When I am with people who share my interests, I often say that one of the reasons I like sports is that they provide a metaphor for just about everything in life.

Dealing with adversity, losing, winning, preparation, and teamwork have direct-line comparisons in much of life, including every aspect of publishing. This also includes one’s personal life.

The term “Gameday” is a not-so-subtle codeword used by teammates of all sports to get emotionally ready to compete. It isn’t just a description of an upcoming event, but an attitude of rising to the occasion, meeting a challenge head-on, and mentally preparing by focusing energies in one direction. It’s a “for such a time as this” mentality.

Writers’ Gamedays take various forms. Sitting down to write a book, responding to comments from an editor, writing a post for your platform, and being interviewed on a podcast about your book are all Gamedays.

Dealing with the inevitable criticism of your work is a significant Gameday—the Super Bowl of Gamedays.

Early in my professional life, I decided to adopt a Gameday attitude when I faced a difficult or challenging task.

For example, about 40 years ago, after hearing everyone talk about how going to work on Monday morning was the worst thing since Adam and Eve shared an apple, I decided to make every Monday a Gameday. Game time was 7:30 a.m., and I changed my attitude to make it the most important time of the week. It affected everything and likely annoyed my coworkers, who viewed coming to work at the start of a new week as a form of cruel and unusual punishment.

Adopting a Gameday attitude in your work as a writer (in all its facets) does not guarantee success. But it does guarantee that at the end of the day, you know you gave it your all. A healthy, positive, competitive attitude toward any challenge will yield better results than negativity.

When challenges are ahead, maybe something as simple as deciding to move forward rather than retreat, to embrace something rather than avoid it, or to pray boldly for strength and courage rather than how God might get you out of something is what God wants of you.

The Apostle Paul knew a thing or two about the Gameday principle for Christ-followers.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (I Corinthians 9:24-27, NIV)

Come to think of it, Paul might have invented Gameday.