Find your “Edge” with the AIA Framework

When I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, there was a high school wrestling coach who wrote a book that impacted me greatly. It was a book primarily of quotes from coaches, athletes, etc. I was deeply inspired by the book. I used to read it often. That book was written by Howard Ferguson, who was the St. Edward wrestling coach at the time. It’s called “The Edge”. The seed was planted for me to keep seeking out wisdom from others. At the time, I didn’t have enough life experience to truly know what The Edge was.

Growing up as an athlete, I experienced some of what it was like to have this “Edge”. I had talent and worked hard to develop skills. I was able to become a pretty good soccer player in my younger days – good enough to earn a college scholarship to a top 20 ranked Division One school.

Unfortunately (or fortunately in hindsight), I lost “The Edge” I had developed and I struggled immensely during my college years. I was facing some personal demons and, frankly, didn’t know how to deal with them. This led to some poor play on the field and I can easily attribute it to my mindset. I simply lost The Edge.

As I’ve ventured into adult life, I’ve been through peaks and valleys (as we all have). I’ve experienced The Edge at times and I’ve also experienced the Valleys. Over the last two years, I’ve studied deeply what gives people this Edge and what experiences bring me close to having it.

What I’ve uncovered is that everyone has the capacity to gain The Edge but it’s not easy. It takes time. It takes practice. Combining my personal experiences with a deep study of many top performers, I’ve come up with a framework that I believe gets us closer to experiencing “The Edge” on a more consistent basis. I call this framework – AIA.

THE AIA FRAMEWORK

Awareness

Intention

Action