Let’s just win.

Every Friday, we share strategies to help you level up your sales, marketing, and lead gen.

This week, Katie shares an important lesson from being a ‘newly indoctrinated’ Eagles fan.

Enjoy 👇

I travelled to Arizona last week to spend Thanksgiving with my boyfriend’s family. I met his brother, his sister-in-law, his nephew, and his grandparents all for the first time. 

The whole family had two things in common: they are all kind people… and they’re all diehard Eagles fans. 

When they asked me what my football team was, my boyfriend had to softly elbow me before I said, “I don’t have one,” to change my answer to “Go Birds!”

Everyone had an Eagles jersey on last Friday for the Bears v. Eagles game, even little Michael (who just turned 1). 

I felt a little naked in my incorrect-color-green sweatshirt, but I was assured, “I’d be given gear for next time.”

We all piled around the screen in anticipation and watched the Chicago Bears absolutely cream the Philadelphia Eagles. I mean, it was ugly. 

In the last quarter, when the Bears scored another touchdown, making it 24 to 9, my boyfriend got up and left to take a nap. He missed the Eagles' last touchdown, ending the score at 24 to 15. Still… ugly.

The room was tense. 

Nobody was happy. No one was even making jokes. 

Except for one, from Grandpa, who got up finally and said, “You know, next time we should try to win by scoring more points than the other team!”

I was the only person to laugh. 

But then I realized. Yeah, it really is that simple, sometimes.

I think we get into our heads a lot. We think about which plays might work, which might not, which people to bring in, what could go wrong, etc.

A way to calm all the noise down might just be to say, “Well, I’ll just win by winning.”

It’s such an optimistic approach. When you say it like that, it’s easy.

And why shouldn’t it be?

In a LinkedIn post by Bruce Whitefield he dives into the real benefits of optimism. 

He states, “optimism isn’t about assuming everything will work out. It’s about believing that, despite the obstacles, something can.”

Optimism can be portrayed as naive and simple-minded. If you're optimistic, people might see you as being “unrealistic.”

But how are you ever going to be successful if you're already expecting yourself to fail?

Bruce explains that although nothing can make success easy, optimism can give your goals momentum. It moves. It's what gets things done. 

And it’s not just Bruce and me thinking this. 

An interesting study by the American Psychological Association proved that optimism appears to be beneficial when tackling challenges or approaching situations that could elicit high levels of stress. 

In the study, they found that optimism brought about higher levels of happiness, which resulted in lower levels of stress.

In the same study, they found a direct link between optimism and effort, with optimism being the fuel for resilience. 

Basically:

High optimism = less stress = more effort = best results. 

It’s science. 

So, maybe saying the obvious, “Let’s win next time by scoring more points,” sounds silly.

But it gives hope. It gives possibility. It strengthens efforts.

Although I’m new to the Eagles fan club, I loved being in a room with so much passion.

I look forward to the day that they win (by scoring more points than the other team) and seeing us all win because of it. 

So, get out there and think positively. 

You know you can do it.

–Katie