Fishers High School

A PAINFUL GIFT Those we consider champions in any area of life achieve something meaningful and significant, typically not because they were lucky enough to avoid adversity, but because they were tough enough to overcome it. Looking back, winning teams or individuals often recognize that their most challenging moments played a necessary part in their eventual achievement, and that adversity actually helped refine them into the people success required them to be. It's the great paradox of any winning pursuit, including yours here today. Adversity can be a painful gift. If you need evidence to support that claim, look no further than the two teams preparing for college football’s National Championship. Both Notre Dame and Ohio State have marched their way through the playoff bracket and head into the title game playing their best football of the season, but it wasn’t long ago that each of these teams were forced to decide how they’d handle some adversity of their own. Notre Dame opened the 2024 season as the #5 ranked team in the country and seemed ready to return its storied program to national prominence. They opened the season with an impressive win at #20 Texas A&M, then returned to South Bend for their home opener against Northern Illinois, a game many considered to be the easiest on their season schedule. A 28-point favorite, Notre Dame came out sloppy and flat. They were out-competed and out-executed by a scrappy Northern Illinois team, who pulled off the biggest upset of the college football season, defeating the Fighting Irish 16-14 on a field goal in the final minute. It was a humiliating loss that dropped Notre Dame in the rankings, and - it appeared at the time - from the national title conversation. “It’s the entire program that underachieved today,” coach Marcus Freeman declared afterwards. Ohio State had its own challenges to deal with. They opened the 2024 season as the #6 ranked team in the country and spent almost all season as a title contender. After a disappointing one point loss to #1 Oregon in mid-October, the Buckeyes reeled off five straight wins, including two against top ten opponents, before hosting arch rival Michigan in the regular season finale. Ohio State entered as a 20-point favorite over the unranked Wolverines, but you probably know what happened next. Michigan played great, Ohio State struggled, and the favored Buckeyes imploded in the biggest game of the season, 13-10. Just like Notre Dame’s embarrassing performance against Northern Illinois, it was a devastating loss for a proud program. And yet, here those two teams stand only a short time later, preparing to face off for the ultimate prize in college football. That’s primarily because the individuals on those two teams - from the head coach at the top to everyone beneath them - had the toughness it took to use their adversity the right way. Despite their disappointment, frustration, or embarrassment, they took ownership of both their part in the performance and their response moving forward. They didn’t run from the responsibility. Instead, they examined what went wrong, identified where they were exposed, and used that information to learn and improve. They maintained a strong sense of belief in themselves and in each other, and when things got difficult, they chose to come together instead of falling apart. They responded, in their most challenging moment, like champions. “No great accomplishments are ever achieved without going through adversity,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said last week about his team's path to the title game. “That’s just the truth.” Those words ring true for his team, and just as true for each of us who are here today with a desire to win in some important area of our own lives. If what we're doing is meaningful and significant, then we should accept that adversity will be part of our experience, and we’ll have to decide what part it plays in our winning pursuit. Making the difficult choice to do what champions do in that moment won’t be easy, and, as a side note, it won’t guarantee you the outcome you’re after. One of those deserving finalists - either Notre Dame or Ohio State - is going to lose the National Championship, after all. But if you really want to win, it becomes evident that when adversity arrives, your options are limited. You've got to be tough enough to take ownership, both of your part in a poor performance and in your response moving forward. Don’t run from the responsibility. Instead, examine what went wrong, identify where you were exposed, and use that information to learn and improve. Keep believing in yourself and in those around you, and when things get difficult, come together instead of falling apart. In your most challenging moments, choose to respond like a champion. If you do, you might just find that your adversity helped refine you into the person winning required you to be, and that you’re thankful for the painful gift you've been given. SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHAMPIONS 101 NEWSLETTER HERE Copyright Champions 101. All rights reserved.