I had a memory come up last week from my time as a college volleyball athlete at UNC-Chapel Hill which reminded me of a time in my life where I was trained to push past what I believe possible and develop resiliency.

Our Head Coach, Joe Sagula, always challenged the team to make an effort for every ball. If a teammate “shanks” a pass (meaning it bounces off their arms in the direction they didn’t intend), the team should make an effort to save the ball and play. 

In some instances, the play seemed to be within reason of being saved and logically, most people would make an effort for the ball. When the shanked ball was slightly beyond what the mind would believe is possible to save, naturally, the team member may not push themselves to make the attempt.