Monthly Archives: June 2015

Excuse Me While I Get Offensive

Time to Get Offensive

Offense vs. Defense

Some will immediately say, “Defense wins championships.”  Maybe.  But, I’ll argue truly great offense can’t be stopped.

My personality, my history, my focus, has always been offense.  Yes, this probably hurt me a little in my basketball career, but I’m wired for offense.  Score, score, score, and more, more, more.  It’s who I am. There is no hiding from who I am. Get buckets!

Play more offense

This is why I decided to make a move in my career at the end of 2014.  I needed to get back to playing offense.  I needed to be making more moves and taking a bit more risk. I needed the jolt of uncertainty, a new challenge, and eye-opening experiences of new relationships and new endeavors.

Tim Ferriss recently interviewed Chris Sacca on the Tim Ferriss Show Podcast. (Side note, Chris is a really REALLY interesting and smart dude.  Specifically I’d encourage parents to listen to how he was raised). Sorry, back to the story. I listened to the podcast on my flight back from New York City last week and loved what Chris had to say about two life changing decisions that set him on the wave he’s currently riding today.

Decision Number 1: He chose to get back on offense.  That’s what triggered this post.

Chris has an undergrad degree and law degree from Georgetown.  He spent time at Google in it’s early years, made millions, lost millions, went into debt, and is now worth an estimated $1.07 billion.  Just to clarify the $.07 billion is $70 million if you’re into that.

I have a friend who started the company MMOGM.  Make Moves or Get Moved.  The site says is beautifully.

It started as a slogan.

Turned into a motto.

Bottom line, it’s a lifestyle!

Boom!  Do you think that sounds like playing offense or defense? Do you think these guys needed the approval of the outside world to start this concept.  HELL NO!

To play offense you don’t need to be ready to save the world or start that company. Speaking candidly, I thought long and hard about my decision last year and wasn’t ready…YET.  It didn’t mean I couldn’t continue to play offense.

Coaches hate mistakes.  But, they can live with making an aggressive mistake.   Why?  Because the key word isn’t mistake, it’s aggressive.  Dictate pace.  Force the issue.  Make mistakes quickly, learn faster, and move forward with better direction.

Aggression, energy, motion, and velocity.

ACTION ITEM: More of the gas pedal, less of the brake.

 

 

Read a Book and Disagree With It

Do you like apples?

Read a Book and Disagree With it

My favorite movie of all time is Good Will Hunting.  There’s a wonderful scene in the movie where the main character Will Hunting(played by Matt Damon) confronts a Harvard-mouth poser for reciting lines from historical literature to position himself better in the eyes of a young dame (Minnie Driver).

Will delivers a dynamite quote,

“See, the sad thing about a guy like you is, in 50 years, you’re gonna start doing some thinking on your own, and you’re gonna come up with the fact there are two certainties in life. One, don’t do that. And two, you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a f—— education you could’ve gotten for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library.”

What can this possibly teach you?

To anyone reading this with a Harvard education, don’t think for a second I’m demeaning your hard work and investment.  Instead, think about what Will is really saying in the quote above.

It’s really easy to buy a book, consume it, and agree with it’s every word. Genius!  Just the kind of thinking that will solve our problems moving forward.  Maybe you even memorize a few passages along the way.

No.  Challenge the book.  Learn to think critically and develop your own molded viewpoint of the world.

Read many books.  Make many agreements and many disagreements.

ACTION ITEM: This is how you grow.  New viewpoints, challenging opinions, and open thinking.  Just don’t wait the 50 years to do some thinking of your own.

“How do ya like them apples!!!”

1 Minute of Inspiration – From Shia Labeouf

If you had to watch one video today, I highly recommend this one from Shia Labeouf.   It will require only one minute of your precious Sunday afternoon time.

Who doesn’t have one minute?

https://youtu.be/nuHfVn_cfHU

It’s very easy to get caught up in the semantics, delivery, style, and Shia’s intensity in this video.  Don’t, like it or not.

Pay attention to the message, don’t get lost on the messenger.

After you’re done watching the video, I’d like to think the next three things are vitally important.  I did them.

  1. What are my dreams & BIG goals?
  2. What did I say I was going to start yesterday/this week to achieve my dreams & goals?
  3. How can I take the first step in that direction?

ACTION ITEM: Nothing like a little Sunday reflection time to get the week rolling in the right direction.  Please do steps one thru three I suggested above and be honest.  The truth can hurt (it often does for me), but the good news is you can change it and that’s where achievement happens.