The Green Bay Packers: A Season of Ups and Downs

“You never go into a season and think you are not going to face adversity.   Everybody stepped up and played the way they were supposed to play, and that’s what you have to have. The comfort level hasn’t been big since March, and it’s not going to change. We have four more quarters to go.”

--Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver, discussing an up-and-down season in which the Packers had to win their final regular season game to qualify for a sixth-seed in the NFC.  

After a season of setbacks and failures, the Packers have now made an improbable run to the Super Bowl and are a slight favorite to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.  They have beaten the Philadelphia Eagles and Michael Vick; the Atlanta Falcons, the #1 seed in the NFC;  and the Chicago Bears on the Bears' frozen home field.  The remain standing while many other NFL favorites were sent home. 


Their season has been one  in which mental toughness, perseverance, and emotional resilience have been needed at times when their playoff survival was on the line.  They possessed the poise and tenacity that championship teams need to move forward.  


Perhaps their season has resembled your business or personal year. How well did you anticipate adversity? What kind of resilience did you need? How well  did you bounce back?       


What about this year?  Do you or your team have the ability to deal with adversity and failure?  Do you display extreme strength and emotional resilience to tolerate pressure and bounce back from setbacks?  Are you able to persist through difficulties?  Can you accept criticism and constructive feedback?   Do you have the determination to persevere?  


Are you willing to pay the price to achieve success?  Do you display the toughness to endure the pain, suffering and hard work that brings results? Do you have the mental toughness to withstand the most difficult of circumstances?  Do you have a way to learn from your mistakes?  Do you have the expectation that things should be smooth and free from difficulty?    Are you prone to whining and complaining about how hard things are?  


Perhaps you need to readjust your expectations and build up your tolerance for adversity, like the Green Bay Packers.  


Excerpts from the New York Times (January 25, 2011). 


For more on mental conditioning, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.