Movers & Shakers Blog

 

This blog post was created by John P. Slosek Jr., “The Insurance Coach.®”  May 13, 2026
The Insurance Coach Radio Show can be heard every Saturday morning  www.classichits977.com ,or at 97.7 FM on the radio dial, or on 1250 AM.

How Football Change My Life.
It is hard to believe that it has been 14 years since I posted on this Blog. There is a story behind it and I will share that story at another time. I am going to take you back 60 years ago to an 8-year-old pudgy boy who couldn’t run fast but could catch a football very well. That boy is me. I found out they were having try-outs for little league football (Pop Warner). I signed up to join the team, and it was an uphill battle from that point forward. The head coach did not like me from the very start. He threw many comments at me about my weight, my speed and overall talent. Thank goodness for his two assistant coaches that put belief in me practice after practice. They helped me to become mentally strong and motivated me to lose weight, workout and stay strong. I found that football is kind of like life, sometimes the setbacks will occur, but you have to overcome them . I ended up playing for 11 years up to College. I hope the following lessons I took away from my years in football might help someone who is facing life battles right now.

Lesson 1: Always Be Ready — Anticipate, Don’t React.
Football taught me that preparation matters. The players who succeed are often the ones who prepare before the play even begins. They study, anticipate, recognize formations, and think ahead. Life works the same way. Too many people spend their lives reacting to problems instead of preparing for opportunities and challenges before they arrive. Football taught me to stay alert, stay prepared, and think ahead.

Lesson 2: You Always Have What It Takes — But It Will Always Take Everything You’ve Got.
One of the toughest truths football teaches is this:
You are capable of more than you think… but success still requires everything you have. There are moments when your body is exhausted, your mind is tired, and quitting seems easier. But football teaches you how to dig deeper.
Life will test all of us eventually. Football taught me that strength often shows up when you think you have nothing left.

Lesson 3: Your Character Is More Important Than How Good You Are.
Talent may get attention. Character earns trust. Football taught me that people remember how you treat others far longer than they remember statistics or accomplishments. Integrity, honesty, effort, loyalty, and accountability matter both on and off the field.

Lesson 4: You Play How You Practice.
This lesson may be one of the most important of all. Success on game day starts long before the game begins. Football taught me that preparation creates confidence. Lazy preparation usually creates poor results. Discipline behind the scenes often determines performance in front of the crowd. Life works the same way.

Lesson 5: Believe In Yourself.
Football teaches confidence under pressure. You must have the inner belief in yourself that you can accomplish or achieve anything you set out for. For me, thank goodness, I had those two assistant coaches that believed in me. There are moments when nobody else may believe in you. In those moments, your own belief matters most. Confidence is not arrogance. It is trusting your preparation, your effort, and your ability to keep going when things get difficult.

As the years pass, I’ve come to realize football was never simply a sport to me. It was a classroom. A training ground. A teacher of life lessons. The game taught me discipline, humility, perseverance, communication, sacrifice, teamwork, and belief. And while not everyone will play football, everyone will face challenges, setbacks, victories, disappointments, and opportunities in life. My hope is that maybe one or two of these lessons can help point someone in a better direction, encourage someone through a difficult season, or inspire someone to keep pushing forward when life gets hard. Because sometimes the greatest lessons we ever learn are not about the game itself…They’re about how we choose to live after the game is over.