Shaken by Tim Tebow

I recently finished Shaken by Tim Tebow. While this book has been around for a while (2017), I'm glad I finally took the time to read it. 
While some are turned off by Tebow's rather open spirituality, I walked away pretty convinced that just about anybody could benefit from reading this. With that, here were my key takeaways. 

3 Key Themes

1. Identity Beyond Achievement

I talked about this same topic a few days ago in a post titled Perspective Is Power. Tebow talks a lot about not letting your achievements define who you are. Imagine the incredible highs that came with winning two national championships at the University of Florida. Then, imagine being cut by the Denver Broncos. You can see how easy it could be to think less of yourself in the second scenario. 
Bigger picture, I liked how open Tebow was about his overall identity, separating the person from the quarterback. We all are often identified to others as who we are to them, and this was a great reminder at how important it is to get to know others at work, school, etc. so we're not judging them on a single aspect of their lives. 

2. Faith Under Pressure

During set​backs, the natural thing is often to abandon your faith. Put another way, you very quickly forget about all of the qualities you have, the support in your life, and the positives around you. Tebow talked about how adversity actually helped strengthen his faith. Once he got past the hurt or feelings of failure, he was able to see how God was working in his life. 
Tebow talked about using tough times to strengthen his spiritual discipline. If spirituality isn't a part of your life, the takeaway was simple: get back to basics and the fundamentals of who you are. 
In my own life, I've felt this many times: maybe you have a bad game. It's so easy to get down, but instead I'd get back in the gym and put my focus into what I had done thousands of times before. In many ways, it helped me re-convince myself that "I still had it," while getting out of my head and into some physical exercise. 

3. Purpose Through Pain

Similar to the first theme, I loved how Tebow didn't fade into obscurity after his NFL career was finished. He played baseball, and then leveraged all of this experience into ministry opportunities, public speaking, and his foundation. 
The Tim Tebow Foundation wasn't just a side-project that was off-loaded to a bunch of staff members. Tim put his full effort and energy into making it impactful. 
Tim's leadership and desire to serve was amplified in the stories he told about visiting hospitals, churches, and missions in the Philippines. Visiting sick children was a two-way street: as much as it was Tim giving his time to serve these kids, the exposure to true suffering had a deep impact on how Tebow viewed his own struggles. 

Final Thoughts

This is an easy read and written in a conversational tone that's impactful, but not heavy. My biggest overall takeaway is the reminder that sports teach us all so many valuable lessons, but they're only valuable if you apply them. I give Tebow a lot of credit because he's authentic. Even if he's not your cup of tea, he's an easy guy to root for. If you need a non-fiction "pick me up," give this a read. 

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