What College Basketball and Your Career Have In Common

It’s March and in my household—with a husband from the University of Virginia and a 14-year old son who is a crazy sports fan— that means one thing: March Madness and College Basketball .

I’m a little slow when it comes to sports so my husband helped me get up to speed by re-counting this season’s most critical games. One in particular stood out: UVA vs. Wake Forest, when UVA’s pulled off an amazing comeback, 72-71.

I’ve seen my share of last minute wins before, especially in basketball when a game can be won in the last few seconds. But watching this re-play, three things made it exceptional:

First, UVA was pretty much playing terribly and trailing the entire game up until the very end. With 1:20 left, they were still down 10 points. Yet they managed to stay determined and pull themselves together in spite of their performance earlier in the game.

Second, even when they took their first lead of the game, it wasn’t as if the other team let up significantly. Yes, Wake Forest did miss a couple critical free throws in the end, but they were still playing really, really well that last minute of the game, stealing back the lead and forcing UVA to come up with different strategies in order to win.

Third, and this was the most surprising for me, it was incredibly S-L-O-W and, at times, not all that exciting. In my basketball naïveté, I had expected nail-biting, sitting-at-the edge of my seat plays. Instead, the last minute seemed more like thirty, filled with time-outs, and a ton of stops and starts on the clock as players intentionally fouled each other to get to the free throw line.

But come to think of it, many of our own personal victories are won in much the same.

• When you’re trying to achieve something, you won’t always get the external feedback saying you’re on the right track and a win is around the corner. Often you’ll have to persevere without the validation, relying on trust and a belief in yourself that you can create your desired outcome.

• Your competition, naysayers and inner critics will not always quietly back down. In fact, it’s often when you start to show some signs of life that they start coming out in full force. That’s the moment when you need to dig deeper and remain focused.

• And most surprising of all, comebacks are not always thrilling. Sometimes they take much longer than you think they will. Sometimes, in between those exciting three-pointers and slam dunks, there are lots of time-outs and starts and stops, when you’ll have to re-strategize and come up with play after play, one at a time, until you eventually tip the game in your favor.

But then, there you are, at last, having won the game.

Whether you’re launching a new venture, looking for a job or gearing up for a promotion or career, remember that you can have a similar ending. Your own personal 72-71 victory. A comeback won through a steadfast belief in yourself, perseverance in spite of fierce competition or criticism, and consistent, strategic effort.

What’s your favorite comeback story? Share in the comments below: