A "try" is a tool used in carpentry to ensure the wood is level. The old saying that someone or something is "tried and true" comes from the process of using that tool to level the wood to create a finished piece. You can't level a piece of wood without a painful shearing process, and you can't have tried and true character without going through the process of overcoming adversity. See, adversity reveals the truth about your character, just as a try reveals the levelness of the wood. Adversity will reveal a lot of different things, but three of the most closely related to adversity are humility, integrity, and toughness.

Pillar: Grit

You can come up with all kinds of reasons to procrastinate and to put today's work off until tomorrow. But today's finish line is tomorrow's starting line. Where you stopped yesterday is where you start today. You can come up with all kinds of reasons for why you can put off today's work until tomorrow, but that negative progress is cumulative, just as positive forward movement is cumulative. If you put off today's work for tomorrow, you will find it still waiting for you tomorrow. Maybe worry is holding you back from doing today's work, such as worry about performing well or worry about missing out on something more fun. Worry won't get you anywhere, though. The only way to make progress, the only way to consistently keep moving forward towards your goals and dreams, is to do today's work today.

Pillar: Work Ethic

We are quick to say that family matters, but sometimes there is a disconnect between our words and our actions. If you really stop and ask yourself if your family matters, what do your actions say in response? Put another way, are you bought in on your family? Again, you may be tempted to just say yes, but what do your actions say? When you pay a price for your family, that is when you buy in. Family isn't just your blood relatives. Family is your team, your friends, and your classmates. Family is your community. Here are a few examples of how your actions might show that your family matters to you.

Pillar: Personal Code

The famous fable of the tortoise and the hare teaches us that consistent work ethic will always beat inconsistent talent. If all you have is great talent with no consistency, then like the hare in the story, you'll end up losing to a tortoise when you should have won no question. Slow and steady progress towards a goal will win over fast but faulty progress. The hare lost to the tortoise because consistent hard work will always beat inconsistent talent. Follow the ABCs of consistent work ethic and you'll see how slow and steady wins the race.

Pillar: Work Ethic

The chicken line is the point at which your fear says you can't go any further. It's the point where you chicken out. Developing the will and courage to pass the chicken line despite your fear will mean the difference between success and failure. That's because everything you want, all of your goals and dreams, are on the other side of your chicken line. You will hit a point where fear will try to tell you that you can't go any further. That's your chicken line. Instead of chickening out when you hit that line, push forward to grow and improve so you can reach your goals and dreams.

Pillar: Grit

Tough people win because they never give up. But tough people also win because they are tough enough to accept correction. Acceptance is not most people's default response to correction, though. In fact, it's pretty common to respond from a place of fear and either ignore or forget the correction. So the three ways to respond to correction or critiques are to ignore it, forget it, or accept it. Let's look at each. Tough people find success because they are tough enough to make the trades necessary to accept correction despite fears of being wrong. Acceptance may not be the default response to correction, but it's the only response that's going to help you find success in sports and the game of life.

Pillar: Grit

Before a new gym can host the sporting events you love, it has to be built. There's a long process to get from empty patch of ground to shiny gym, and it involves a very dirty process of growing. In the same way, there's a long, dirty process between where you are now and where you want to be. This isn't meant to be discouraging. If anything, be encouraged that you’re still in the process of reaching your goals. You're growing, learning, and improving every day. But you have to be willing to do the dirty jobs to ultimately reach the shiny dream. Before a gym can host games, there are a lot of dirty jobs that have to be done to build the place. In the same way, you have to do the dirty jobs to build the skills and character needed to reach your goals and dreams.

Pillar: Work Ethic

When things don't go to plan or when we encounter a crisis, there are two primary ways that people respond: by focusing on what they CAN do or focusing on what they CAN'T do. The most successful people answer the question of Can't or Can? with a definite CAN. When you focus on what you can do instead of what you can't do, you'll find out how much more is within your control than you thought. There's a quote from former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt that will help you move from a Can't to a Can mindset: "Do all that you can with all that you have wherever you are." When things go wrong, you can either focus on what you can't do or what you can do. Focusing on what you CAN'T do will leave you stuck in place, a victim of circumstance. But focusing on what you CAN do will help you move forward to reach your goals and dreams despite circumstances.

Pillar: Growth Mindset