Faith and Facts…

A 23-year-old captain of the special teams on his football team at the University of Maryland got tired of having to change out his sweat soaked t-shirts several times during games and during practices.  He weighed his shirts before practice and after practice and found that the shirts weighed significantly more once they were wet than they did when they were dry.  Being a linebacker and a special teams captain, having that increased weight made him slower in his mind, and it probably did.  His shorts, which were made of a compression material always stayed dry.  So he decided to take that material and make a shirt from it. After several versions of the shirt with different materials, he finally decided on a moisture wicking material that worked for his shirt design.

In 1996 the individual started working on this problem, and in 1999 once the design and the materials were finalized, Under Armour became a National brand that is now recognized around the world.

Kevin Plank is the founder and CEO of Under Armour.  You can read the story of Under Armour here .  It is a great story of an individual who saw things as they were (facts) and at the time envisioned what it could be (faith).

This is what makes humans different from any other species on earth, including robots and computers. We have the ability to see the facts (the situation as it is) while at the same time, envisioning what it could be (faith).

Kevin not only saw that there must be a better alternative to his cotton shirts, but once he figured that out.  He had the faith in himself and his company to say “We can compete with Nike, Reebok, and Adidas, as a worldwide brand.”

Now Under Armour is a household name.

So what are the facts in your life?  Your present circumstances?  Don’t fool yourself.  You have to look at the facts and see reality as it is.  This is the first step towards living the life you want to live, having the career you want to have, and raising the children you want to raise.  After you establish the facts go ahead and have faith in what it could be.  Do you want to be a CEO of a company?  Maybe it is a publicly traded company or your own.  How much money do you want in your bank account?  Do you want your children to be productive  adults. All of these things are in your control if you don’t have them now.  Have the faith in yourself to get them.  Then determine what it will take (action) to do so.

In November of 2014, I established a big goal that I didn’t really know the path that I would have to take to accomplish it.  Sure I had been planning for that goal for several years.  However, when I had the faith to write the goal down, with a deadline to accomplish it in 2015, I really didn’t know how I would do it.  The facts were, I had done several things up to that point that allowed me to write the goal down.  The facts were, that the path to accomplishing the goal was unclear, but I had a lot of stuff swirling around that I just had to pursue.  So I did.  The faith was, that I knew enough to make the declaration, which gave me the faith to pursue it.

Just like Kevin, he had the faith that he could create a great product.  He had the faith that he could compete in the highly competitive sports apparel market.  And guess what? He did.  The chances are, if you are reading this, you probably own some Under Armour clothing, or you know someone who does.  Have faith my friends, and be sure you know where you are, so you can get where you want to go.

To your success and your future.