DON’T IGNORE YOUR SUPERPOWERS

You’ve been training for this your whole life.

We live in bizarre times. Our present scenario brings different challenges for each of us.

For the sports tourism professional, this period of shutdown, quarantine, and event cancellations presents immense obstacles. We’re living separated from the organizations, offices, co-workers, and event projects that have always motivated us.

These times call for drastic measures. They call for our superpowers.

This piece is not focused on making significant changes. It’s focused on realizing the life skills you already possess. Your co-workers, friends, and family have helped you develop superpowers that continue to serve you throughout life. What we refer to as “going to work” or “brainstorming” or “prepping for a conference” are all significant actions. They are the training ground where you build powers unreachable to many of your colleagues.

Let’s take a look at your unique superpowers.

Perspective

You’ve learned from the sports tourism industry that progress is not guaranteed. By now, you’ve also realized that our goals are not always met precisely the way we imagine. However, you persist. We’ve all experienced difficult times in the past and, undoubtedly, we’ll all experience them again in the future. So, we look to perspective. We consider the big picture.

Organization

In life, you have many balls in the air. You know the challenges of working on several projects each day, living within your annual and event budgets, and creating and maintaining relationships. Throughout your career in sports tourism, you’ve been a committed professional. Early mornings and late evenings, challenging daily and weekly schedules, all while delivering projects on time. Your experience in unique work hours is vast.

Now a new challenge. Stay-at-home orders. Excel at work from home. Live the life of a dedicated professional, possibly without full access to office resources and without most of your typical routines.

Has this been different? Oh yeah. Does it involve adversity? Frequently. Still, you are flexible. Remember, you’ve created company standards that work, and they will support you in this time of struggle.

Focus on what’s Controllable

We’ve learned much from our experiences. Our families and mentors can help remind us to stay focused on the activities we can control. Let go of the rest. The later is typically the toughest though often, the most effective.

By letting go of what we cannot control, we stop concentrating on the negative and look towards the positive. We take what’s unmanageable, as it comes, but we don’t let

“Grit can be handy, and a massive benefit during trying times.”

it unsettle us. Focusing on what’s controllable is where we should concentrate our time, energy, and resources. It means not wasting time, wishing things were different. It means selecting achievable goals.

Adapt to the Unexpected

Now and again, we all experience scenarios that throw us a curveball on a substantial project. A notice that your event t-shirt order is delayed or a contact isn’t responding in a timely manner, slowing down your progress, there’s an endless supply of examples. These can send us into frustration and affect our mood. We tend to blame ourselves for allowing this.

However, you know what? We made it through the dilemma. We altered our course and made it happen. We survived and often flourished. Occasionally, having to go through and overcome those obstacles ended up being one of your best efforts and significant successes.

These days obstacles are popping up one after another, and they will continue to arise. As these obstacles present themselves, you will stay diligent and adapt to the situation, just as you’re used to doing.

True Grit

More than just staying the course, grit tenacity is the desire to push through discomfort. To endure in the name of our passion.

While our industry and, yes, travel are fun, much of our work’s thrill is classified as Type-II Fun. The at times brutally hard, but astonishingly pleasing kind that accompanies perseverance. It’s a readiness not just to feel uncomfortable, but at times to force it on yourself. Grit can be handy. And a massive benefit during trying times.

Competitiveness

We compete in our industry. Whether it’s competition in the form of a bid package, competition for sponsorship dollars, or competition set in the way of goal setting. Transmit your competitiveness during your time in quarantine. What actions would you take if your goal was to exit the pandemic ahead of where you went in? And what about tomorrow? What would every day look like if you continue working toward your goals?

The pandemic will end. We’ll come out of our neighborhoods and return to work, restaurants, and socializing. We’ll return to some variation of how things were. And some of us will be thriving. Set your mind on being one of those people.

Teamwork

Make the most of this time we have at home and spend more time with family. Appreciate the lost art of corresponding with loved ones in old fashioned ways like mailing a letter or even sending someone flowers. There

will be stressful days but refrain from feeling rushed. Support and cheer on the people around you. Stay connected with co-workers and strengthen those unique bonds. You may just come out of this whole thing a stronger unit.

Hopefully, it’s clear now that superpowers are attributes you spent years cultivating, resulting from adversity and relentless work. Superpowers are built through good times and bad. Appreciate that you’re able to survive what you must. Remember, you’ve done the work to develop your superpowers, thus making you prepared. Most important, remember this: you don’t need to discover or devise a new talent to carry on. You just need to remember you already possess the talent to blossom.

Don’t waste your superpowers.