An A Player Stuck in a B Game

Sports were my life growing up and it was where I got a lot of my self worth from. I was highly competitive and still am to the extent that I want to excel and win at everything I do. This doesn't have to be your story to be able to relate to the concept I want to talk to you about. Playing sports, my success was determined by my skill and ability that I developed through practice and hard work. In the real world, my success was determined by another person's opinion of me and the availability of a position, which often times means I have to wait for someone to die, retire, or get fired. I spent several years frustrated and thinking to myself, there has to be more to life than this. I felt like an A player stuck in a B game.

The pinnacle of achievement in sports is to win a National Title, Super Bowl, Championship, Major, or Gold Medal. The greatest athletes in the world strive just to have a shot to play in the "Big Game". That's what I want out of life. I want nothing more than the opportunity to play in the "Big Game", but my vehicle is based in the minors, not the majors. To think I was going to sacrifice the best years of my life and never get the opportunity to play in the majors or get a shot at playing in the "Big Game" of life was nauseating to me. The juice was never going to be worth the squeeze living in a B game.

Truly breakdown where you are at and where you are headed. If you are a winner at heart, you are probably feeling much the same way as me. If you have no desire to live life at the highest level and you are just, "Livin' for the weekend" then keep doing what you are doing and enjoy those weekends. While you are giving your boss 5 days a week and your family and friends 2 days a week, you better make those days count, because the one thing you can never buy is time past.

What's the likely outcome playing in the minors? If you are a millennial and you still think you are retiring at 65 you are naive. Look around you. I have seen people in their late 60's come back to work and I recently ran into a lady in her 70's that was on her 3rd day working the cash register for a fast food establishment. I guarantee they never thought that could happen to them. They had a 401K and Social Security, they were set. Look at where you work. Are there individuals over 65 still working with no intention of retiring? If you are wanting to win at the highest level and you aren't in a vehicle that allows you to win, you have to make a change. That may be the scariest part, but you can't stay in the minors and expect a different result.

The corporate arena is where A players go to drown in a pool of mediocrity. I chose to follow people that were winning at the highest level and convince them to teach me how to play in their arena. They showed me a world where your success is determined by your mindset and your work ethic not someone else's opinion of you or your resume. They showed me a world where winning in life was about more than an amount of money, it was about reaching your full potential. I learned that you will never be able to reach your full potential in life without complete control of your time and you can never control your time without financial independence. They showed me a world where you can be truly free. A free Husband that spends life with his wife and not leftovers. A free Father that has the ability to be the primary influencer in his kid's lives. This is a world where every day you have the opportunity to play in the championship game. Every day you have the ability to play at the highest level and live a life most will never know or comprehend.

Do whatever you have to do, shake as many hands as you have to shake to find someone that is able and willing to give you an opportunity to play in the majors. Life is too short. Find a vehicle that will allow you to play at the highest level. Don't major in the minors!