Need help? Push forward not back

Brady Tackled

Q: Everyone knows that we have an impossible deadline to meet. It will take a “Hail Mary pass” to get this project completed in the week remaining. Should I push back?

A: Instead of pushing back, why not push forward? That’s what I saw the New England Patriots do to win their fifth Super Bowl. I learned a lot about time by watching the Patriots, under pressure, with the score only 3 points to the Falcons’ 21 within the first nineteen minutes of play. And it only got worse: Down by 25 points in the first half, the crawl statistics reported that no team had ever come back more than 21 points and no team had ever won the Super Bowl if down by 10 points at any point in the game.

Then there was Bill Belichick, who assured his players that 21 points wasn’t going to be enough to beat them.

“He cast a wizard spell over us that changed everything,… He said that we have to keep doing what we’re doing, play like we know how to play and not think about what happened. They have to score a lot more points to keep us down. We knew we could score enough points to win.”

They knew they could score and the die-hard Patriots fans never stopped believing they would win. But I was watching the clock and could not imagine how a win was possible with the third quarter score 21-3 and only 2:12 minutes remaining:

but the Patriots finally scored their first touchdown pass, a five-yard pass from Tom Brady to James White…

And,

With 3:30 remaining [in the fourth quarter], Brady has the ball and is down by 8 points

With only a few minutes on the clock:

At the end of an incredible 91-yard drive, that included a circus catch by Julian Edelman, James White ran for a 1-yard touchdown, and Tom Brady found Danny Amendola for a successful 2-point conversion, tying the game at 28-28 with under Tom Bradya minute remaining in the game.

Simply put, Belichick and the team didn’t see the game as half over. They viewed it as learning as they go, making adjustments and moving the ball down the field. Belichick and the team didn’t see time running out the way that I did, they saw opportunities to make first one play, and then the next play and the next one. And, as you approach your project you can gain more time by focusing on completing actions that move you forward.

Here are a few tips from the Patriots that may be helpful:

  • Do your job, and do it better.
  • Just go out and just keep playing one play at a time.

Remember that:

Good luck. Push forward not back.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady kisses one of the team's five Vince Lombardi trophies during their victory parade through the streets of Boston after winning Super Bowl LI, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady kisses one of the team’s five Vince Lombardi trophies during their victory parade through the streets of Boston after winning Super Bowl LI, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

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