. Why? Because it is ridiculous to think that you can keep doing the same "proven-to-fail" methods over and over again and expect anything BUT failure as a result.

So, this may seem like an oversimplified analogy, but it is one that fits what we are talking about in a way that should help us all understand that this is something WE MUST DO if we plan to have different and better results when we face tough times.

Oh, and by the way, I discovered a 4th and very important "R" to go along with the first three - you don't want to miss it!

Until then...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike