Tightening the loose boots

“A man's accomplishments in life are the cumulative effect of his attention to detail.”—John Foster Dulles

I coach a youth lacrosse team in Annapolis and love every minute of it. To start off last nights practice I made them all stand in a single line shoulder to shoulder facing my coaches and I. We went through every single kid’s shoes to see who had “loose boots” by administering the “shoe wedgie” test. All the kids that received a shoe wedgie had to step forward in front of their peers and be called out. With 4 kids having to step forward, I let the team know they would ALL be running suicides because of the 4 kid’s “loose boots”.
After the run, I introduced and then elaborated on my little success equation “the little things + attention to detail + discipline = success”. You should have seen these kid’s faces! They literally looked at me like I was a crack head. I continued to explain that if they put that equation to use it will snow ball into great accomplishments. Again, the guys looked at me with a stank fish eye, confused and tired, trying to comprehend why I made them run because of “loose boots”. So… I went on to explain the following:
"As a lacrosse player you are expected to be fast. You are expected to be quick. And, you are expected to be an "athlete". If your shoes are loose, you cannot run as fast as you need to. You cannot shift as quick as you need to. And, with going half ass in practice, your muscles will not develop due to the lack of performance thus restricting your overall athletic potential… How can you develop as a complete lacrosse player, if you can't even run?" Their fish eyed looks began to transform into thinking regular faces. "As an athlete, if you don’t take care of the little things, if you don’t have attention to even the smallest detail, the rest will suffer. It doesn’t matter if its nutrition, equipment, mental preparation, sleep, hydration…they all require attention to detail, they are all little things, and to be able to recognize the amount of work and organization it will take to be an elite athlete…its going to take SERIOUS discipline.”
This can be translated into any job, in any field, at any time. In business, I believe the masses have a case of the “loose boots”. If we are going to get ahead, we have to tie the laces tight…

A friend of mine had a meeting with the VP of a professional sports team and called me after the meeting to share the wisdom that was dropped on him. Below is an overview of the "dropped knowledge"...


"Some Serious Notes from A SERIOUS MOTHER FUCKER:

• 2 Ears 1 Mouth……Listen Two times as much as you speak
• People do fucking business with people they fucking like
• Ask for references after you have crushed your performance (cutting grass theory)
• NEVER LIE……ALWAYS BE HONEST
• Sell it so you over deliver….So when you deliver it was the extra work YOU did
• BE NICE
• Entitlement
1. You are not entitled to SHIT
2. You must earn everything yourself
3. Position yourself as an asset to the company
4. Your generation thinks they deserve everything…that could not be further from the truth
• Be the 1st one in the office everyday…Get there; make a pot of coffee and poor half of it out. People will think you have drank 3 cups already
• Don’t lose the basics and get caught up in what you don’t know about what your selling
• College is OVER
1. Don't live like a Cave Man (Ben Roethlisberger lives like a cave man “I’m big Ben I can Fuck anything I want”)
2. Shower
3. Present yourself well
4. Manners Matter big time
• You don’t have to be a fucking nerd about what you are selling but be the “doctor with good bed side manner.”
• There is no such thing as a little deal
• No detail is too small
• Work Hard…..Play Hard…”Blow that shit out”… you must have fun
• Always write thank you notes. Make it personal, get some personal stationary. “I get 2000 emails a day, but if someone takes the time to write me a hand written note their stock goes up”.
• Do things against your nature
1. Get together with friends and talk about sales instead of pussy
2. Read books
• “The one thing you can change every day….EVERY DAY… is your fucking ATTITUDE! Be the happiest dude at the office”."

Following up "People are just people"

Had a great call today a "Big Whig" PR ninja who took the time to speak with me because of his belief in "Business Karma". FINALLY! Someone with views similar to mine! These people do exist and now there are two people in my wolf pack. He went on to elaborate how 100% of his business is through referrals and regardless of the meeting topic, he takes it. Can you believe it? A highly successful Partner at a PR firm that takes almost all meetings that people schedule with him because of business karma...very cool.

Dominate the day and know this..."karma will pay you back two fold in some way shape or form"

People are just people

My brother called me tonight with a dilemma...his lacrosse team started the season 0-2 and they are going into the toughest 5 games of the season. This brought me back to my sophomore season where we started the very same way. The only difference in my story is we turned it around for 15 straight wins. How did we do it? We were just a bunch of regular guys that had lost to some average teams...so how did we turn it around? I'll tell you...40 meat heads sat in a room and discussed their biggest fears, their ultimate goals, and their problems with the current state of the organization. Why did we all open up? Why did the biggest meat head on our team open up to his peers in tears (not rapping on purpose)...because in that situation, he got a first hand glimpse of "people are just people". Everyone has fears, everyone has problems, and unless you confront these things head on...you will never accomplish the goals you want in life. I told my brother this story and explained to him that the truly successful people in the world understand one thing and one thing only...PEOPLE ARE JUST PEOPLE. CEO's, waiters, designers, investors...at the end of the day, they go home, eat dinner with their family, go to bed, and then do it all over the next day. So WHY ARE WE AFRAID TO CONNECT?! Why is my brother afraid to go to his head coach and tell him why they lost, what they need to do to win, and what the real problems in his organization are?

For the past month I have literally been pulling the "JUST PEOPLE" out of everyone I meet. Life's too short for bullshit. For some reason our generation thinks we need to act "extra professional", speak without emotion and keep our real personalities hidden from the business world...I say fuck that! Why act fake?! So we can create a meaningful business relationship based on a personality that doesn't actually exist? Chris Martin from Coldplay had an interview a few years back and he said that he was just an average guy that has had extraordinary things happen to him...and I truly believe that is how 99.9% of the successful people in the world feel. So why don't we go after what we want? Why don't we tell people how we actually feel? Why don't we close the deals that we dream about? The only reason that comes to mind is...fear.

Take the chance and see what happens. In the end...PEOPLE ARE JUST PEOPLE.

Excuses are for the weak--Lesson 8

I had an epiphany yesterday...and that epiphany was...we all need to STOP MAKING EXCUSES, STOP WASTING TIME, AND START LIVING OUR LIVES LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW!

I'm sure you're thinking to yourself..."No shit, I've been trying and I am not getting anywhere. I still hate my job, I am still fat, and I don't make any money." I guarantee the answer to your problems, regardless of what they are, is that you make excuses. It may start off as a small excuse to something minuscule, but compound that excuse with another excuse...and you now have a medium excuse. If you follow that logic, you will wake up one morning and your entire being is essentially an excuse. For what? Because you are lazy? Because you are scared? Wake the fuck up! It is our responsibility as a generation to make this shit hole country of ours BETTER! We CAN NOT do that if everyone has an excuse every time a tough situation or decision pops up.

I decided when I was a freshman in college that excuses are for the weak. I was trying to make my mark in the athletic world and I realized the only one to blame for my success or failure was ME...not the coaches, not my teammates, and certainly not the opponent we were playing. I came up with a philosophy that allowed me to not only make my mark as a freshman but to continue forward with an elite collegiate career. What is this magical philosophy you ask?

"No Mind": A philosophy that completely embraces obstacles as they pop into life, turns them into fuel for your inner "fire", keeps a realistic positive attitude, and keeps complete focus on realistic goal setting. NO EXCUSES BABBYYYYYYYY! Let me tell you...after I wrote the 'ol "NM" on everything in sight as a reminder, I made it my mission to not let anything distract me from my ultimate goal of success. The coach tried to bench me...I sat outside of his office every morning before he arrived and asked him what I had to do to be the best. A better player transferred in to the school and took my spot...I worked out twice as hard, employed a strength and conditioning coach and took my game to the next level. My car was stolen the night before our conference championship game...I said "Fuck it, shit happens, and I will deal with this after the game". All of those situations could have created an easy way out...an easy excuse to quit..."he's just better", "my mind wasn't right due to my car being stolen", etc. etc. I say "FUCK IT, EXCUSES ARE FOR THE WEAK".

What if we all lived our daily lives with "No Mind"? Our DAILY lives...not our lives in 5 years or our "look back at 50", LIFE...today. I guarantee if you stop making excuses in every aspect of your life for ONE MONTH... you will see a significant improvement. We only have one shot at this thing called life and I say we make the most of it. No excuses...