CEO STRENGTH COACH: Chapter 3 by Coach Rabideau
Lou Holtz was once quoted as saying “Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.” Life is full of obstacles, constantly challenging us to respond by making the right and best decisions. How we respond to these situations, and the decisions we make, may be rather small and simple, only affecting ourselves; however others may be life-changing and affect those around us as well. With every decision, regardless of how big or small, there is some element of risk involved with every. As the cliché statement goes, with big risk comes big reward. Those who achieve the greatest success are not afraid of making hard decisions, taking the bigger risks, and sacrificing in the pursuit of their goals.
Coach Ron McKeefery, in his book CEO Strength Coach, discusses some of the risks he had to take on his road to success. Having a wife and kids, the decisions he made and the risks he took affected the lives of his entire family, not just him. In his chapter “Hello, Tennessee,” Coach McKeefery talks about the decision he made to leave a secure job with the U.S. military for the Head Strength Coach position at the University of Tennessee requiring him to relocate to Knoxville. Coach McKeefery was let go from the University of Tennessee but he accepted a job with the Cincinnati Bengals, which forced him to be away from his family.
I can relate to Coach McKeefery’s “Hello, Tennessee,” in a few different ways. After high school I decided to attend Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina to play Division II lacrosse. Unfortunately, my lacrosse career was cut short due to multiple concussions. Without lacrosse I knew it was time for a change. With only a year and a half left of my degree I decided that I would take a risk and leave the familiarity, my friends, where my credits all counted, and transfer to East Carolina University. In addition, I changed my major from Sports Management to Health Fitness Specialist, which would require additional courses and time.
Why did I take this risk? Much like McKeefery leaving his secure job with the military, I believe that changing my major and attending ECU would afford me better opportunities in the pursuit of my goals that would otherwise not be available by staying at Belmont Abbey College.
Before transferring to ECU, however, I had to take courses at Wake Technical Community College for a semester to fulfill ECU’s entrance requirements. Halfway through that semester I finished my application to East Carolina and waited for a response. The day before classes started for the spring semester I had still not received a response despite having called admissions numerous times. It was starting to look like I would be at Wake Tech for another semester. Finally, I decided to drive out to Greenville, North Carolina and speak to administration face to face. It was that day, the day classes started, that ECU finally informed me that I was accepted and enrolled me in classes. Because classes had already started, I was expected to attend the very next day. Meanwhile, all of my belongings were still ninety minutes away back in Cary, North Carolina. I immediately drove to Cary, packed my car as much as I could and went back to Greenville to take the next step toward my goals.
The path I took to get where I am now was most certainly not a direct one. Obstacles that I could not have predicted or imagined forced me to make some very difficult decisions and take large, but calculated, risks. The message that I really took away from this chapter of CEO Strength Coach is that in life, and especially in this industry, your personal and professional situation is going to change. It’s inevitable. As Lou Holtz had put it, that is only ten percent of your life. That ten percent does not dictate how successful you are in achieving your goals. It is your reaction to those obstacles; your ability to make the hard decisions, take the big risks, and adapt to changes determines your success.
Brendan Rabidiau, BS (ECU, 16′) NASM-CPT
“The views, opinions, and judgments expressed in this message are solely those of the authors and peer reviewers. This content has been reviewed by a team of contributors but not approved by any other outside entity including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh.”
