Have you recently felt, are currently, or was defeated at one point? Could be a defeat in life, at work, or in the gym. Either way... How did you respond to the defeat?

Life is experienced as a constant, never-ending shift between successes and failures (aka Wins and Defeats) And to top it off... sometimes occurring within moments of one another. Going up in weight when maybe you felt like you were working your ass off day in and day out, or those inches didn't drop like you wanted to, or even injury setbacks. I mean to be human is even a defeat! How many wished you were immortal!!! I mean be honest, sometimes you just want to yell out ****

 

We feel defeated in the small things: staying on a diet plan, running a 5k, keeping a New Year’s resolution, or controlling clutter in our homes. We fail in the larger things: overcoming an addiction, finding employment, or holding on to negative things from the past, and just actually feeling happy. And sometimes our failures negatively impact the rest of our lives: keeping a marriage together, persuading a child to make better choices, or overcoming a lifetime of debt, and finally getting under a weight number you haven’t seen yourself at since college or high school. But in each setback…whether small or large…we find opportunity for growth. And as long as a glimmer of hope remains, so do we.

 

Some of the most influential people in my life have cemented their legacy through their failures aka my hero basketball player Kobe Bryant or my mother she single handedly raised my sister and I because the man of the house didn't step up. Or how about the first ever athlete to get drafted in the pro's that came from a small, not recognized school…Because he sure did change the hope of those kids and athlete's who maybe couldn’t afford to attend Duke or Princeton, etc. Hell I was set up for defeat when I went to my small tiny school in Illinois, but look who made it pro... 

My point is all this feeling defeat thoughts and feelings should come as no surprise. After all, some of the most inspirational stories ever written (or lived) center on personal triumph over weakness or loss. As one screen writer once said, “If the hero in your story does not experience tragedy, the audience will never relate to him or her.”

 

There's a difference between going to someone for help and actually willing to follow through, ego pushed aside (aka what your willing to do/change) and putting two heads together to figure it out. Rather than going to someone for help and not willing to be all in from start to finish, yet you fade yourself out because you already feel defeated. When's the last time you put real effort and time into something not just 100% but for a consistent year rather than this (I'll give him/her/them a couple weeks or month of my effort)... Just ask yourself. Or better yet...How would your kids feel if you did that to them? How would your job feel?

 

Defeat is a necessary part of life. We would be wise to allow it to change us and shape us. The question is that I leave you all with is... How then, can each of us redeem Defeat for good?