What We Can Learn from March Madness

By Tony Miltenberger, Director of Leadership and Outreach for Life Success Seminars

Every year, millions of men and women succumb to the draw of “The Tournament” or “The Brackets.” Every year, there are thousands of office pools, trips to Vegas and trash-talking about what seed your team is ranked.

In fact, this time of year has become such an event that the opening of March Madness creates a spike in elective surgeries for men so they can sit at home and watch basketball.

So what’s the draw? What’s all the hype about? I believe it’s about the Cinderella story, the underdog. It’s the idea that one team made up of potential unknowns has the same shot as anyone else. It’s the idea that during the course of one game, anything can happen--and usually will.

The Cinderella story is epic, and everyone loves the idea. Unfortunately, people don’t believe in the Cinderella story. 4.8 million brackets were filled out on ESPN.com and, after last weekend, no one had a perfect bracket.

Cinderella is fun, but she isn’t very practical.

I tend to think about this in my own life. How many times have I not believed in myself and instead took the practical route? What dreams have I given up on because I wasn’t supposed to be there?

What I realized from this past weekend’s games is that every Cinderella story started out the same way, by the team who never thought they were the underdog. Each team believed in what they could accomplish, even if society disagreed.

If we just take the time to believe in ourselves, then why wouldn’t our dreams be possible? This year I’ve decided that I deserve the proverbial glass slipper--practical or not.