Justin Harris – Take It Personal

Justin Harris is a football player for the University of Cincinnati. On January 2nd, his team lost in the final minutes to the University of Georgia in a heart breaking loss. He decided to come out on the field and watch the whole trophy presentation. This photo I shared was taken by the father of a player on the University of Georgia. He was touched by this young man’s mentality to take it personal. In my opinion, I also see this photo representing his focus on the future and next season. Often in life, things don’t always go your way. How do you reflect and what do you learn from that moment? It is easy to blame others, or to not think about the situation. Sometimes you just have to say, “it’s nobody’s fault, they just beat us.” Adversity stinks, there is no way around it. Go through the valley, it will make the mountain top feel that much better. Here are some questions you could ask your participants, team, or co-workers.

1. What is something you didn’t win and what did you learn? This can be anything from your past, doesn’t have to be losing a college football bowl game!

2. Why is adversity such a hard thing?3. What do you think this picture represents to you?4. What can you do as a leader when adversity strikes or you lose?5. What can you do when things go your way or what have you learned when you hit that

mountain top?

Devotions and Ice Breakers are important to programming. Just take 5-10 minutes to start your meeting or program. We all need to slow down and have time to talk to one another. Social skills are very important, and you have the opportunity to help strengthen this with your participants or team.