The Winning Question Champion Super Bowl Quarterback Asks

I don’t know about you, but I loved watching the Super Bowl, and it’s not for the reasons you might think. My favorite part isn’t the football game. (I’m afraid every hit will lead to a concussion.) It’s not the commercials though I loved the Clydesdale and puppy in Budweiser’s ‘bust buddies’ commercial. It wasn’t even Bruno Mars’ half-time performance which held me captive.

My favorite part of the Super Bowl without a doubt is listening to the stories of the players. It’s hearing about their adversities and challenges and how they overcame them to be where they are today. These stories inspire me.

Sunday night 25-year-old quarterback, Russell Wilson, gave me my fill of inspiration. His post-game interview exposed the mindset of a champion.

Here are the three life game-changers Russell Wilson described in his five minute post-game interview:

1. “Why not you?” Wilson said when he was younger his father always asked him, “why not you?” Why not you as a national football player? Why not you as a world champion? Russell became trained to ask the same of himself. Instead of being mesmerized by others’ success, he chose himself. He believed in himself. Champions do this. They don’t wait for others to pick them. They choose themselves.

Your Champion Action Step:

 Identify your Big Energizing Fun Goal (BEFG) for 2014 and ask yourself the question, “why not me?” List ten reasons why you can versus why you can’t. Then choose you.

2. Be there in advance. Last year when Wilson and his team didn’t make it to the Super Bowl, Wilson was disappointed. But he decided to go to the Super Bowl to watch it anyway. He arrived early and went down to the field as he would if he was playing that day. He watched what a team does in the Super Bowl. He became familiar and comfortable with it. Wilson used a common tool successful people use: he visualized being in there in advance. A year later Wilson simply recreated what his mind already expected.

Your Champion Action Step:

Choose one experience or achievement you wish to create in 2014, take five minutes to imagine it in its’ entirety with delicious detail — the smell, the colors, the feelings. Notice who is with you. What you imagine in your mind you believe, and what you believe, your mind will seek ways to do.

3. Every day is a championship day. Wilson explained that Seattle coach, Pete Carroll, impressed upon his team that every day was a championship day. It didn’t matter if it was practice, a training session, a regular season game or a playoff game. The team was expected to show up at that high level and give their best EVERY day. There was no ‘special’ Super Bowl locker room speech, because this was just another championship day and the team was practiced at going full-out again. Being engaged in the moment is game-changing. Endless growth and opportunities will follow.

Your Champion Action Step:

Make it a “yes” day. Give yourself fully to whatever you are doing in this minute. Whether it’s brushing your teeth, talking to your child or meeting for a planning session at work–be there and give your best.

Finally, champions implement what they learn. Take just one of these ideas and implement it today!

~Rita