I have been looking forward to (and nervous about) writing this post for a while now because frankly, it will surprise some of you.
You see, despite outward appearances, like many of you, I am an introvert. Which is not the same as being shy per se. It means that I enjoy my own company; I enjoy solitude.
And just like most of you I have doubts from time to time; I worry about failure.
But I also decided a few years ago that I would take old Winston Churchill’s advice and never, never, never give up.
Quitting is not conducive to my life goals. That is not going to let me help athletes exceed even their own expectations and develop beyond their current perception of excellence.
What do I do when I start to worry about ‘What If’ that shifts my focus back to ‘Why Not’?
I Channel My Inner Bono
I bet the first thing to pop into the mind of a few of you was ‘Oh, I HATE that guy’.
Lesson #1 – haters gonna hate (and that is okay)
You see I admire the man – in fact he is one of my heroes (not for the way he rides a bicycle mind you).
He is not even my hero because he has donated so much money, time and energy into banishing extreme poverty.
He is my hero because he is not afraid to have crazy, big, bodacious vision!
When the boys of U2 were just that – boys – he was telling them and anyone else that they were going to be the biggest band in the world. Have you ever heard really early recordings of Bono ‘singing’ – not good.
Don’t believe me…watch this
It is their first TV appearance and it actually is one of the better recordings from those early times – mind you they had already been at it a few years by this point.
If you cannot see the video above, click here
In his adolescence with his voice cracking and shrieking, it was not a trained voice, but you could not deny the passion – that is what drew me in.
Failure was not an option.
If it meant opening for punk bands and getting spit on for their entire set – they did it.
He decided what he wanted and he went for it, when he saw his opportunities he made the most of it (their performance at the original Live Aid comes to mind).
The fact is, he and the rest of U2 where not destine for success, they were destine for failure, but they were either too stubborn or too stupid to quit – it doesn’t matter which.
How I Channel My Inner Bono
I decided a year or so ago that I was going for it. That I was going to help you exceed your expectations, get you to that next level. For some of you that means stepping up to AAA, for others it means the Adult League Championship and for a few of you that will mean all the way to the NHL.
I decided that I won’t quit until that happens.
If it means I need to get outside my comfort zone – so be it.
If it means more hours in the early morning and on the weekend designing programs, shooting video, posting articles – so be it.
If it means getting the occasional crusty email from someone who hates getting my stupid emails about goalie training and rock stars – so be it.
Because it is all worth it each time I get an email like this one…
“Thanks for your help! Just a fun fact for you- my older son now plays D1 college. My younger son has his sights set on doing the same thing!”
Why don’t you join me?
Decide what you want. Decide that you won’t quit – even if you don’t believe you have the talent. Decide that you will keep going until you either make it or run out of road.
There is no shame in trying, even if you fail.
So let us go boldly in the direction of our dreams – no one is going to do it for us.
Happy training!
Cheers,
M