I’m crying, I’ve been crying for the past two hours. I’m a total sap, as Zahra always says, “Mom you’re such a Cancer!”You can rest assured that movies make me cry and American Underdog (the movie) made me cry and so much more, Those that know me know that I rarely watch television (perhaps 2 hours max a week but most week I don’t watch tv) and whenever I watch any form of entertainment, I always ask myself, what lessons can I take away from this? I pull out my journal and write down the lessons and American Underdog gave me MANY! so here goes….
1. When you have a dream/goal, you have to remain LASER FOCUSED on that dream/goal! There is no doubt that Kurt had so many difficulties that came his way: yet despite all of the opposing external forces, he always came back to the question: Why am I doing this? He stayed focused on his WHY? His WHY was football – the thing where his passions and gifts/talents collided. And he never wavered from pursuing that goal, no matter how many obstacles were placed in his path.
2. You will HAVE HATERS ALWAYS, let them motivate you. The key to success is to maintain a strong mindset and belief in yourself that allows you to persist upon in spite of the haters! His entire college football career he was sidelined because of a coach that told him he would never amount to anything, his coach taunted him that he would never fulfill his dream of getting to the NFL. His roommate joked around with him, told him come on give it up! He was passed on and passed on and passed on. Yet he continued to press on, because of his internal belief in himself and his strong faith in God. There were years when the only person that believed in Kurt was Kurt and his own internal validation allowed him to press on in moments when many would have given up.
3. You ALWAYS HAVE TO BE READY! Preparation meeting opportunity equates to success! Kurt totally dropped the ball when he had an opportunity with the Green Bay Packers by telling the Coach listen I just came here, it’s my first day, I havent seen you guys practice, I dont know the playbook, I’m not ready. AND CUT, He was cut from the team. You have to take opportunities when they’re handed to you even if you’re not ready! Ideally, you should be ready always for what you envision yourself to be. But even if you’re not, take the shot! Countless research studies have been done that show that women must feel 100% ready before taking a leadership position whereas men frequently take leadership positions they are not qualified for, but later on perform well in the role. When the opportunity presents itself, take it!
4. It ONLY TAKES ONE person to realize God’s purpose for your life! It only takes ONE person to give you an opportunity, just one. MANY persons passed Kurt up as an old, dried up, slow, has been who couldn’t do or be anything. The entire offensive coaching team of the Rams wanted nothing to do with him and thought the Rams would be a laughing stock if they even considered him. But thank God, it only takes one person – when God has equipped you with a purpose, He will always place someone there to ensure that purpose is fulfilled. And that one was Coach Dick Vermeil, every one thought Coach Vermeil was crazy and out of his mind for taking a chance on Kurt but those of us who have a strong faith know full well the power of God, Coach Vermeil was a part of the plan. I’ve seen this happen in my own life, where I’ve had countless rejections and then someone appears with exactly what I’ve wanted and they’ve given me everything I wanted and so much more, and it all makes sense. This is why I have so much faith, I have seen God work in my life in miraculous ways that I know just how powerful He is, and how He can make what seems impossible so very possible.
5. Your ENVIRONMENT is EVERYTHING. Malcolm Gladwell, leading academic researcher, in his book Outliers says the #1 indicator of success for children is their physical and social environments during childhood: were they in nurturing and loving supportive communities? Did they have strong friendships? Malcolm attributes many of our outcomes from childhood to a “right place” and “right time” rationale. You’re around intelligent inquisitive creative children building robots and talking about space stations, it follows you become an insightful innovative and creative college student in a leading college environment. His research is so groundbreaking because he studies very smart children who are placed in average environments and what happens – they become average falling short of their potential. James Clear (he is one of my favorite authors) wrote in his book Atomic Habits that a person’s physical and social environment is the most important influence on a person’s success. Kurt had a strong environment in his mother and his wife. When he was working at the grocery store stocking shelves making $5 an hour still encouraged him every night, “Kurt you are a NFL player, don’t give up on your dream.” Having the right group of people around you plays a critical part in success because their support and their vision of who you are can often play a huge part in who you believe you are and as a result in who you become. James Clear’s research evidences that all of us, children and adults, are the average of the five closest peers to us – do they build you up? Do they challenge us? Do they foster our creativity? Are they our biggest supporters? Do they encourage you? Are they optimistic encouraging and supportive?
6. Kurt was GRITTY! GRIT continues to be the common denominator: I have read countless books that espoused countless research studies on how grit has been evidenced to be one of the top indicators for success. Bestselling author Angela Duckworth wrote in her book that it is Grit not Intellect is more crucial to personal development and achievement. And American Underdog is proof of that: grit is this bounce-backability that matters more to our ability to overcome adversity and move past failures than anything else. Everytime Kurt failed, he bounced back; he got back up, he was accountable for his failures, learned the lessons, and sought to move past them, never wavering from his ultimate goal to be a NFL player.
Kurt Warner’s story – going from a benched college football player to a $5 an hour store clerk to an undrafted NFL free agent – to becoming a two-time Super Bowl MVP is one of the greatest stories on overcoming adversity and developing resilience, and a story that I will never ever forget. I was so happy Zahra got to watch it with me.
