Not a Comeback. A Beginning.
Let’s get one thing straight: not making the team, or not landing the job you thought you deserved, doesn’t mean you’re finished. It means you’ve just been handed the greatest opportunity of your life, the chance to prove to yourself what you’re actually made of.
When the door slams in your face, you’ve got two choices:
Sit around and replay it in your head like a bad highlight reel.
Use the rejection as gasoline.
If you’re serious about growth, you pick option two.
Why Being Cut Hurts..And Why It’s Good For You
Getting told “no” stings. Coaches cut you because they think you’re too young, too small, or not ready. Employers pass because someone else looked shinier on paper. That sucks—but it’s also feedback you can use.
Look at pro athletes:
Michael Jordan didn’t make his high school varsity team as a sophomore. He turned it into a personal mission.
Tom Brady was picked 199th in the NFL draft. Every single quarterback taken ahead of him gave him another chip for his shoulder.
Lionel Messi was told at 11 he was too small. He became the greatest because he didn’t buy into that label.
They didn’t sulk. They worked.
The Big Kid Problem
Let’s be real: in youth sports, the big kids dominate early. They grow faster, they look stronger, and they get picked. A lot of those kids think, “I made the team, I’m awesome.” But many times, it’s genetics, not greatness.
Confidence turns to ego. Ego gets lazy.
Meanwhile, the smaller kids, the ones who get cut learn to fight. They learn to work. They build habits. And when the playing field evens out? Those “too small” kids often blow right past the early bloomers.
Development > Winning
I had a coach in high school, Coach Wallace. We’d be up by 4 or 5 runs in the fifth inning, cruising. And then he’d pull a move that drove us nuts: he’d throw in the smallest, youngest kid to pitch. And yeah, we’d usually lose.
But Wallace didn’t care. He wasn’t building that game, he was building players. Those kids? They got reps under the lights. They failed. They learned that failing wasn’t the end of the world. Years later, those same “too small” kids were playing college ball, some even pro.
Because they had been tested. Because they’d developed habits and toughness instead of just relying on size or luck.
Choices Moving Forward Dictate Your Future
Here’s the truth: what you do after the cut, after the rejection, is what will define you. You can mope, point fingers, blame the coach, blame the boss. Or you can simplify it say screw that team, screw that job, and get back to work.
Build habits. Wake up earlier. Train harder. Learn new skills. Create discipline.
Don’t waste your time looking back, you’re not going that way.
Final Word
If you didn’t make the team… if you didn’t get the job… good. That rejection is your sharpening stone. If you want it badly enough, you’ll build the habits and mindset to outwork, outlast, and outgrow the kids who only got ahead because of a growth spurt.
This isn’t your comeback.
This is your beginning.
The story doesn’t end here… it starts here.
