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5 Easy Attitude Shifts for Resilience

Last weekend I was at Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer (RHTCC) running an activation for the Sledge Hockey Experience.

Setting up the day before was nasty. It was raining. The wind was blowing. Tents were literally starting to pull out of the ground.

The life of an event planner isn’t easy!

Especially given that nearly the entire event industry was demolished because of the pandemic. Event planners have been forced to develop a tremendous amount of resilience.

While I was at the event, both with the event planners from Mosaic, the RHTCC staff, and the participants, it was evident that there was a common theme that we all had throughout the weekend.

It was that regardless of the circumstances, we would all choose to adopt a positive mindset (what I like to call, The Hero Mindset) to find a way to make the event a success.

Several amazing conversations from the weekend stood out for me and I want to share some with you here.

If you are struggling to weather your own storm of adversity, here are five easy attitude shifts for strengthening your mental resilience.

NOTE: Are you interested in playing sledge hockey? Click here to learn more about the Sledge Hockey Experience!)

“We’ll make it happen!”

I remember when I arrived on Friday to setup in the afternoon.

It was starting to rain. The sky was very grey, and the wind was really picking up.

My on-site contact was Emily from Mosaic. We met me at my truck, and we smiled at each other as we knew what we were in for with the weather.

The next 48 hours was going to require both patience, and mental resilience.

Just as we had finished discussing details of the activation, we turned around to see a tent starting to get ripped out of the ground.

Emily looked at me and said, “Ok Kevin, I gotta go! Looks like we have some more work to do here before all the tents are gone and the VIP’s have nowhere to sit!”

“I hear ya!”, I replied. “I’ll start getting setup and let you know if I need anything.”

Then, as Emily started to walk away, she said to me “But ya know what? Even with the rain and the wind, we’ll make it happen!”.

Why?

Because that’s the mindset we can all choose to adopt. The mindset where we decide that we are going to make things happen.

It’s no easy feat being an event planner in regular times, let alone putting on an event during the pandemic, in the wind and the rain.

My hat goes off to the RHTCC staff, Emily, and the rest of the Mosaic team.

You helped set the stage for one of the first large scale events to return in person in the GTA, and your mindset is what helped make it happen.

(NOTE: Are you interested in playing sledge hockey? Click here to learn more about the Sledge Hockey Experience!)

“Game On!”

The theme of RHTCC is “Game On, Cancer!”. It’s fun to say, and it’s powerful.

When opening ceremonies wrapped up, it was “Game On, Cancer!”.

As each game was about to start, the announcer announced, “Game On, Cancer!”.

As a player would score a goal, you would hear them yell “Game On, Cancer!”.

The mindset that everyone chose to adopt here is “Game On!”.

What does that mean for you?

It means “Game on, my busy schedule.”

It means “Game on, I screwed up yesterday.”

It means “Game on, I embarrassed myself during that last meeting.”

To me, “Game on!” means “I won’t be defeated, and I will continue to fight!”.

If you’re looking for a fast and effective way to shift your attitude, adopt a mantra like “Game on!” and continue to fight.

If you’re looking for a fast and effective way to shift your attitude, adopt a mantra like “Game on!” and continue to fight. Click To Tweet

“I’ll figure it out!”

At the start of the day, there were only a few participants late to the party, but a few of them happened to get lost at our shooting station.

They would stop under our tent to try and locate what pad their team was playing on, however, in a rush, many were struggling to find the solution.

When I was first asked if I knew where their pad was, my response was “No, I’m sorry I don’t know”. Some people would sigh, and then put their head back down in their phone to try as they tried figure it out on their own.

Then I thought to myself “Why don’t I figure it out? I know that there’s likely more people to come by and ask me. I’m sure it would help many more people if I helped solve this problem.”

I knew where to go. I quickly grabbed the site map off the RHTCC website and started giving directions to participants.

When someone started taking off towards their pad, they looked back at me and asked, “Do you know if going left or right is a faster way to get there?”.

I said “No, but if you want, I can help you…”

Before I could finish, they interrupted me.

Can you guess what their response was?

“It’s ok! I’ll figure it out!”.

(NOTE: Are you interested in playing sledge hockey? Click here to learn more about the Sledge Hockey Experience!)

“It’ll be a day to remember!”

Throughout the day, I would go for a walk to meet people and check out the action. There were so many great games going on! Everyone was in great spirits, and I ended up coming across a team who was on the sidelines waiting for their next game to begin.

I said hello and asked them what they thought about the day.

“This is so awesome! We needed this! It feels so good to be back together with your friends and colleagues, and we have always loved supporting RHTCC since one of our colleagues had his wife go through chemo for cancer.”

I head similar stories like this throughout the entire day.

“It may not be ideal that it’s raining outside but look at the mess we’re all in! Everybody has wet shoes. People are laughing at how soaked we all are. When we take a shot on net, we slap shot a puddle… without question, it’ll be a day to remember!”.

And that’s what I thought as well.

One of the best ways to keep a positive frame of mind and maintain a level of resilience to get you through frustrating moments is to just smile and laugh at the situation you are in, and remind yourself that “It’ll be a day to remember.”.

Sometimes when you're frustrated with how things are going, the best thing to do is to laugh and remind yourself that "This will be a day to remember!". Click To Tweet

“We’re not doing this for us”

During my walk, I also had a gentleman stop and introduce himself to me.

He asked me how I was doing, and I asked him the same thing.

“Oh! We’re having a blast out here! But today isn’t about us… it’s about out buddy over there. He was just diagnosed with ALS a few months ago.”

I looked over and saw his friend in a wheelchair being kept warm with several blankets over his legs and his family and friends around him.

“We are here to fight for those who can’t.”

Then moments later I was walking through the main tent where opening ceremonies were and saw a large RHTCC banner. Beside it were mini flags which read “Why we play”.

I took a red pen, and beside many other notes of “Why we play”, I wrote “For all the sledge players who lost their legs to cancer.”.

At RHTCC, it made me think about all the stories I know from within sledge hockey and how the sport has given us so much to look forward to and to live for. Hockey helps bring us community, connection, and also an opportunity to use our platforms for contribution.

The guys I know from Team Canada such as Tyler McGregor, James Dunn, and Adam Dixon, all share their own story about how they have been impacted by cancer to help support and fight for those who can’t or may no longer be with us.

It also made me think about my dear friend who after three years lost his battle to cancer and passed away in 2019, Alex Luey.

Alex impacted so many lives in his 15 years he was here, but as we all played in less than ideal conditions, one thing that stands out from the way was “We’re not just doing this for us. We’re fighting for those who can’t.”

(NOTE: Are you interested in playing sledge hockey? Click here to learn more about the Sledge Hockey Experience!)

In Conclusion

Personally, I believe that RHTCC was a massive success!

In less than ideal conditions, I repeatedly kept thinking to myself that “I have not met ONE PERSON who was not in a good mood today!”.

It was incredible!

And if you ask yourself “How did this happen?”.

To me, what stands out, is the mindset.

The mindset that despite the challenges that were currently in front of us, everyone adopted a mindset to find a way to win despite their challenges.

That my friends, is The Hero Mindset.

When we focus on small things that make a big difference, such as our attitude, our decisions, and our choices in how we choose to view our situations, this is how we begin to become a hero to our self, each other, and to our community.

That, my friends, is how each of us can become a hero in our own movie.

Enjoyed this article? Here are three more to help you develop a resilient mindset:

How to be Patient Managing Change

How To Stay Focused At Work And Be Productive

How To Quickly Overcome Failure And Setbacks

Whenever you are ready here are the 3 best ways I can help you:

  1. Get a FREE copy of my autobiography (click here)
  2. Looking for a speaker for your next event? (Contact Kevin)
  3. Learn more about The Resilience Toolbox Workshop (click here)

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