Blog
Read Blog Posts by Category:
Passion: Articles that deal with the inner drive that we all need to want to MOVE from where we currently are to where we dream to be.
Preparation: These posts reference articles, books, documentaries, speakers, quotes, and other inspirational and formative ideas that I have found that helped me and the people around me.
Practice: Articles in this category have a heavy sports and performance training lean.
Performance: These articles focus on how you go about your work. From networking to communications to finding a better way to do what you do.
Perseverance: Articles in this category speak to the mechanics that we go through both mentally and physically to stay on track and not get STUCK.
You Are Not Alone
One of the scariest things we have to do in our life is to do something for the first time, by ourselves. It may be walking to school or riding a bike or driving a car. As we get older, we have these same issues, whether it is personal or professional, where we feel that we are fighting our dragons all by ourselves.
Resist the Tug
When I was young, my friends and I would go down to one of the three rivers that came together in Mason City, Iowa (aka “River City” from the Broadway show “The Music Man”) and catch “crawdads” or crayfish.
It wasn’t unusual to catch a bucket full in 5 – 10 minutes as we walked down the bank of the river. The one thing that I thought was interesting about these “rock lobsters” was that when one was working his way to the top of the bucket, to escape, one of his brethren would reach up and pull him back into the pile at the bottom of the bucket. I never really thought much about it until I got older and my professional career began to grow and flourish.
Failure Is Not Fatal
Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill
Before my career changing run in with a chicken house fan, my overall coaching record, in the first eleven years of my coaching career, was 33 Wins – 77 Loses and 1 Tie. I was averaging 3 wins a season. Not a great resume statistic.
The one thing that was constant in my life was my belief in myself and my ability to become a winning coach. You may have noticed that I didn’t say a “successful coach”. I knew I was doing some good stuff. I knew I had learned a lot in my first 11 years of my career. I just needed the right place to put it all together.
When it all came together my wins skyrocketed (251 wins) to a career average of 11 wins a season. Like Churchill says, “Failure is not fatal.” The only thing that is fatal is if we stop trying. I could have looked at my three wins a season and said, “I suck”, and left coaching and taken a job I wasn’t passionate about. At that time, I would have failed myself because I would have given up on my passion. When we give up on ourselves than we truly have failed.
Fighting Negativity
“Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.” – Albert Einstein
Negativity is the slayer of our dreams. When we are young, we have the ability to dream BIG. We dream big, until someone steps in and tells us the price. Instead of staying with the dream many will adjust their course. Then they dream big again, until someone steps in and tell them they’re not good enough. Some will listen to them. What’s worse is when they stop dreaming big because have stopped believing in themselves.
Life: Help!
The “voice” of the 60’s was asking for help … and they were at the top of their game when they wrote this song. It happens to everyone. Life doesn’t care if you are in the low of lows or when you seemingly are at the top of your game, we all still need help.
It’s Been a Year
I heard an amazing song the other day. A young lady named Ashley Cooke was singing “It’s Been a Year.” She has a great voice, but I love the chorus when she sings, “It’s been three hundred sixty-five of record lows and record highs. Loving and losing, fun and confusing, praying and shifting gears … it’s been a year”. What a great hook. “365 of record lows and record highs”, I think everyone can relate.
Clearing Headspace
She stopped talking and just dropped her head. I then asked the “hard” question, “How much do you charge for rent?” She was staggered. “What?” She replied, “What the f*#k does that mean, what rent, I’m living in my house?” I chuckled and said, “Rent for the room that these people are taking up in your head?”
Accepting Blame
One of the biggest faults most of us have is that we lack the ability to take the blame when things go wrong. We can turn on the TV any time of day and watch one political party blame the issues on the other party and yet, in the same breath, take credit for all of the good. Not only in politics but we see this on talk shows, courtroom shows, soap operas, movies, commercials, sitcoms … everywhere!! We go to work and we watch the drama in real life. Even at home we see family bickering with one side saying it was the other side’s fault.
We are inundated with the “blame game”.
Dancing In the Rain
Over the Memorial Day weekend, I was the officiant at the wedding of the daughter of two of my quarters (Rod and Jacque Coyan). My part was short – to the point – with “humor and just the right amount of seriousness”, as I was told after the ceremony by a person I had never met.
From the rooftop of a hotel, located in the middle of the city, to the open fields of my friend’s father’s farm, was a 20-minute ride in a limo. The cocktail hour was full of laughter and handshakes and hugs from people that I knew who had attended the wedding. The dinner was great, not just chicken, but a choice of salmon and beef. Then came the after-dinner speeches. The brother of the groom, who had never addressed a crowd that numbered nearly 250 souls, if not more, did a great job. The parents and the maid of honor all hit home runs. The music started and about an hour afterwards the wind started picking up. If you’ve ever lived in the high plains, you know you can see a storm coming.
The wedding and the storm were going to meet … head-on.
The rain came down and the wind blew. A beautiful day was now at the will of the storm. I sat back and wondered how the bride would react. I thought I knew who she was. I wanted to see if I was right or wrong. This wedding balanced on her reaction to the turn in the weather.
Move or Die
Have you ever heard of Hugh Glass? If you remember the movie “The Revenant” which starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass. He was a fur trapper who was mauled by a bear and was left for dead after his fur trapping “friends” left him near a small stream because they were being hunted by a group of indigenous warriors.
The Truth
We all want the truth. We want the truth from our friends, family, employer, employees, politicians, the media. We just want to be told what is true and what is not. It doesn’t sound too difficult. Just tell the truth without adding any bias, innuendo, shading, or further explanation.
Stuck – Stagnate – Die
We are born, we work, we die. If this is your timeline … we need to talk. Unfortunately, most people live their whole life working for someone else’s dreams, while their personal dreams die on the vine. How many people dream of breaking their body down day after day for a paycheck? Oh, Lord, please have me in so much pain that I can’t live a complete life. How many people pray this prayer every night? That’s right NONE!!!
So why do we do this? Why do we get into a job that is not what we had always dreamt of? Why do we toil for people who don’t care about our dreams day after day, year after year? I understand we need to make ends meet. But at what point did you decide your dreams weren’t important?
Boxes
What I don’t carry with me is a lot of other people’s baggage. If we want to live our best life, we can not be burdened, and held back, by other people’s baggage. We need to release that which does not propel us forward. We must understand those who are around us that want to help us and those who want to hold us back.