Worth the Wait

When the clock struck zero during last night's Super Bowl, one man's 20+ year journey had finally been achieved. Hours of hard work and years of dealing with critics were overcome in front of our eyes.

Andy Reid had been an NFL coach almost as long as I have been alive it seems. He had ups and downs in the different organizations he has coached. However, he had never won a Super Bowl. He had been coaching at an elite level for over 20 years and never once won the big game.

Last night, we all had the absolute privilege of watching one leader's success journey come to fruition as Andy Reid finally hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. He was filled with joy as his players hugged him, kissed him, and dumped Gatorade on him. His family shared in his joy with him. The owners of the Kansas City Chiefs hugged him and shared in the moment with him. Reid was surrounded by those who had been on this journey with him for so many years and continued to believe in him and sacrifice with him.

While watching this moment unfold live, I could not help but think about how many conversations Andy Reid must have had in his head over the years debating if he could really do it, or if he was good enough. We have all had these thoughts before because we tend to be our own harshest critics. The difference between the majority of people and what we witnessed last night is that Andy Reid never let those thoughts overcome him. He simply kept working harder each and every day believing that he could get the job done and achieve his goal of winning a Super Bowl.

Reid could have quit years ago, but he never stopped believing in himself and in those around him that they would achieve success together. How many times have we quit when times were tough? How many times have we stopped because obstacles got in the way?

What we witnessed last night should be an inspiration to all of us who have dreams and goals for our lives. Although our end goal may seem far away now, success happens each and every day we take a step towards our end goal. There will be challenges, there will be obstacles, and there will be lessons. This does not mean that we have strayed from our journey and should give up. If achieving goals were easy, then everyone would do it. When we come across obstacles and challenges, it simply means that we are on the correct path to something worth pursuing, and that when we achieve that goal, it will be all the more worthwhile.

These are the three main lessons I learned last night from watching Andy Reid win his first Super Bowl:

1. Surround yourself with a team of support that will pick you up when you are down and rejoice with you when you win.
2. Only worry about the 1% of things you can control: your actions. External circumstances may change, but your perspective should not.
3. Patience is the key to winning. In the digital age, we expect things to happen instantaneously. However, most things worth winning involve waiting.