Tackle What's Next E-Book

Eric Wood

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 326

Beschreibung

Transform the next chapter of your life into the best one yet In Tackle What's Next: Own Your Story, Stack Wins, and Achieve Your Goals in Business and Life, NFL veteran and motivational speaker Eric Wood delivers an inspirational and insightful take on how you can prepare for the next big thing in your life. Whether you're riding high or feeling low, the author shows you how to make your "What's next?" into your best yet. In the book, Wood draws on his own experiences transitioning out of his NFL career and provides you with the tools you need to achieve success in your own circumstances. You'll explore: * How to pivot between opportunities when life forces you to unexpectedly change direction * Strategies for closely examining what you're good at, what you're great at, and what you can contribute to the world with your unique combination of gifts and talents * Ways to adjust your perspective to maintain resilience and toughness in the face of adversity A can't-miss read for anyone looking for proven and straightforward ways to make the next chapter of their life even more exciting than what's come before, Tackle What's Next is your own personal handbook to achievement, resilience, and success.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Praise for

Tackle What's Next

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Preface: You're Right Where You Need to Be Right Now

1 The Pivot Point

2 Examine Your Gifts

Question 1: What Are You Good at Naturally?

Question 2: What Have You Learned to Do Well?

Question 3: What Do People Who Love You Say Your Gifts Are?

Question 4: What Are You Resisting?

Adversity Is a Gift

Key Takeaways

3 Choose a Greater Perspective

Setback 1: Not Succeeding in Football Until Late in High School

Setback 2: My Joe Theismann Leg Break

Setback 3: My MCL Injury

Setback 4: The Career‐Ending Neck Injury

Ways to Shift Your Perspective When You're Stuck

Key Takeaways

4 Create a Vision for Your Future

Seeing Past the Moment

Contemplate and Write Down Your Thoughts and Feelings

Conquering Obstacles in the Way of Envisioning Your Ideal Self

Key Takeaways

5 Examine Your Core Values

Finding Your Core Values

Getting Back into Alignment with Your Core Values

Seeking Others Who Model Core Values You Want

Define Your Hard Boundaries

Once You Have Your Core Values, Write Them Down

Design Your Life and Schedule Based on Your Core Values

Having the Courage to Reach Out

Key Takeaways

6 Focus On Your Health

Your Unique Health Focus Requires Vision and Perspective

Early Health Sacrifices in My Football Career

After Football: Getting My Long‐Term Health Back on Track

Developing New Habits

Dealing with Traumatic Brain Injury

The Three Pillars of Recovery

Key Takeaways

7 Get into a Routine That Sets You Up for Success

The Built‐In Routine of the NFL

The Struggle of Finding a New Routine

High Performers Have Similar Routines for Success

The New Routine That Works for Me

Intentionality: You Get to Decide How Your Day Will Go

Gratitude Changes Everything

Intentionality the Night Before Can Enhance Your Whole Next Day

Become a Super‐Learner

Habit Stacking

Key Takeaways

8 Starting Your Day with Wins and Building Momentum

How Small Wins Add to Your Momentum

Building Confidence Through Wins

How Morning Wins Can Help You Mitigate Small Setbacks

Remembering Big Wins Can Get You Through Significant Setbacks

Gaining Momentum from Wins Requires Accountability

Boundaries and Systems: Built‐In Accountability for Wins

Maintaining Unstoppable Momentum Part 1: Daily Process

Maintaining Unstoppable Momentum Part 2: Support System

Maintaining Unstoppable Momentum Part 3: Removing Distractions

Standards over Feelings

Don't Let Positive Momentum Seduce You (Keep Doing the Thing!)

Overcoming Negative Momentum

Growing Your Confidence and Process Goals

Looking Back at How Far You've Come

Key Takeaways

9 Serve Others

How I Came to Adopt a Serving Others Mentality

My Challenges with Serving Others After My Pivot Point

The Long‐Term Benefits of Generosity and Serving Others

The Unexpected Benefits of Serving Even When You Are at a Pivot Point

Finding Ways to Serve in All the Buckets of Your Life

Internal Challenges of a Serving Mentality

Servant Leadership

Key Takeaways

10 Fill Your Mind with What You Want to Show Up in Your Life

The Sea of Thoughts

Self‐Limiting Beliefs

The Power of Media

The Power of Choosing Your Thoughts

How I Filled My Mind in College Football

How I Filled My Mind in the NFL

How to Start Filling Your Mind Intentionally

Don't Limit Yourself

Key Takeaways

11 Examine the People You Are Spending the Most Time With

The Profound Influence of the People You Spend the Most Time With

Your Profound Influence on Others

Spend Time with People You Can Learn From

Find Groups to Learn from Others at an Advanced Level

Moving On and Letting Go

Key Takeaways

12 Be Coachable

First, Be Accountable

Be Willing to Be Uncomfortable

Practice Humility and Confidence at the Same Time

Hold Yourself to a Higher Standard by Seeking Coaching

Push Your Limits

Pivot and Be Flexible

The Best Coaching Is Ongoing

Key Takeaways

13 Control What You Can Control

Intentionality and Self‐Discipline: How Badly Do You Want It?

Consistency Comes from Preparation

Be a Champion for Your High Standards of Performance

With Great Preparation Comes Great Confidence

Key Takeaways

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover Page

Praise for Tackle What's Next

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

About the Author

Index

Wiley End User License Agreement

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Praise for Tackle What's Next

“If anyone is qualified to help you determine your ‘What's Next’ it's Eric Wood. I have witnessed his preparation and process firsthand. It has worked for him, and it will work for you. His real‐life experiences represent powerful, inspiring examples of walking the talk.”

—David Novak,Cofounder and Former CEO of YUM! Brands Inc.; Founder and CEO of Novak Leadership

“Eric Wood has excelled at every major transition in his life. He has a unique ability to see the future and execute on the present. I've personally been so impressed with the levels of wisdom and discernment Eric demonstrates in navigating transition. He's thoughtful, prayerful, and deliberate. Eric is a first‐class example of what it means to lead through change and find success in every chapter of life!”

—Jordan Montgomery,Speaker and Performance Coach

“As a football player, content creator, business leader, and family man, Eric Wood is a man whose ambition I admire and respect. He relentlessly strives for growth and improvement. Ambition propels him forward, but humility and wisdom keep his course steady. This book offers insight that enables its readers to step boldly into whatever is next with a healthy blend of ambition, humility, and wisdom.”

—Kyle Idleman,Head Pastor, Southeast Christian Church, and Bestselling Author

“Eric has always been someone I look up to. As his teammate with the Buffalo Bills, I watched him apply the principles discussed in his new book daily. When he was faced with adversity at the end of his career, he chose to continue growing and learning. In this book, there are priceless lessons on how to overcome adversity and attack life daily on your terms. This is a powerful book that will push you to become better day by day.”

—Richie Incognito,Four‐time NFL Pro Bowl Guard, 16‐year NFL veteran

“There are knowers and there are learners. A knower has stopped learning and thinks they know it all, but a learner remains hungry and teachable. The latter describes Eric Wood. Fortunately, in Tackle What's Next you have the opportunity to glean from his leadership learnings the very same lessons that have allowed him to successfully transition through the seasons of life.”

—Dave Stone,Former Pastor, Southeast Christian Church

“Oftentimes, folks wonder what it is like to be a professional athlete. Everyone sees what happens on game day, but rarely does the day‐to‐day come to light, especially when the playing days come to an end. Not only does Eric Wood share his personal story of how things ended but also he has found a way for his readers to apply the coping mechanisms and strategies he developed to fulfill their own ‘What's Next.’ Eric's post‐NFL career success comes as no surprise to me, and seeing how he has achieved this success can help many people apply his story to their own situations.”

—Kyle Rudolph,Two‐time NFL Pro Bowl Tight End

FOREWORD BY SEAN MCDERMOTT

HEAD COACH OF THE NFL BUFFALO BILLS

ERIC WOOD

NFL PRO BOWL VETERAN

TACKLE WHAT'S NEXT

OWN YOUR STORY + STACK WINS + ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS IN BUSINESS AND LIFE

Copyright © 2023 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data:

Names: Wood, Eric, 1986‐ author.

Title: Tackle what’s next : own your story, stack wins, and achieve your goals in business and life / by Eric Wood.

Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2023] | Includes index. | Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022020191 (print) | LCCN 2022020192 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119931881 (epub) | ISBN 9781119931874 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119931867 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119931867 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119931874 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119931881 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Self‐actualization (Psychology)

Classification: LCC BF637.S4 (ebook) | LCC BF637.S4 W6577 2023 (print) | DDC 158.1 23/eng/20220—dc17

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022020191

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022020192

Cover Design: Paul McCarthy

To my wife, Leslie, and two kids, Grace and Garrett, for whom I strive to be a better man every day.

FOREWORD

Sean McDermott

When Eric told me he was writing a book about how to move on from big moments of transition, I knew he was the right man for the job.

I first met him in 2017 after joining the Bills, and his reputation preceded him. The strength coach at the Carolina Panthers was a big fan of Eric and had worked with him at Louisville. He told me an impressive story about Eric lunging toward the finish line just so he could finish first in an off‐season conditioning drill. He was just known as the guy who was always giving an all‐out effort.

And that's exactly what I saw when we began working together in Buffalo. Here was this outstanding and talented player who backed it up with preparation and work. Because of his approach to the game, I felt we were somewhat equally aligned early on in our time together. We had a similar approach and I knew that this was a player who would help get us off the ground and help get us there to where we are today.

The word process gets thrown out a lot in football, but that's because it's still the foundation of excellent performance. If you study peak performers in any industry, in particular sports, once they have a great process down, the day‐by‐day routine, which basically in our business is Monday through Saturday, or the entire off‐season, it sure makes things a lot easier come September through February. Those who stick to their process consistently give themselves the best chance to be peak performers in their line of work.

Eric takes that process with a standard, that daily set of consistent actions, and applies it to every facet of his life.

Off the field, he is a dedicated family man, a man of deep faith, and someone who committed a significant portion of his life and energy to charity and serving others.

In 2017, Eric was on the team that helped break our 17‐year drought. Unfortunately, his momentum was cut short because he was forced to retire early from football because of a physical issue. Yet he took that same approach of process and preparation to get him through the next big thing off the field.

Retiring early can be rough on many players, yet he's done a remarkable job taking the next steps and applying that faithful day‐to‐day process to the other parts of his life. I'm extremely proud of him and admire him for that. It's not easy to do.

I always thought Eric had a way of drawing people to him, no matter what he was doing. He's a connector of people off the field and on the field. One weekend he's at the Kentucky Derby, and the next, he's announcing a game. He does college football games in the fall, and then he gives back to Louisville, where he's an important part of the community. And then, before you know it, he's announcing a Bills game up on a Sunday. Did I mention he has a wife and kids, too? Put all those jobs together—how does he have time for that? Amazing!

He has a lot on his shoulders, but it always seems like he balances it extremely well, which speaks to his days as a player. He's able to balance things and all these disparate interests in life, which allows him to be a great leader.

I know there are many people who struggle with major transitions in life. Take a page from Eric's playbook—take a close look at your process and what you're doing every day.

I know you'll be inspired by Eric's journey and adopt those basic principles that will lead to great success on your own path.

PREFACEYou're Right Where You Need to Be Right Now

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to rely on or blame. The gift is yours, it's an amazing journey, and you alone are responsible for the quality of it.

—Bob Moawad

Now is the perfect time to get prepared for what's next.

Whether you are riding on top of the world, or having a rough time of it, or somewhere in between, you are perfectly positioned to make your “what's next” your best yet. No matter how comfortable or uncomfortable you are, or what the circumstances of your life might be, no matter where you are in the world or what you have done or not done, this is the perfect time to get prepared.

If you're going through a rough transition in life right now, what if this is the perfect packaged discomfort to prod you to make a shift in your life to make things better? What if all this pain is fertilizer for your growth? What if all this confusion is just what the doctor ordered to get you to your next step? And what if I show you some tools that helped me get to my what's next when I was going through a rough transition myself?

What if there was nothing wrong with you at all and that these “bad circumstances” are fuel to make you more extraordinary?

Conversely, what if you're feeling pretty on top of your game and cruising through life right now? Maybe you're a sports fan or a big Bills fan, and you happened to pick up this book. What if implementing the principles in this book can make your life even better, get you to places you only imagined, and help you achieve success in all of the buckets of your life?

What if you're only scratching the surface of what's possible for you?

Either way, this book is for you. If this book is in your hands, you were meant to pick it up for a reason. You're right where you need to be right now, even though it may not make sense. I wrote this book to give you some proven tools to help prepare you for the next, best chapter of your life. I believe God has great things in store for all of you.

In 2017, when I started the football season, I was out to have my best season yet with the Buffalo Bills—and we did! At that point, I wasn't looking to make a change either. Yet life took an unexpected direction, and I was forced to change. I had to completely alter my perspective and take stock of what “winning” would look like from here on out and what it would take.

The truth is, everyone can prepare to win in any endeavor, but not everyone does. To quote Jerry Rice, “Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I will do what others can't.”

Your day is today, and by following the principles of this book, your what's next will be your best yet.

1The Pivot Point

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

—Jeremiah 29:11

Let me tell you about the most extraordinary football season of my   life, a time where I felt that God was smiling on me and the sky was the limit in my career. It's strange thinking about that time now because what I didn't know then was that it would all be over in an instant.

First of all, I love professional football. I love everything about it. I love the competitiveness (I'm the most competitive person I know!), the camaraderie, the teamwork, the discipline, the preparation, the intensity, and the physicality of it. For me, it was part of the American dream, to pursue something and be passionate about it, to be successful at something, and go try to be the very best you can be. Along with that, it was just so much fun and brought so much abundance to my family and me. To play football as a profession has been one of the biggest blessings of my life.

In 2009, I was a first‐round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills. I played my entire nine‐year career with the Bills, and they offered me an extended contract twice before my ninth season in the NFL. In my final year on my second deal with the Bills, I contemplated what I wanted to do next. Should I stick around, or should I maybe hit free agency? The Bills had been really good to me, and I loved all those guys. They were some of the best of the best. Yet there was always the temptation to try something new, to challenge myself differently.

What made the decision easy for me was that the Bills just hired Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane, and I truly trusted their vision for the organization. I also couldn't imagine the Bills breaking the longest playoff drought in the NFL and me not be a part of it. I had put so much blood, sweat, and tears into playing for the Bills, and I needed to be there for when the tide turned and the Bills would be successful again. With my faith in the Bills secure, I signed a contract extension before my ninth season—the very special 2017 season.

You see, the Buffalo Bills hadn't made it to the playoffs for 17 years. And we were going to be the winning team configuration to break that drought. That didn't seem like the way it would be at first. We traded away our most recent top picks that the previous regime had drafted, and many outsiders thought we were tanking. Tanking is when a team will intentionally have a bad season in order to get better draft picks and try to set the organization up for long‐term success.

Tanking is a nightmare for veterans on a team. Would I even be around by the time this team would be good enough to make the playoffs? Would I be cut or traded to ensure a losing season? Did I really want to take on the physicality of an NFL season when we have no shot at making the playoffs?

Our leadership council met with Sean McDermott, and he was explaining that we were, in fact, not tanking. We were simply trying to build a team of players that had a certain type of DNA that would set the culture for long‐term success, and Sean felt that this could also lead to success in the short term as well. Although it didn't make full sense to all of us in that meeting, we put our trust in the Bills' front office that we were going to go out and be in a “win‐now” mode.

It turned out to be the perfect strategy, along with the exact right combination of players and leadership. After we had won our final game of the season against the Dolphins, we watched from the locker room as the Bengals beat the Ravens to send us to the playoffs. Professionally, that was one of the most joyful moments of my life. (If you're curious, you can go on YouTube and watch our celebration.)

Life was good. I already had my contract in place. My beautiful wife, Leslie, was in the late stages of pregnancy, about ready to pop with our second child. I figured that she, the kids, and I would be in Buffalo through year 11 at that point. We had a house up there, and we lived back and forth between Buffalo, New York, and Louisville, Kentucky. I felt unbelievably lucky to have so many blessings and positive things in my life all at once.

Because my second child was so close to being born, I had an unusual attitude heading into the Jacksonville game. We were either going to beat Jacksonville and move on into the second round of the playoffs, or we would lose the game, and I would get to witness the birth of my son. It was a win‐win situation for me, something I wasn't used to feeling about possibly losing a big game. As I said, I'm very competitive.

Our game was scheduled for a Sunday, and Leslie was being induced on Wednesday. We ended up losing in Jacksonville, 10–3. All players must get an exit physical the day after the last game of the season. So we lost on Sunday, and the team doctor wanted me to do an exit physical on Monday morning.

So the season ends. I'm the only player on the team that played 100% of the snaps that year—which is pretty rare in the NFL because you could either be beating a team really badly, and they pull the starters, or you could be losing by a ton, and they could pull the starters (both had happened to me in previous years of my career). Also, injuries pop up all of the time when you would have to miss snaps, or your shoe could even come untied to cause you to miss a play. I was an alternate for the Pro Bowl, and there were two centers in the playoffs. So the chances of me going to the Pro Bowl were pretty good.

I was in a hurry to get out of Buffalo to go catch the birth of my son, but the doctor insisted I get an MRI before I leave town.

And I said, “Look, I'm good. I'm the only player who played all the snaps. Please send me home. I'm going to get out of here because I'm going to go catch the birth of my son.”

“Well, you had these stingers this year,” he said. “Just go out and get an MRI on your neck.”

I didn't want to hear it. If you're unfamiliar with “stingers,” they're a common ailment suffered by football players in particular. It's a tingling feeling in the hand or arm resulting from a nerve injury in the neck or shoulder. If you've ever played high school football, chances are you or someone on your team had a stinger at least once. And that's precisely what I told the doctor! “My buddies in high school had stingers! Why do I need to get an MRI for a stinger?” The whole situation seemed ridiculous.

But he said, “You know, it's kind of alarming that you never suffered a stinger until this season.” So I gave in and got an MRI, hopped into my car, and drove back to Louisville as fast as I could to be with my wife for the birth of our son. I wouldn't get the MRI results right away, but I wasn't anxious about it.

Honestly, that MRI was the furthest thing from my mind on that Wednesday. There I was, in the hospital waiting room, about 50 minutes from my son being born, and I get the call.

It was the call that ended my career.

The MRI revealed that in my cervical column, at points C2 and C3, I had disc and bone penetrating into my spinal cord. The doctors were not sure why or how I wasn't lying motionless on a football field, but that's what the MRI indicated should have happened to cause this. They told me this injury meant I could no longer play football. I thought, How could this be?

At first, I was in complete denial. I brought up that Peyton Manning had a neck fusion; why couldn't I? I found myself thinking there must be some way out, like, is there any way we can make this surgery work?

I found out later that Manning's neck fusion was lower in his spine. Everything is less stable toward the top, and when you hurt your spinal cord, it affects everything below it. C2 and C3 are too high on the spinal column to do the same kind of fusion procedure.

The doctors told me I was lucky I wasn't more affected by the injury than I was with only the stingers. They told me I was fortunate just to have walked away from the field. They also said that even though there was a chance at a successful surgery, I would never pass a football physical again.

So this situation was serious. The doctors stressed that if I got hit the wrong way with this kind of injury, I could be a paraplegic and lose my ability to breathe on my own without machines. And that hit me close to home.

You see, my little brother, Evan, was born with severe cerebral palsy. He never walked, talked, or breathed on his own. I saw firsthand what that looked like. He fought and lived for 11 years—and it was hard to watch him struggle. I was 14 when he passed. And so to get that news and be able to picture myself in my brother and what could have happened—well, that was a little intense for me.

I was at the crossroads of “grateful it's not worse” but also devastated that I had to face this. I got the news that my career was over, and it just shocked me. I know that it happens to a lot of guys, but, honestly, at that moment, I just felt cheated because I felt like I had put in so much work to that point.

I mean, I had so much joy on a day‐to‐day basis in that facility. I was a captain for three years, and it should have been five. Rex Ryan, the head coach of the Buffalo Bills, doesn't do captains. He does game captains. So instead of having the gold patch on my jersey signifying five‐plus years of being captain with the same team, I only had three stars filled in. That's okay, though. I loved playing for Rex Ryan. Honestly, I loved everything about playing professional football.

I did love my role. I loved the platform it gave me, too. I was using my platform to bring people into my men's group at church during the off‐season. I was bringing people closer to their faith, closer to God.

I was playing with a lot of freedom as well. Just knowing that “hey, I can give it all I've got, and I don't have to be ashamed.” And I wanted that Super Bowl. I was so looking forward to making playoff runs. I was also going to miss Buffalo terribly, a great city that had welcomed me with open arms and I had come to know and love.

I loved it all, and at that moment, I was totally crushed.

It was such a rollercoaster of emotions because my son was about to born. I told my wife the news, and she started to cry. A nurse came in and said to her, “Honey, honey, it's not going to hurt that bad.” And she said, “It's not about the baby!” We laughed about that later, but at the time, it was far from funny for anyone in the room.

My son was born 50 minutes later, and it was such an immense rush of joy, such a distraction from the previous moment. It was a tremendous gift he came when he did because I think his arrival at that moment helped me process what was happening in the big picture. I had this incredible blessing of a son. However, I also had one of the top neurological doctors in the country telling me I would never play football again (later, I would get eight more second opinions from neurologists—they all agreed). It was one significant scary change accompanied by a huge joyful change.

So for me, I hit that pivot point. I'll explain what I mean.

For the Buffalo Bills, I played the center position, often known as the “pivot” because of its central location on the field. The center is in the middle of the offensive formation. Because he starts the play with the ball, the offense's formation is dictated by where the center lines up. Some may say it's the most pivotal position on the field because, without a clean snap to the quarterback, the play has no chance for success. (Or maybe that's just how a former center sees it.)

In that sense, the word pivot is being used as a noun. It is the central place on the field. The pivot of a city is often the metropolitan area around which all the rest of the city revolves. The pivot of a house is usually the kitchen, from which all other rooms of the house flow. The pivot of an organization would be the leader, from which all decisions are made or passed through.

Then there's the pivot that requires action. I've had my share of experiences in this brand of pivoting, both on and off the football field. But this was the most significant pivot of my life, ending my ability to play football forever. I was forced to pivot in my entire career and from a lifestyle that I was very accustomed to living.

It wasn't like I hit rock bottom at that moment. It took a while. It took some days of anxiety trying to figure out what I was all about moving forward and how I would proceed. All my eggs were in one basket, career‐wise. My whole life was football, and I was absolutely all in. I didn't have a next career lined up by any means. But when you hit that pivot point, there are some action steps that you need to take personally.

Along with that came a lot of personal development work and consciously working on my inner game and how I look at and function in life. Those steps didn't come all at once for me. Looking back, it wasn't like I got out of the league, and suddenly I had an epiphany or this blueprint of what to do. I got a lot of good advice from incredible people, and I've seen and practiced what works firsthand.

One thing that worked in my favor is the way I'm wired. I'm always thinking, “What's next? How can I make my future bigger than my past?” I just know that whatever is happening was happening for a reason.

I also had tremendous faith that God had something planned for me. Like he could help me take this traumatic event in my life and show me something exceptional that I could do with it. I just wasn't sure what that was yet. But I knew that he had plans for me and would help me prosper. I knew that I had hope and a future and that he could help me make this into a blessing.

Now, I got a lot of help in the aftermath of my forced retirement. I hit a point of obscurity for the first time in a long time because the Bills hadn't officially released me, so I couldn't go out and get a job. National media members had reached out, and I appreciate all of their help in my transition. They wanted to help me get into the sports broadcast business. But I couldn't even accept a job until June because of my contract with the Bills. By that time, all of the broadcast crews were filled for the upcoming season.

Sports broadcasting is a natural transition for many athletes who retire—they want to get into the media world, because for most of us, that's all we have known for a significant part of our lives. But you have to do it right away because if you wait a few years and you're an offensive lineman who played in western New York, they're going to say, “Who are you again?” And so I wanted to give it a shot, but I couldn't even go out and try and get a job. It wasn't like Monday Night Football came calling, but the help from so many individuals led me to be a color analyst for the Buffalo Bills Radio broadcast as well as an analyst for ESPN/ACC network.

I've also been fortunate because I've been able to create a new platform through my podcast, “What's Next with Eric Wood.” In the beginning, I looked at it as a medium to interview other athletes and talk about football and my time with the Bills. But as time went on, the scope became so much more vast. I found myself interviewing people who had fantastic advice to offer on how to lead a more effective and impactful life, people who had all faced a pivot point moment of their own and made it work for them. Spending time with all those people began to shift my thinking and change my life for the better as well.

Our new tagline became “Interviews That Impact and Inspire.” My podcast guests were changing lives, including mine, and I could use my platform to amplify their message. I find such joy in serving and uplifting others, and my show has become a vital part of that for me. I may never have connected with so many inspirational and transformative people had my life gone exactly the way I expected.

On top of all this, amid my transition, barely two years retired from the NFL, the COVID‐19 pandemic hit. Suddenly, millions of others were experiencing a dramatic pivot point themselves in the aftermath. Many of them did not have the tools they need to process it or know exactly how they were going to pivot. So many felt like they'd had the rug pulled out from under them. And the ancillary effects of this pandemic are going to be felt for years down the line. Countless people are hanging on by a thread financially, or worse, have lost loved ones. Or both. How do you pivot from those moments? That's part of why I decided I needed to write this book now.

The principles I write about are incredibly useful in practically any situation where you find yourself in the middle of a big transition. It doesn't have to be a global pandemic or a disaster. It could be anything from moving to a new place, or getting married for the first time, starting a new career, becoming a parent, dealing with a loss, or any variety of crossroads. Maybe you just want to be more effective at what you are already doing or bring more abundance into your life.