Hard work has a way of silencing the lies
Wraparound Family,
Have you ever felt like you were less than?
Maybe you looked around the locker room and thought you didn’t belong. Maybe you felt like one of the worst players on the team and you wondered if anyone noticed.
That feeling hurts. It sits there in your chest and in your head. And it can follow you onto the ice if you let it.
But here’s the truth. That voice is lying to you.
It is not reality. It is not your destiny. And it is not who you are.
I played at the highest level in the NHL. I played in the AHL. I battled for every contract. And I’ll be honest with you, I struggled with confidence the entire way. There were days I walked into the rink and thought I didn’t belong there either.
So you’re not alone.
Later in my career I finally learned what to do with that voice. I learned to recognize that it wasn’t telling the truth. I learned to reject it. And then I would replace it with something true.
I belong here.
I have worked for this.
I am getting better every day.
And then there was one more step that changed everything.
I went to work.
I made up my mind that no matter where I ranked on the depth chart, I was going to be the hardest worker in the building. If I was the best player or the last guy on the roster, it didn’t matter. I could still control my effort. I could still do extra reps. I could still show up early and stay late.
And when the voices came back, at least I could answer them.
Maybe I don’t feel like the best player. But I know I outworked everyone today.
When I showed up for my first Division 1 practice at UMass Lowell, I felt like a little kid surrounded by grown men. Everyone looked bigger, stronger, faster. My head was spinning and those lies started shouting at me.
You don’t belong here.
You’re not good enough.
You’re going to fail.
That practice almost ruined me. But I refused to quit. Instead I went as hard as I possibly could. Every drill. Every rep. I left the ice exhausted. I knew I had a long way to go, but I also knew I could compete if I kept working.
Day after day, year after year, something started to happen. I got better. Then I got stronger. Then I became a leader. Eventually I wore the C. I was MVP my senior year. I was getting ready for pro hockey.
And the crazy part is this. The voices never totally went away. I just learned how to beat them.
This is something every hockey player goes through. Some kids talk about it. Some don’t. But everyone feels it at some point.
And that is why we care so deeply about you.
We don’t just want you to score goals or make teams. We want you to learn that you can win battles inside your own mind. We want you to carry that confidence when hockey ends and real life begins.
Because when hockey ended for me and I walked into my first job, guess what happened.
The voices showed up again.
You’re just a hockey player.
You don’t belong here.
You should probably quit.
But I had already learned the lesson. Reject the lie. Replace it with truth. Keep working. Keep taking steps forward. Keep doing the extra.
I can do this.
I can do this.
I can do this.
And then I did the work to back it up.
That is why Wraparound exists. We want to give you the tools to do the extra work when nobody is watching. We want you to build confidence through effort, discipline, and reps.
And when those voices show up, you’ll know how to answer them.
Keep going. Keep training. Keep growing. We are cheering for you every step of the way.
If you want to see some of our favorite off ice tools that help players get those extra reps at home, you can check them out when you’re ready. No pressure. Just another way to keep building your confidence.
Keep your head up and stay after it.
Bobby Robins and the Wraparound Team