I Explored Life’s Different Stages Through NFL Players — Here’s What I Found
You feel the hunger, you eat, and then you get fat
To illustrate my point, I'm gonna use Aaron Rodgers—literally just because he’s old enough to make it work.
Plus, his story parallels the cycles I want to illustrate.
But don't focus on him; this is about you.
The Hunger Stage (Level 1)
After high school Aaron Rodgers couldn't get a scholarship, the only place that offered him was a JUCO called (ass I mean)…Butte College. At this stage the future outspoken MVP who would one day wear out his welcome with many fans, was in his Hunger stage and just fighting for a chance to show what he could do.
This is the stage where your ambition is usually its highest. You want to be the best ever, to be Hokage one day, to be King of the Pirates, to be the best version of yourself.
That fire in ya belly’s gonna carry you for a long time, bro.
You’ll work longer and harder, enduring all of life’s challenges, most likely while making only marginal progress.
That said, this is one of the best stages. The energy burns from what feels like an endless source.
You learn a lot about yourself during this stage. You gain respect for yourself as you realize, you’re tougher, smarter, and way more resilient than you ever realized, or gave yourself credit for.
In this stage, you're pretty much always operating several steps above your capacity. You’re living every day, right on the edge of your comfort zone. This triggers massive growth that doesn't pay off immediately, but one day is gonna hit like compound interest.
On the negative side, a lot of people quit at this stage.
Some don’t realize their time investment is stacking up, but they just can’t cash it out, at this stage. Others understand that, but life puts them in a tough spot. They have kids and family, and they need money now.
If that’s you please don’t beat yourself up. Circumstances occur on an individual basis. If you ever fail to make it through a rookie stage, first get your life stable...then start again.
The I Made It Stage (Level 1)
Once you get through the rookie stage you enter into a new temporary stage, which I’m calling the “I Made It Stage.” In this stage, you’ve achieved what you set out to achieve. You were hungry, but now you have a whole lot on your plate.
Now you have a new set of challenges that have to be addressed.
After one year at junior college, Aaron Rodgers earned a scholarship offer to attend the University of Cal. He made it to D1 and saw immediate success.
After two years at Cal, he elevated his status from JUCO quarterback to high-end draft prospect. He made it, but again this stage is temporary. This is especially true for the level 1 version.
For many of us, this might be when you were the star player in high school. Or it could be your first high-paying job.
I’ve been through this stage multiple times, and every single time, I felt like I had made it.
I remember how it felt when I dropped 27 points in a high school basketball game, while only playing 3 quarters.
I remember the first time I sold over 1- Million dollars worth of products at my commission sales job.
I remember my first YouTube video to hit 1 million views
These were all examples of the I Made It Stage.
Every single one of them was amazing but only temporary. They then slowly shifted into the final cyclical stage of life.
The Fall-Off Stage (Level 1)
This is the stage where your progress seems to be rebooted. It feels like prestige mode in the old Call of Duty games.
You’ve spent so much time climbing out of this pit. But when you climb out your feet land at the bottom of a new pit.
Aaron Rodgers had already fought for a D1 scholarship. He’d earned that and gone to Cal where he became that dude. But in 2005 he was sitting in a green room watching player after player be drafted over him.
With the 24th pick, he was finally selected, but wouldn't see the field for another 3 years. During that time he learned from watching Brett Frave, but also grew frustrated with his lack of opportunity.
The first Fall-Off Stage isn't usually too bad. Since you spend years knowing that it's gonna come. For example, most people expect to start at a lower level in their first job, and then get a chance to work their way up.
The later fall of stages (level 2 and onward), can be much harder to deal with as they are often unexpected. It’s the difference between being squared up to take contact and being caught off guard with a blindside hit.
We’ll touch on level 2 in just a moment, but first, let's talk about my favorite part of The Fall Off Stage in general.
Without a doubt, the best part of The Fall-Off Stage is the fact that it forces you right back into The Hunger Stage. This means that with every failed opportunity, you are then given the chance to start the whole process again.
Hunger Stage (Level 2)
You’ve tasted what it's like to be high up on the ladder during previous stages and you want that shit back.
For Aaron Rodgers sitting behind Brett Farve quickly triggered another Hunger Stage. Farve wasn't very welcoming. When he took the team's other quarterbacks on hunting trips, Aaron never got invited, they were petty towards each other.
Aaron learned from Farve but he did so by watching. He took as much as he could from Frave, with hopes of also taking his starting job.
So in your new job or new business that you started, you once again tap into that superhuman grind. At this point, you’re desperately trying to get to Level 2 of The I Made It Stage. You work overtime, you stay after practice… you wake up early to get a head start on the competition.
Another example would be, Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. Baker was bouncing around from team to team, and Sam was being haunted, the man was seeing ghosts.
In the picture above they had both entered into a Fall Off Stage. Both top 3 picks from the 2018 draft, were 2nd and 3rd stringers for the sorry-ass Panthers.
They could have wallowed in self-pity like Jim Carrey’s Grinch (the best Grinch), but instead, they climbed out of that hell, and into Hunger Stage Level 2.
If you can survive this level, you enter into a new, but familiar territory.
I Made It Stage (Level 2)
In 2008 Rodgers finally became a starting quarterback in the NFL. He once again started eating (going the f*ck off), winning MVPs, got a Super Bowl, and really became an NFL legend.
This stage might be getting that promotion you wanted. Or finally making a profit with the business you started.
It's the first time you feel like you proved all your doubters wrong. So you live in your purpose… until your purpose changes.
In the I Made It Stage (Level 2) you still work hard. For a while, you might even work harder than ever. But humans only have a finite amount of energy, and at some point, for some reason, you’ll start to slow down.
Possible reasons for that:
As you grow, your beliefs change. You start to view the world differently, which changes the way you approach your work.
You’re older and have less energy.
Your focus gets split between your career and other growing responsibilities.
Physical health gets in the way.
Complacency starts to creep in a little bit.
Number 3 is the one that gets most of us. If you can avoid it you can prolong the I Made It Stage. But as numbers 1–4 grow stronger and stronger, your defense against number 5 starts to get worn down.
The Fall Off Stage (Level 2)
That’s when you enter The Fall-off Stage Level 2. Your lack of focus and commitment starts to show in your work. This doesn't mean you won't still have some success. The reputation you’ve built in the first 2 stages can carry you for quite a long while. (In some cases even long enough to move back into The I Made It Stage.) But if you attempt to hold on too long, your armor starts to crumble and everybody can see it.
Aaron Rodgers is currently in this stage. He’s outside the top 10 in passing yards, passing TDs, and completion percentage.
We all enter this stage at one point or another, but if you choose to, you can keep going.
Now this is the most beautiful part of life stages….
They can be started over as many times as you like.
The Hunger Stage (Level 3)
The Fall-Off Stage (Level 2) will break down your ego. People will once again doubt you and start to write you off.
Here you have a choice to make:
Do I just go quietly?
Or do I wanna fight back and prove them all wrong again?
Assuming you choose option number 2, you now enter into a brand new Hunger Stage.
Your appetite returns, your energy triples, you find your ambition, and your fire reignites.
Maybe you've gone in a totally different direction.
Maybe you just tweaked what you were doing before.
Either way, it feels like you're starting from zero, which at this stage of your life is more exciting than scary.
I believe that if you make it to I Made It Stage Level 3. Then you'll always find a way to be successful, throughout life. By this point you've gone through the cycle of stages enough times, to recognize which stage you're in and adapt appropriately.
At this point, you might even start to view the fall-off stage as more of an opportunity stage.
A chance to start a new dynasty on college football 25. A clean garage to pile new junk into. A chance to unlock a brand new challenge to attack and overcome. (This keeps you young.)
But this time you get to employ all the tricks and skills that you’ve learned while living through these stages. And now you have them unlocked from the very beginning, so this run-through will likely be faster than before.
You might even unlock a few new stages this time around.