Rick Torreson uses sports stories and Theodore Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" to push you from the sidelines into active leadership. He names four reasons people sit out: fear, what-ifs, been-there-done-that thinking, and fixating on obstacles. His four keys to get in the game: leave your comfort zone, take courage, ask why not, and fail without quitting.
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to timeout for Leadership. I'm glad you're with us today. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever felt like just another face in the crowd? You know, I love baseball. I actually played baseball. It was my best sport growing up. When we moved from the city to a small town in Illinois, my high school didn't have a baseball team, so I had to pick another sport. I had to start all over again. So I chose basketball. Now, I loved it as well, but I was better at baseball. I. I ended up being a pretty good high school basketball player. I was the captain of the team. I made all conference. I led my team in most statistics and won most of the awards. And I wanted to play in college. I thought I was better than I was, but I didn't get any scholarships. I ended up going to a smaller school, and I wanted to keep playing basketball, so I decided to try to walk on. I made the team. You know, it was different from high school. I moved from starting and being one of the best to sitting on the bench to not playing hardly at all. You know, I won awards in college, but it was for team spirit, not for my play on the floor. Now, once college was over, I changed positions again. I now became a spectator. I really hated that. I went from being in the game to the bench to ultimately only a spectator of the sport. I was really not very good at being a spectator. Now, you may never have played sports, but for many of us, our lives and we find ourselves in similar situations. We're either in the bleachers, on the bench, or we're in the game. I believe we were all created to be in the game, to make a difference. Your life is meant to impact other people's lives. It's meant to make a difference. It's meant to influence the people in the world around you. We're not created to be spectators of our own story, yet that's what many of us find ourselves doing and how we're living our lives. Why is that? You know, for many who are in the bleachers or on the bench, we're there because we don't believe we belong. We don't believe we're capable of playing the game. But why do so many remain in the bleachers or on the bench? So here's four thoughts to consider. First of all, the fear of failure or the fear of success. You know, we can be afraid to succeed as well, because if we don't succeed, they might find out that we're really not capable. The Second one is we play the what if game. What if this happens? What if that happens? What if I can't? The third one is we adopt a been there, done that mentality. I've done that before, I've tried that. It never works. And the last one is we only see the obstacles, not the opportunities. And the truth is every obstacle is actually an opportunity for us to learn and grow. So what's the difference between those in the bleachers, those on the bench, and those in the game? It's a choice. We choose daily the position or vantage point which we are going to look through our life, the lens of our life through. We choose to believe that we are created for something more, something greater, something beyond what we hope, think or imagine. There's a great story by Theodore Roosevelt. You might have heard it before. It really does a better job explaining this idea of moving from the bleachers, past the bench and into the game. It's called the man in the Arena. You might have heard it before or read it before. If not, I encourage you to go do so because it really is motivational. It really calls us forward and. And into the fight. The man in the arena is really all about getting in the game. It's about the risk, it's about taking the challenge. It's about overcoming fear and obstacles and risking the chance of losing. Losing isn't the worst thing. Failing isn't the worst thing. We're not failures when we fail. We're only failures when we quit. The man in the arena is a great story to encourage you and, and to move you forward in getting into the game. So let me share some keys of what it looks like to get into the arena. First thing is put the popcorn down. Someone once said everything you ever wanted is one step outside of your comfort zone. Number two, take courage. Courage isn't the absence of fear. Courage is acting in and through the fear. Number three, stop asking why. Start asking why not? What's the worst thing that can happen? And the last one is acknowledge failure. Failing doesn't make you a failure. Quitting does. Here's what I know you were created for more. More destiny, more impact, more hope. I don't know what your more is, but I do know that your current reality, it's not the end of your story. No matter how successful you are, how challenged you are right now, there's more for you that you were created for. The question is, what is your more? I don't know what your more is, but I'd love to to go on a journey with you to help you walk from the bleachers, past the bench and into the game. I know you were created for more, and I would love to help you discover what that more is. Hey, thanks for being a part of this transformational leadership community. I appreciate you pressing in to your own personal growth and investing in yourself. If we can help you in any way, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. So until next time, my name is Rick Torreson, and I'm believing your best is yet to come.
