The UPSIDE of Losing

I love March Madness but one year was a sucker punch to the gut.

UVA won the ACC championship, entered the NCAA March Madness as a #1 seed but was the first school to lose to a #16 seed. Ever. Single elimination. The season was over.

The next season, that historic loss was rehashed by sportscasters during every UVA gme. To get the monkey off their backs, UVA needed to go farther in the NCAA tournament. Could they? Yes, because of lessons learned from that notorious loss—takeaways that are valuable for all of us. I’ll let Coach Tony Bennett’s deliver the UP words.

CHARACTER COUNTS IN BOTH WINS AND LOSSES. Tony Bennett teaches five pillars: humility, passion, unity, servant-hood, and thankfulness. These character qualities go beyond the basketball court and are great pillars for all of us to consider in failure or success.
A LOSS OR A WIN DOES NOT DEFINE YOU. "This is life. It can't define you. You enjoyed the good times and you gotta be able to take the bad times. When you step into the arena...the consequences can be historic losses, tough losses, great wins, and you have to deal with it. And that's the job."
LIFE GOES ON. “You’ll remember this. It will sting. Maybe a 1 seed will get beat again, maybe not. Maybe we’ll be the only No. 1 seed to ever lose. It’s life. It goes on.”
OWN THE LOSS AND GROW. "If our young men can realize [that], there's incredible growth in this, hopefully, it makes us a better team, and we'll be strengthened by the blow that cut us down. We were praised at the highest level, we were criticized, and I think you realize just how fleeting both of them are. So it allows you to get after it, and grow from it. Absolutely, [we're] definitely using it. Owning it."

UVA owned it

Boy am I thankful my personal life isn’t full of single elimination contests!

Instead, I know that life goes on; wins or losses, successes or failures will not define me; and all circumstances--especially failure are opportunities for growth.

And that year? UVA won the National Championship.