It's now 2021 ... Tom Brady and the Patriots have parted ways. The Patriots had a middling season – while Tom Brady, who is now the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, made it to his 10th Super Bowl appearance.
There is a difference between 'luck' and 'skill'.
Both exist ... yet, luck favors the prepared.
In life, as in sports, hard work often beats talent (especially if talent fails to work hard).
Don't get me wrong - all the commentary about the Patriots in 2017 is true. Bill Belichick is an amazing coach with a storied career (even without Brady).
But, when you see this picture from the 2000 NFL Combine, it's hard to believe that Tom Brady would be a 6-time Superbowl MVP taking the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl in his first year with them. All at the geriatric (for an NFL player) age of 43.
When I talked about the Patriots, I focused on the fact that they were a well-oiled machine with a powerful framework of success that allowed individual greatness to shine.
I think Brady's continued success is emblematic of that.
Tom Brady is a paragon of culture, process, and hard work. Much of his approach was molded by his time with Belichick, but of course, he gets enormous personal credit as well.
He expects the best of himself and brings out the best in his teammates. That's enabled him to stay a top-level competitor despite not being the strongest, fastest, or most mobile QB (and that was when he was young).
The System is the 'system'; but, within it, you can measure what works, who contributes, and use it to identify the best things to try next.
Win, lose, or draw ... some things speak for themselves.
As I get older, I become more conscious of my mental and physical health. It's easy as an entrepreneur or business person to lose track of your health - but investing in your personal health can be the best thing you do for your business.
Many of my friends now believe that with technology and a sustained focus on health & longevity, they can live past 100. They're paying attention to genetic, physiologic & biochemical makeup, cognitive function, body composition, cardiovascular performance, hormonal status, and much more. Whether they're going to live past 100 or not, I can see the daily results in the quality of their life and the way they look.
It's the reason I started working with APEX, Dr. Jeffrey Gladden's concierge medical wellness practice.
They've got me eating salads, taking supplements, and thinking about what it takes to be healthy, fit, and vital.
The goal is to enjoy life though ... Not to deprive yourself as this image portrays ...
Exercise is also an important part of the "healthy, fit, and vital" equation.
With gyms being closed during the recent Quarantine, I found another tool that I fell in love with.
Her name is Carol; an AI fitness bike that personalizes a HIIT workout for you, based on your fitness and your preferred workout length. It makes it way easier for me to fit workouts into my schedule (and way harder to justify skipping a session).
The promise is an "hour's worth" of exercise compressed into an 8-minute workout that really only has two 20-second periods of intense effort.
The science is sound. My experience is that it works for me. I've done it for about two months now. The results are undeniable (in terms of muscle tone, endurance, 20% improvement on many of the metrics tracked by the bike, etc.).
The more you use it the smarter it gets. It automatically adjusts to give you exactly the resistance you need to keep you motivated and to continue making progress.
I've been impressed. Working-out at home has always been a struggle for me. I've bought other tools for lifting or cardio, but they tend to end up as coat racks or space fillers.
Exercise has a "social" component for some people ( comes to mind). Some people need the "social" component of exercise to get through hard workouts (think Peloton or OrangeTheory.) The Carol bike doesn't fully satisfy that part of exercise ... but they do a great job of keeping the session short, fun, and gamified (so that you know where you are, how you are progressing, and where you stand in the rankings). The combination of the efficiency of the workouts - and being able to see that you are getting fitter, objectively, has been just what I needed.
Silencing the voice in your head that says "you can't" is impossible, but ignoring the voice, and learning to compete with it is entirely possible.
Failure is an option, but it's the only option available if you don't try. Motion begets motion. And, with persistence, failure can be a stone on the path to eventual success.
The NFL draft happened this week, despite the Quarantine.
I was happy to distract myself from the economy and news cycles.
Football is something I used to love to play. And it is still something that informs my thoughts and actions.
Some lessons relate to being part of a team, while others relate to the coaching or management side of things.
Some of these lessons stem back to youth football ... but I still learn things watching games – and even more from watching Dallas Cowboys practices at The Star.
Think about it, even in middle school, the coaches have a game plan. There are team practices and individual drills. They have a depth chart, which lists the first, second, and third choice to fill certain roles. In short, they focus on the fundamentals in a way that most businesses don't.
The picture, below, is of my brother's high school team way back in 1989.
To re-state, most businesses are less prepared for their problems than an 8th-grade football team. Now, that sounds offensive to some of you, but if you think about it ... it's pretty true.
Losing to An 8th Grade Team
I shot this video right before the COVID-19 shutdown. I encourage you to watch it. I think it's 3 minutes well spent.
Teams think about how to improve each player, how to beat this week's problem, and then how to string together wins to achieve a higher goal.
Contrast that with many businesses. Entrepreneurs often get myopic ... they get focused on today, focused on survival, and they lose sight of the bigger picture and how all the pieces fit together.
The amount of thought that goes into football - which is ultimately a game - is a valuable lesson for business.
What about when you get to the highest level? If an 8th-grade football team is equivalent to a normal business, what about businesses that are killing it? That would be similar to an NFL team.
Let's look at the Cowboys.
Practice Makes Perfect
How you do one thing is how you do everything. So, they try to do everything right.
Each time I've watched a practice session I've come away impressed by the amount of preparation, effort, and skill displayed.
During practice, there's a scheduled agenda. The practice is broken into chunks, and each chunk has a designed purpose and a desired intensity. There's a rhythm, even to the breaks.
Every minute is scripted. There's a long-term plan to handle the season ... but, there was also a focus on the short-term details and their current opponent.
They alternate between individual and group drills. Moreover, the drills run fast ... but for shorter time periods than you'd guess. It is bang-bang-bang – never longer than a millennial's attention span. And they move from drill to drill – working not just on plays, but the skillsets as well (where are you looking, which foot do you plant, how do you best use your hands, etc.).
They use advanced technology (including advanced player monitoring, biometric tracking, and medical recovery devices ... but also things like robotic tackling dummies and virtual reality headsets).
They don't just film games, they film the practices ... and each individual drill. Coaches and players get a cut of the film on their tablets as soon as they leave. It is a process of constant feedback, constant improvement, or constant renewal. Everything has the potential to be a lesson.
Beyond The Snap
The focus is not just internal, on the team. They focus on the competition as well. Before a game, the coaches prepare a game plan and have the team watch tape of their opponent in order to understand the tendencies and mentally prepare for what's going to happen.
During the game, changes in personnel groups and schemes keep competitors on their toes and allow the team to identify coverages and predict plays. If the offense realizes a play has been predicted, they call an audible based on what they see in front of them. Coaches from different hierarchies work in tandem to respond faster to new problems.
After the game, the film is reviewed in detail. Each person gets a grade on each play, and the coaches make notes for each person about what they did well and what they could do better.
Think about it ... everyone knows what game they are playing ... and for the most part, everybody understands the rules, and how to keep score (and even where they are in the standings). Even the coaches get feedback based on performance, and they look to others for guidance.
Imagine how easy that would be to do in business. Imagine how much better things could be if you did those things.
Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - April 4th, 2021
Happy Easter!
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.
Lighter Links:
Trading Links:
Posted at 07:44 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Games, Healthy Lifestyle, Ideas, Just for Fun, Market Commentary, Music, Science, Sports, Trading, Trading Tools, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (3)
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