Fans.

If you've been following my blog for a while, you have likely heard me refer to my lifelong friend, Brady. Brady is a Combat Medic in the Iowa National Guard and through it, has had some incredibly positive influence on his life. One story he has shared with me is a great life lesson and reminder of why it's always so important to give 100%, 100% of the time.

When going through basic training, recruits are required to pass a general fitness test in order to graduate. The test requires them to do multiple exercises in order to prove they are fit for the service. One of the tests was a push-up test. Brady has never been the most athletic person growing up, but man did he work his butt off to get into shape. His hard work paid off and he passed every part of the fitness test except for one, the push-ups. He missed the mark by only a few and was pretty bummed, but knew that he fortunately had one more shot at the fitness test before graduation came, although because he didn't pass the first time, he wasn't able to go through the Right of Passage Ceremony.

Later that night, their Sr. Drill Sergeant came into the room to talk to the recruits. According to Brady, the Sr. Drill Sergeant was a fairly stern guy. If you're unfamiliar with the Army and basic training - this is basically the person in charge. With an awfully disappointed look on his face, he walked up to Brady and asked, "What happened today?" Brady replied that he missed the mark on push-ups. Holding his disappointed look for a second, he responded in a way that Brady wasn't ready for, "You were supposed to be my Honor Grad." and then he left the room.

The Honor Grad is the recruit chosen by the Sr. Drill Sergeant as the best of the class; think of it like a valedictorian. Brady had no idea that all this time he was even thought of as someone who was out performing. He never had any sense of favor from the Drill Sergeant and certainly didn't feel like he was standing out. But, he was. He had no idea who was rooting for him. Brady said he was moved after that moment to never again let down someone who is cheering for him to succeed. He did the makeup fitness test before graduation and blew it out of the water.

Brady tells this story much better than I do, but the moral of it is still the same. You never know who's cheering for you. It is so important to always perform to the absolute best of your ability because if you don't, you are letting down more than just yourself. You could be letting down a supervisor, co-worker, family member, friend, etc. Who knows? If you're a leader people love to follow, keep working! Your team wants you to succeed. If you're on a team, keep working! You have supervisors and managers who are cheering for you.

Professional athletes have millions of people cheering for them that they can't even begin to name or put a face with. Their biggest, loudest fan might be the furthest from the stadium, but they are watching and cheering. While we aren't professional athletes (or maybe you are), we do have people in our lives who have dreams for us bigger than we can imagine. Brady had no idea that Sergeant was even in his playing field.

The truth is that people are cheering for you! And if people are cheering for you, that means you have fans. Whether or not you can identify them, the people who love you want to see you succeed, so don't let them down. Always do your best, because you never know who's rooting for you.