Among our prized memorabilia here at Winch Financial is a football helmet signed by three of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game.

Best of all, they’re all Packers.

Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers share a historic legacy and an astounding seven NFL titles so far. In honor of those titles, here are seven lessons you can learn from these storied players as you build your own legacy.

1. Find your passion. Nobody gets to the NFL without passion for the game. These players fought through injuries and battled some of the bitterest cold in league history. It’s tough to play in a -46 wind chill with nothing but old school cleats on your feet if you don’t have a passion for the game. Bart did it, though, in the famous Ice Bowl and Brett quarterbacked the Packers in the second coldest game in franchise history, the 2008 NFC championship game. Passion for the task at hand helps in the face of whatever adversity you might encounter in your own life.
2. Be a team player. Though they have diverse personalities, all three quarterbacks have earned the lifelong respect of their teammates.
3. Elite quarterbacks are students of the game. For every minute you see them on the field, they’ve spent hours studying playbooks and reviewing game film. Planning makes the execution seem effortless.
4. Allow yourself to recover from your mistakes. These three players are among the all-time best, but all three have thrown their share of interceptions, missed open receivers and fumbled the ball on key plays. As Coach Lombardi himself said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” Don’t be afraid to take a risk, learn from your mistakes, and keep moving forward.
5. Don’t be threatened by anyone else’s success. Favre offered to wait as long as necessary to share the field with Bart Starr. He didn’t have to do that. One of the reasons the Packers have enjoyed such an incredible run is that each team happily builds on the success of the teams that have gone before.
6. Enjoy the moment. Tomorrow, watch all three players as they enter that stadium. They’ll take a moment to look around, they’ll soak in the adulation, and, the two who don’t have to play, will probably shed a tear or two. It’s important to pause every now and then, look around, and say, “This is cool.”
7. You can go home again. Hurt feelings and bruised egos are no match for a sincere apology. Lead with empathy, and forgive. Life is way too short for grudges.

You can control your legacy. At Winch Financial, we’ve been helping clients design theirs for nearly 40 years. Think about the epitaph you want to leave behind, assess the life you’re living now, set some goals and get after them. For help with any of these steps, come see us today. At Winch Financial, we’re investing for every season of your life and we’re particularly fond of football season. Go Pack Go.