When You are Weak, Others will give you Power.
Over the past month, I have been watching the Euro and COPA soccer tournaments. It has been captivating. I love to watch world-class athletes on the biggest stages to see how they handle the pressure. They all have the athletic ability, but the difference in being world-class and outstanding is mindset.
When I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, soccer was a sport played by people outside the United States. We didn’t play soccer in gym class until high school, and then it was football without pads. I knew nothing about the sport, rules, anything.
In 2000, I was in London working on the security detail for Tony Robbins, and we stayed at the Four Seasons. That Saturday morning, I was coming down the elevator to get the van to take Tony to the venue. The head coach of Arsenal, Arsène Wenger, and a few of his players were in the elevator with me.
Normally, I don’t speak with other people in the elevator, especially if they are celebrities. I escorted Tony and other celebrities and had a protocol. But on this occasion, I shared with them that I was new to watching soccer and the Premier League, and I was enjoying learning the rules and the game.
They acknowledged me and thanked me and went down to get breakfast. I went to the concierge to get the van ready and when I looked out the door, it was like a rock show. People everywhere ( just like it was at the triage center in Weehawken, NJ, on 1/15/09). That’s when I realized how big soccer was in Britain. They looked at these players like rock stars.
When I returned through the restaurant to the elevator, one of the players stopped me and gave me an Arsenal hat. That was the moment I became hooked on learning the intricacies about soccer and became an Arsenal fan. Moments Matter.
As I watched these two tournaments over the past month, I heard something from Ian Darke that made me think. He said:
” It looks like one of the England player’s jerseys weighs too much today.”
At first, I had to think about what that meant, but I deduced that he was trying to convey the message that pressure was building on this player and he was struggling, and his teammates needed to pick it up for him.
There is power in weakness. When you are weak, you turn to others for power.
I started to think about times in my life when either I was struggling, or a team member was and had to pick it up for them or me.
And then I thought about that day on and in the Hudson River.
During the Miracle on the Hudson, some on the plane that day felt their “jersey weighed too much,” and others had to step up and make it happen for them. That day, there was power in weakness, which turned a potential tragedy into triumph.
When I went back into the Hudson River to swim with the Navy SEALS for the first time, I was one of those who, that day, felt my “jersey weighed too much,” and others had to support and raise me up.
Think about your life. Were there times when your “jersey weighed too much,” and someone was your power during your weakness and you grew from it?
The next time you feel that weight and don’t see a pathway out, know there is power in that weakness.
There is a pathway to build the resiliency to overcome weakness.
- Get resourceful– As I learned from my time with Tony, “It’s not about the resources you don’t have; it’s how resourceful you are with what you do have.” That day on the Hudson River in 2009, there weren’t too many resources available in a debilitated plane. The miracle came down to resourcefulness and decision-making.
- Don’t be judgmental. You never know where your power will come from when you are weak. The biggest lesson I learned from the Miracle on the Hudson was to be less judgmental. That one habit change helped me survive that day and set me on a journey to mentor, coach, and teach the next generation, helping them become the leaders they were born to be.
- Have massive gratitude– I have written and spoken about this many times. When you have gratitude, you cannot be in fear. There is power in gratitude. You learn the more thanks you give, the more grace you get and grace is sufficient to overcome your weakness.
That moment in the Four Seasons restaurant in London was a moment that mattered. If I hadn’t spoken to the Arsenal team, they would not have given me a hat and turned me into a fan of theirs, learned about the “beautiful game,” watched the tournaments, and learned this distinction,
When your jersey weighs too much, there are others who will give you the power.
Remember, the next time you feel your jersey weighing you down, embrace that uncertainty, know there is opportunity ahead which will transform your life.
- Be resourceful
- Eliminate being judgmental
- Have massive gratitude
And you are on the path to creating your own flight plan for your future.