Growing up in Wisconsin I have been a Packers fan as log as I can remember. I grew up during the glory years of Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr.
I have never been prouder of what this team has accomplished than this year. First, Brett Favre came back to play with a very young, inexperienced team when he could have easily retired. He didn’t come back for another fat paycheck, he came back for the love of the game. I’d say he’s at least 10 years older than the majority of players ad yet each and every game , he plays with childlike joy and pure love of the game. There’s no denying it. It shows on his face the entire time he’s playing.
He assumed a leadership role for the young players on his team and that lead to a team that has become a well-oiled machine. At the beginning of the year I thought the Packers would make the playoffs and many thought I was crazy, but even I didn’t think they would make it to the National Championship game.
And they lost…in overtime, by a field goal.
So they aren’t going to the Super Bowl and it’s disappointing. But this young team became a great team this year with incredible leadership by a football legend. They had a very successful season and there is already talk of how this team will be a force to be reckoned with as they get better and grow together over the next couple years.
It hurts to not reach the pinnacle of whatever success you could potentially have at any given moment, but does that mean you’re not successful? Of course not!
Do you set yourself up to feel like a failure when you don’t make it to your personal version of the Super Bowl? Or do you look at how much you accomplished and congratulate yourself?
Yes, I’m sure the team will be watching those game films to review what they could have done better. Reviewing your performance is how you improve. Just don’t review to beat yourself up for what you didn’t do right.
Achieving a breakthrough to success sometimes looks like a small quiet success instead of a big public one, but all those small successes make all the difference in who you are becoming.
Just look at Brett Favre.