Speaker 1: 0:00

Everybody. On this week's episode of the Burn, we are doing something special. You know we have just started the second quarter and I've always considered the second quarter it's like this emergency opportunity. Everybody talks about closing the year strong, starting the year fast, but I'll tell you what second quarter gets lost. It's going to come down to you staying connected to your burn, you dominating and attacking your standards every day. So we've gone back into the archives to pull four episodes to highlight the importance of the standard for you to capitalize on attacking one day at a time in this second quarter to make the second quarter your best quarter and the separator of what's going to make this year great. No excuses, no holding back. We stay relentless, we attack. You're also going to see I had some hair in some of these past episodes and so we're going to get real, we're going to get raw, we're going to connect you to those standards. We're going back to the archives. Now we go, we attack this second quarter.

Speaker 1: 0:59

So I just shift the perspective. I call that the power to reframe right. It's our ability to focus on the solution rather than the problem. When you're winning, that's oftentimes the biggest problem that you face, because we get seduced by success. I will go after that vision because I understand the fire that lies inside of me that's going to cause me to fight on the days that I don't want to do it. If you are leading other people and you teach them to lock into the details with an intentional focus, you will win at a higher level.

Speaker 1: 1:41

But a lot of the discipline is wanting to maximize every single day. So for you, you have a choice. You have earned everything that you've had. You've fought through all the adversity because you made a choice. Here's how I'm going to work, and oftentimes it's not the work that the Nuggets ask you to do. It's the unrequired work, it's the extra work.

Speaker 1: 2:00

My guy Messer, I remember speaking to his team at SIUE when he played back in the day years ago. They would bring me in to speak and you know it's the work that you guys put in in the gym. That's what gets it done. And so for me, it's the little things that I've been blessed to have coaches and mentors in my life who have helped me understand. If you do the little things every day and you keep stacking those habits every day, day after day after day, from my nutrition to my health, to how I show up for my family and my kids, to how I work. If we just take it one day at a time and choose to win one day at a time, you will have success, and I think a lot of people they get so caught up in. I want the result.

Speaker 2: 2:36

Give me the result right now. Oh, just give it to me right now.

Speaker 1: 2:40

As opposed to are you willing to do what it takes every day in order to achieve that result? And most people they don't have that consistency. And I believe one more thing we have to be the example.

Speaker 3: 2:51

We have to be the example. You can't talk about it if you're not doing it.

Speaker 1: 2:56

I mean, there would be a different level of respect, or maybe we wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't show up in my life and have discipline, because how?

Speaker 3: 3:02

could you?

Speaker 1: 3:03

and I have a conversation about discipline if I didn't show up in my life and have discipline, because how could you and I have a conversation about discipline if I was completely undisciplined? There would just be a different level of respect, and so I feel like you have to be an example of showing up and doing the things. How could I have a conversation with you about discipline if I'm undisciplined?

Speaker 3: 3:16

Exactly so, man, I know a lot of people like they want to make these life habits, these new changes, but then know, like everyone, we're human. So I don't know if you ever have off days, but like because you. But like when people have a bad day or they feel like they lost the day, how do you, when you're so driven by a standard and you, you know like you're putting these streaks together, whatever it is, and you have a bad day, how do you kind of like bounce back from that guilt and not let one bad day turn into oh, I'm gonna'm going to just give it all up? You?

Speaker 3: 3:45

know a lot of people do that. They make these New Year's resolutions they might do good for like a week and then they fall off for a day, and now it's kind of hard to get back on the right path. What do you say to people?

Speaker 1: 3:56

like that. For me it's about the shifting of perspective, right as tough as it is on the ears. I go back to my mother coming to the dining room table with an IV stand while we had 24-hour nursing care in our house her last year living to ask my older brother, drew and I, how our days were at school.

Speaker 1: 4:12

So if my mother was able to do that. What's really a bad day for me? So I just shift the perspective. I call that the power to reframe right. It's our ability to focus on the solution rather than the problem, and I think that's the opportunity. It doesn't mean I don't have bad days. I still have two coaches. I read books every day. I have mentors. I'm high maintenance, right I mean.

Speaker 1: 4:31

I have issues, I have problems, I have struggles, but I have people there to help me. So, number one, I think it's acknowledging it's okay to have challenge and adversity I have it all the time but time but I have those confidants and individuals that I reach out to who help me get through it. I think, anytime we try to manage it alone. That's where we get in trouble.

Speaker 1: 4:48

That's why I admired. You know when you'll pick up the phone and call me hey, let's talk through something, right? If you try to do it by yourself, you take it onto the court. So my goal in a conversation like that is I want to provide peace of mind for you. Let's leave it off the court, have intentional focus, lock in and play your game.

Speaker 3: 5:04

I think, like you said, the ability to reframe is so much more easier said than done, but it really is a choice. I think a lot of people, especially in today's age I don't know if it's social media or what it is, but they have a hard time, with anxiety, choosing their thoughts. Is that kind of like a muscle, like you have to just do it over and over and then you get better at kind of choosing to think positive, or is it just getting off your phone? I think this is it for me kind of getting off my phone, going into quiet space and just sitting and then kind of changing perspectives, because it's hard, like you say it all the time eliminate distractions. Is that the only way you can really do it, you think?

Speaker 1: 5:41

Yeah, I mean, you just said it, you've identified. I have to put my phone away if I'm actually going to free my mind. So most people know you should probably put your phone away.

Speaker 3: 5:50

But then what?

Speaker 1: 5:50

do most people do they don't put their phone away. So you've identified okay.

Speaker 3: 5:54

here's the shift I have to make in my environment if I'm actually going to clear my mind and I think that's common for any to do, but do we actually choose to do the things we know we need to do to have a clear mind, to perform, or to give ourselves that peace or to be able to push away?

Speaker 3: 6:11

And that funny though, like, we always say, like when, for a lot of people that struggle with social media use or whatever, when I get off social media I feel the best I've ever felt, but then, like, we always kind of end up going back to some of the destructive things in our life. I don't know where that that comes from. Like I know there's a quote that says a lot of times we are more afraid of our true light and potential than we are of our darkness. We feel more comfortable, kind of, in our old bad habits and the things we used to do, which is kind of a crazy thought. You know what I mean? Some people are so like it's actually hard for them to evolve and become their better self because it's just uncomfortable. People don't like being uncomfortable.

Speaker 1: 6:47

Right right, it's easier to be comfortable. It's easier to just live in comfort.

Speaker 1: 6:51

It's hard to be uncomfortable it's hard to do something repeatedly, over and over and over again, right there's. There's a point when you train right, you're going to reach a wall and people's greatest growth comes when you push through that wall. And then, when that uncomfortable becomes comfortable, then it's the choice Can I get to uncomfortable again? And that's where greatness really comes through. It's when it's that constant pursuit of being uncomfortable, when most people just want to stay comfortable or they reach a point of being content and so I know these types of conversations. It's hard for people. Sometimes they're like, oh my goodness, like this is kind of freaking me out a little bit, you know, but we all have it in us in order to get to that place. But you have to choose to go there. And once you test yourself, you realize what you have, you realize you perform at a higher level. More confidence comes. That confidence shows up in all areas of your life.

Speaker 1: 7:39

Yeah, and it just feels good if you're not doing what you know you need to do to feel good. That doesn't feel good, exactly, but people seek that. Sometimes it all starts with the problem. So let's get real with you here. Here's where I think a lot of coaches they fall short of the right conversation to have with you. Coaches these days they want it to be Pollyanna Just wake up and just tell yourself you're amazing and everything's going to be great. What kind of bullshit is that? Now, look, I'm with the best of them. I want to encourage you. I want to believe in you. I believe in I am statements which we're going to talk about. I believe in affirmations, but they say it as if all you have to do is just wake up and look into the sky and it all magically happens. And then you walk outside and you take your shoes off and you ground yourself to the earth and then, magically, everything is just going to come your way. Person who changed their bio like three weeks ago on Instagram I'm one of the best in the world, I'm a coach and I'm not discounting it. But, like have your patience to take time to actually do the work. That requires you to have the experience to understand what it actually takes, and what actually takes is the real conversations to say I know for a fact, because I've been doing this for so long, that every single one of you, you're currently in the middle of a problem, or you just worked your way through a problem, or there's a problem coming at you that you're about to experience, or you're winning. And here's the one that I love. It's when you're winning.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Some people say what are you talking about? Like, if I'm winning? When you're winning, that's oftentimes the biggest problem that you face, because we get seduced by success, and we've all been there. You're winning, things are going well, you're excited, you're fired up, you get on this roll of life and then you realize that creates the biggest problem, because once you start winning, it was so hard to win you stopped doing what you were doing. That caused you to win.

Speaker 1: 9:45

I told you this is as basic as it gets, so you have to start every day, not by this Pollyanna let me just wake up and I'll believe it will happen. It's actually saying to what's the problem that I'm going to face today? Let me be honest with myself. There's a problem I'm going to face. I would rather you diagnose the problem, whether it's winning or it's an actual problem and then plan to do something about it, than to just look up at the sky and say all I need to do is pray and wake up and ground my feet into the earth and everything's going to work out. That is not the way that it works, and anybody who's telling you that's the way that it works I have 18 years to prove that that's not the truth. And Dr Lyon's going to come up here and prove to you with the science to back it up. That's bullshit.

Speaker 1: 10:40

Now, what I do know is that everything you need is already in you. What I do know is that Ed Milet is the greatest coach and speaker in the world. That man lights me up like no other, and what I do know is that Ed Milet believes in this. And what I do know is that Ed Milet believes in this Because we've had conversations about it and he said Ben, you nailed it, and he's somebody who's shown me how big you can go in life. He's somebody.

Speaker 1: 11:10

When you have the right people in your life, you can't be seduced by success because you realize you haven't done a damn thing. And I love having those people in my life because they push me and they challenge me. So I'm here to challenge you and push you and remind you. Yes, everything you need is already in you, but you better start being honest with yourself, and when you win, it just means you have it in you to win. So keep doing the things that caused you to win, and let's probably lean in and give more to the things that are causing you to win. So you have to identify the problem and then, once you identify the problem, you have to plan. So let's say, you're currently winning at a high level, right now. Right now, you are winning at a very high level. That's you. And so what I want you to do, I want you to wake up. I want you to take your bookmark from Michelle wherever you put it, and I want you to look. We have been getting after it. Our team is having the best results we've ever experienced. And then what I want you to say to yourself is very basic. The planning is why are we winning? Why? Why are we winning? And then you're going to say we're winning because we're doing X, y and Z. And then you're going to write down X, y and Z. You're going to say we're winning because I'm doing this thing and this thing and this thing. Maybe it's choosing to recognize people on your team for the process. That's causing you to win. Keep doing that every day.

Speaker 1: 12:41

Some of you may say in our sales process, regardless of the media and politics, saying that you can't win. During times like this, there's behaviors you're following through with that are causing you to win. And some people may say how is she winning like this? This doesn't even make any sense because you're doing the work. So I want you to highlight the work. That's the planning. This is why you're winning. And then maybe there's one thing. Maybe it's you've actually been more meticulous with your workouts and your nutrition and you're realizing it's giving you more energy. So the problem, potentially, is I'm winning. So here are the things that are why.

Speaker 1: 13:15

And then the performance piece. This is really magical. This is really really like complex. You ready for this? Just do what you've been doing. So if you plan and you say these three things are causing me to win, all I want you to do is just keep doing it. But see, the problem is we don't build the environments that speak to our disciplines and speak to our habits and remind us what we're doing to win. We live off of our feelings and we say, gosh, it feels good to win. It was so hard to get to this win and you're not meticulous enough and intentional enough with why you're winning. So the performance piece, which is the simple act of taking the action, you don't do it and you can't win like that. Nick Saban has become the most meticulous coach to ever walk the face of the earth. That teaches this.

Speaker 1: 14:10

You go to a practice with Nick Saban. I mean it's the most unbelievable thing you've ever seen. I don't care, it could be October, pick a month. I mean they'd be 5-0. I'd be there for a visit. I'd go there 15, 20 times a year. I'd go there. It'd be the end of practice. They'd be 5-0, number one in the country. And Coach Saban would talk to the players and he'd be like at what point are you going to choose to actually do what it takes for you to be your best? At what point are you going to slow down and lock in on what you need to do to actually be your best? What was he doing? He was speaking to the problem, getting them to plan it out. You know what you need to do and then he's encouraging them to do it and then when Alabama would win the payoff.

Speaker 1: 14:58

When you win, here's the magic thing you have to remember about the payoff. When you win, here's the magic thing you have to remember about the payoff Many people and I'm not telling you like, don't celebrate, don't enjoy, don't get excited. When things are going well in your life, I want you to get excited about it. So when you get this payoff, keep the main thing, the main thing you should expect, the way that she expects. If I go give a talk, she expects I'm going to prepare, I'm going to be detailed and I'm going to deliver what I say. I'm going to deliver. So she knows that I'm going to. So when you get the payoff, don't be surprised when you win, because you did what you know you need to do, because you planned out what you needed to do, and you are the ones who's being honest with yourself that there are problems and things you're going to face. Don't be so surprised when you get the payoff.

Speaker 1: 15:46

The highest performers in the world. They don't just tell us how great they want to be. We can have a conversation with their action and their action will show us how bad they really want it. And I think we're in a period of time in this country where there's lots of fears, doubts and uncertainties, and some of them are very warranted. Other times we as adults, because we face so much challenge and adversity, we build this skyscraper in our imagination as to how bad a situation is, when maybe it really isn't that bad.

Speaker 1: 16:15

And oftentimes it's difficult to watch. It results in people sitting on the sideline waiting to see what happens, devin, they'll tell us how great they want to be, but they're not taking the action. So, to answer your question, I would actually ask the question for everybody listening. Based upon your goals and your vision, don't you know what you need to do every day? You probably actually know what you need to do on a daily basis, but far too often we fall short of consistently doing the things that we need to do. Take it, for instance you're an ultra marathon runner, which I think is nuts. I've run one marathon just to be able to say that I did it. I thought my legs were going to fall off when I was done.

Speaker 1: 16:58

When you run ultra marathons, we can talk about that at other times. I don't know how you get your body to do something like that, but when you run an ultra marathon, devin, you know what you need to do. So you either prepare and you train, or you show up and you don't finish the race, and so you clearly know. You probably studied when you had a vision I want to run an ultra marathon. Here's what I need to do to run an ultra marathon, and you're either going to do the work or not do the work. You're going to train or not train. So oftentimes we know what we need to do and I would just encourage everybody stay connected to what drives you. Stay connected to your fire and identify the work, which you probably already know what the work is. That's going to cause you to have the highest probability of following through with your vision.

Speaker 2: 17:41

You hit on something there, ben, that I really want to touch on, and that is the fact of having that vision, because I feel like that's where a lot of us are lacking in our lives is that we don't have that something to enhance our performance, to excite us, get us up in the morning. And I'm curious as to, with your work with some of the top athletes in the world I mean, you look at, alabama produces the top talent in the country In terms of having that vision. How clearly defined do the top performers that you've interacted with, how clearly defined is that vision that they hold in their head of where they want to be in the future and who they want to become?

Speaker 1: 18:19

Well, believe it or not, before we even talk about vision, I want to win a national championship with my team. I want to win a Heisman Trophy. I want to win a Bolitnikoff Award. I want to be, you know, all SEC. Whatever those goals are, you don't start there. What I always do is I start with that burn, that fire that lies inside of all of us. You know, for all of us. You know there's a lot of coaches and speakers Let me take a step back A lot of coaches and speakers that do the work that I do. They talk about why and they talk about purpose, but they actually forget to talk about that fire, that burn that lies inside of all of us, that actually ignites the why and the purpose that then causes you to take the necessary action or causes you to give yourself permission to say I will go after that vision because I understand the fire that lies inside of me that's going to cause me to fight on the days that I don't want to do it.

Speaker 1: 19:13

I've had the blessing of working in Alabama for five years. Within the first five minutes of my first talk with the Alabama football team, first five minutes of spending time with this incredible organization, they knew the story of my mother passing away. They knew my mother coming to the dinner table with an IV scan, with 24-hour nursing care in our house when I was a seven-year-old boy to ask me how my day was at school. They knew that my parents were divorced when I was six months old. Never knew them together. They knew the pain and challenges that I went through with my father after my mother passed away. They knew my story, devin, and they knew that there was a fire inside of me as a result of what I had been through that ignites my why and my purpose. That causes me to show up and do what I say I'm going to do on a daily basis. After I shared that story, within five minutes I asked all the players. I said hey, I've done this enough times. No, I'm not the only one that has a story. Each and every single one of you has a story. You have a burn that lies inside of you. We could say that to all your listeners right now. I'm not the only one who's had loss. I'm not the only one who's experienced pain. I'm not the only one who's been through challenge, but far too often we don't slow down enough to connect to that perspective that's going to cause you to fight. I call it the burn that's the name of our podcast, the Burn and so I think it really starts Devin with individuals identifying what is that burn that lies inside of you that's going to ignite that why and the purpose that's going to cause you to take the necessary action to go and tackle that vision and to think big enough to give yourself permission to make the vision something that might scare the hell out of you, but if the burn's bright enough, you'll work hard for it every day, and so we all have perspective of tough things that we've been through, and so I encourage you to connect to that perspective with intentional focus. I've been sharing this for years. It's another one of those things I've just found in doing this for a long time.

Speaker 1: 21:08

You hear people talk about focus. Right, one of the things that Sean and I have talked a lot about, that we always bring to our coaching methodology, is that focus is not enough. We talk about it all the time. It's not enough, and some people they say, well, what do you mean? Focus isn't enough, it's not. Focus doesn't cause you to lock in and attack the details, but intentional focus does.

Speaker 1: 21:34

I'll give you a football example. I was working with an offensive lineman during training camp season and this offensive lineman, we're having a conversation. I said well, what does focus mean to you? And he looks at me and we were preparing for a scrimmage that day and I said what does focus mean? He said, man, I show up, get up on that line. They run the play and I attack the play. I said okay, sounds good, that's focus. Like you're ready to run the play.

Speaker 1: 21:59

I said remember the conversations we've had about intentional focus? And I kind of called him out. He said yeah, and I said well, the answer you just gave me is focus. It's not intentional focus. And I said remember when I encouraged everybody to break down game film, to stop making excuses and break down the game film to really identify the little edge, the little difference, so that the game would slow down for you? I said did you forget that conversation we had? Now, this was one-on-one. It's never one-on-one. I'll challenge the shit out of people. I'll still do it, sometimes in a group setting, but I won't make anybody raise their hand. So I really I said how did you forget that man? I said don't you remember when we talked about game film and I said look, I said when you watch game film you have to lock in, watch more film than somebody else so I can watch the tendencies of the man that I'm lining up across from.

Speaker 1: 22:46

So if I'm heading into a scrimmage and I know here's the defensive end's tendencies If he puts his hand in the dirt, I know he's going this way. If he actually lines up without his hands in the dirt he's going to go another way. Then you need to understand those tendencies so you can attack and exploit those tendencies so that you can dominate your one-on-one and beat that man every time you snap the ball. You guys see the difference between focus and intentional focus. I lock in on what's in front of me. I lock in on the things that set my mind, that are in the environment, that I know lock me in to compete to be my best, one day at a time. So it's intentional focus. Focus is not enough. If you are leading other people and you teach them to lock into the details with an intentional focus, you will win at a higher level.