Question 1: If you work hard and develop the gifts that were given to you, and you have a vision of serving others (teammates), then what do you deserve?
Question 2: If you do not work hard on yourself and are not concerned about those around you (teammates), then what do you deserve?
"You never get what you want, but you always get what you deserve."
Monday, August 2, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
The Scorpion and the Frog
Once upon a time, there lived a scorpion and a frog. As the frog sat in the warm sun on the bank of a stream, along came a scorpion who wanted to cross to the other side. He scuttled up to the frog and asked, "Please, Mr. Frog, can you carry me across the stream on your back?"
"I could," replied the frog, "but I must refuse; as you will probably sting me as I swim across."
"But, why would I do that?" asked the scorpion. "If I were to sting you, you would die and I would drown."
Now, the frog knew a thing or two about scorpions, and how lethal they were. But on the other hand, the scorpion had made a point and the point made sense. So the frog agreed. The scorpion climbed onto his back, and together they set off across the stream. About the time they reached the middle of the crossing, the scorpion stung the frog. Mortally wounded, the frog cried out, "Why did you sting me? It's not in your interests to sting me, because now I will die and you will drown."
"I know," replied the scorpion, as he sank into the stream. "But, you see, I am a scorpion. I have to sting you. It's in my nature."
Just as it is natural for the scorpion to sting the frog, it is natural for man to want to avoid change - because change is uncomfortable. In fact, when we are suffering, if change requires an effort on our part, we'll try to make our suffering more comfortable. We'll even change our self-talk to keep from becoming uncomfortable. How many times have you heard someone justify their comfort level?
The fact of the matter is, we need to get comfortable with getting uncomfortable - in order to change anything.
"I guess it comes down to a simple choice ... get busy living or get busy dying."
Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption
"I could," replied the frog, "but I must refuse; as you will probably sting me as I swim across."
"But, why would I do that?" asked the scorpion. "If I were to sting you, you would die and I would drown."
Now, the frog knew a thing or two about scorpions, and how lethal they were. But on the other hand, the scorpion had made a point and the point made sense. So the frog agreed. The scorpion climbed onto his back, and together they set off across the stream. About the time they reached the middle of the crossing, the scorpion stung the frog. Mortally wounded, the frog cried out, "Why did you sting me? It's not in your interests to sting me, because now I will die and you will drown."
"I know," replied the scorpion, as he sank into the stream. "But, you see, I am a scorpion. I have to sting you. It's in my nature."
Just as it is natural for the scorpion to sting the frog, it is natural for man to want to avoid change - because change is uncomfortable. In fact, when we are suffering, if change requires an effort on our part, we'll try to make our suffering more comfortable. We'll even change our self-talk to keep from becoming uncomfortable. How many times have you heard someone justify their comfort level?
The fact of the matter is, we need to get comfortable with getting uncomfortable - in order to change anything.
"I guess it comes down to a simple choice ... get busy living or get busy dying."
Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Gravel Pit
A young boy was at a gravel pit working with his father and another young man. They had a team of horses and were attempting to pull a load up a steep road. The young man driving the horses was loud and abusive. In response, the animals were hyper and agitated. They worked against each other and as a result, couldn't pull the load. With a gentle voice and a gentler touch, the dad calmed the horses and walked them forward with the load. When the horses cooperated, they could do much more than when they didn't work together.
The boy learned two important lessons from this experience:
1. Gentleness is a better method of getting cooperation than harshness and:
2. A team can accomplish much more when it works together than individuals can when they work alone.
We must find the best way and be willing to not have our way.
The boy learned two important lessons from this experience:
1. Gentleness is a better method of getting cooperation than harshness and:
2. A team can accomplish much more when it works together than individuals can when they work alone.
We must find the best way and be willing to not have our way.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Advice from Ron Wolf, former GM of the Green Bay Packers
"Look around at your situation. Examine your operation for complacency, for a sense of self-satisfaction, for a lack of determination. The mind-set should be one of ambition, of striving to be better, of desiring to excel. The elements of failure can be everywhere - employees flaunting rules, reporting late to work, leaving early, spending too much time complaining.
There has to be a purpose in what you do, and that purpose has to be understood and embraced by everyone in the organization.
You need to put the TEAM first over anything else. If priorities are different in your situation, you'll never be as good as you want. This means instilling an obsession within your TEAM that dominates the landscape."
Each of us needs to examine these comments from our individual perspective and more importantly from the perspective of OUR TEAM! If we are going to turn the corner what can you individually do to make a difference. This means anything from working harder to influencing your teammates. We have three weeks left before the end of the summer ... two contact days, three passing league games, three Fourth Quarter Fridays, and 9 weight room workouts ... Be the DIFFERENCE MAKER for the PATRIOTS!
There has to be a purpose in what you do, and that purpose has to be understood and embraced by everyone in the organization.
You need to put the TEAM first over anything else. If priorities are different in your situation, you'll never be as good as you want. This means instilling an obsession within your TEAM that dominates the landscape."
Each of us needs to examine these comments from our individual perspective and more importantly from the perspective of OUR TEAM! If we are going to turn the corner what can you individually do to make a difference. This means anything from working harder to influencing your teammates. We have three weeks left before the end of the summer ... two contact days, three passing league games, three Fourth Quarter Fridays, and 9 weight room workouts ... Be the DIFFERENCE MAKER for the PATRIOTS!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Think about it!
A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported the following:
Learners retain:
10 percent of what they read;
20 percent of what they hear;
30 percent of what they see;
50 percent of what they see and hear;
70 percent of what they say;
90 percent of what they say and do.
Learners retain:
10 percent of what they read;
20 percent of what they hear;
30 percent of what they see;
50 percent of what they see and hear;
70 percent of what they say;
90 percent of what they say and do.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Lesson of the String
Leading is both simple and difficult.
Younger or less experienced team members often think that leaders have it easier than the men they lead. Younger or less experienced team members do not believe that details matter. Younger or less experienced team members believe that it is easier to lead others by pushing them from behind.
Once you have spent time leading ... you realize that none of these statements is true. Leaders work harder, focus on details, and model from the front when they lead.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, used to say leadership is like a piece of string. Push it and the string will bunch up in failure. Instead, he said, you have to pull.
According to General Eisenhower this represents your chain of influence. If I want my teammates to run faster I must run faster. If I want my teammates to work harder I must work harder. If I want my teammates to make themselves "uncomfortable" I must make myself "uncomfortable", and under no circumstance can I afford to whine while I am working to improve myself.
Winners are always leading!
Respond to this post to earn your Patriot.
Mention this post to Coach on Friday and you will receive a token to remind you what kind of leaders Patriot Football needs.
Younger or less experienced team members often think that leaders have it easier than the men they lead. Younger or less experienced team members do not believe that details matter. Younger or less experienced team members believe that it is easier to lead others by pushing them from behind.
Once you have spent time leading ... you realize that none of these statements is true. Leaders work harder, focus on details, and model from the front when they lead.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, used to say leadership is like a piece of string. Push it and the string will bunch up in failure. Instead, he said, you have to pull.
According to General Eisenhower this represents your chain of influence. If I want my teammates to run faster I must run faster. If I want my teammates to work harder I must work harder. If I want my teammates to make themselves "uncomfortable" I must make myself "uncomfortable", and under no circumstance can I afford to whine while I am working to improve myself.
Winners are always leading!
Respond to this post to earn your Patriot.
Mention this post to Coach on Friday and you will receive a token to remind you what kind of leaders Patriot Football needs.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Prove It!
A great story has made the rounds about a scrawny, seeming undernourished old man who entered a restaurant and asked who he needed to see to get a job at a nearby lumberjack camp. "You don't need to go far," the restaurant owner replied as he pointed to a nearby booth. "The supervisor is having lunch right over there."
The jobseeker approached the supervisor and exclaimed, "I'm looking for a lumberjack job." The boss politely tried to talk him out of the idea. Surely this weak old man wouldn't be able to fell a tree let alone keep up with the daily quotas. "Give me a few minutes of your time and I'll show you what I can do," suggested the old man.
When the two arrived at a grove needing to be cleared, the slender, persistent old man picked up an axe and proceeded to chop down a huge tree in record time. "That's incredible," the boss said. "Where did you learn to fell trees like that?" "Well," said the old man, "you've heard of the Sahara Forest?" Hesitantly the boss replied, "Don't you mean the Sahara Desert?" The old man produced a smile and said, "Sure, that's what it's called now."
Achievers are producers. They understand the world will not recognize them for what they could have done, should have done, or would have done. Recognition is experienced by proving what you can do by doing it.
The jobseeker approached the supervisor and exclaimed, "I'm looking for a lumberjack job." The boss politely tried to talk him out of the idea. Surely this weak old man wouldn't be able to fell a tree let alone keep up with the daily quotas. "Give me a few minutes of your time and I'll show you what I can do," suggested the old man.
When the two arrived at a grove needing to be cleared, the slender, persistent old man picked up an axe and proceeded to chop down a huge tree in record time. "That's incredible," the boss said. "Where did you learn to fell trees like that?" "Well," said the old man, "you've heard of the Sahara Forest?" Hesitantly the boss replied, "Don't you mean the Sahara Desert?" The old man produced a smile and said, "Sure, that's what it's called now."
Achievers are producers. They understand the world will not recognize them for what they could have done, should have done, or would have done. Recognition is experienced by proving what you can do by doing it.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Dreams Overcome Nightmares
I grew up watching the Seattle Mariners. I loved to go and watch them play and then after the game I would wait in the parking lot to see them leave ... they were "Gods" to me. Eleven years later, I was playing football for the Buffalo Bills and as I pulled into the stadium parking lot I saw a little boy leaning against the barricade. It was then and there that my life flashed before me. I was running late and had to hustle into the locker room but after the game that little boy was in the same spot. So, I walked over and introduced myself, "Hi, I'm Jon. What's your name?" He looked at me with his hands in his pockets and said shyly, "Hi, I'm Joey." I smiled and asked him if he had ever been on the field? He hadn't, so I snuck him and his dad down on the field at Ralph Wilson Stadium. As his father watched him run around he began to cry. He explained that Joey had a rare form of cancer and three months prior was given only six months to live.
Joey and I became friends and I tried to include him in Bill's events. one day he asked me if I wanted to go to the Super Bowl. The Bills weren't that good that year and I told him, "Of course, but it ain't lookin good this season." He laughed and told me he had tickets and wanted to invite me. I was thinking that Make-A-Wish Foundation was sponsoring his trip to the Super Bowl. Instead, Joey pulled out two tickets made out of construction paper - one form me and one for him.
About a month later I got a call from his dad, asking if I could head to the hospital because Joey wasn't doing well. He told me to bring the tickets. Sure enough, when I got to the hospital and looked at the tickets, in crayon was written the date October 18. As I walked into his room, he smiled and looked up at me and said, "You made it. Today is the Super Bowl." October 18 was six months and one day. Joey dreamed of that day, the day the doctors didn't think he'd be alive, and to Joey, that day was his Super Bowl.
That is what I call having a Dream to Overcome a Nightmare.
The lesson: "we must dream again and again, outrageous dreams, and when we do, nightmares fade. Dreams are hard work, sacrifice, and commitment. But dreams are worth the work; they are worth the sacrifice, the blood, the sweat, and the tears. Nothing worth it comes easy!"
John Dorenbos
Center for the Philadelphia Eagles, Tennessee Titans, and Buffalo Bills
Joey and I became friends and I tried to include him in Bill's events. one day he asked me if I wanted to go to the Super Bowl. The Bills weren't that good that year and I told him, "Of course, but it ain't lookin good this season." He laughed and told me he had tickets and wanted to invite me. I was thinking that Make-A-Wish Foundation was sponsoring his trip to the Super Bowl. Instead, Joey pulled out two tickets made out of construction paper - one form me and one for him.
About a month later I got a call from his dad, asking if I could head to the hospital because Joey wasn't doing well. He told me to bring the tickets. Sure enough, when I got to the hospital and looked at the tickets, in crayon was written the date October 18. As I walked into his room, he smiled and looked up at me and said, "You made it. Today is the Super Bowl." October 18 was six months and one day. Joey dreamed of that day, the day the doctors didn't think he'd be alive, and to Joey, that day was his Super Bowl.
That is what I call having a Dream to Overcome a Nightmare.
The lesson: "we must dream again and again, outrageous dreams, and when we do, nightmares fade. Dreams are hard work, sacrifice, and commitment. But dreams are worth the work; they are worth the sacrifice, the blood, the sweat, and the tears. Nothing worth it comes easy!"
John Dorenbos
Center for the Philadelphia Eagles, Tennessee Titans, and Buffalo Bills
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Death
The first death you experience is actual death. It is your passing. It is what we all think about when someone dies.
Your second death is what occurs when you think that you died and no one would remember you. I wonder if this is why we all try to be known. Think about how important celebrity has become. We sing to get famous; expose our worst secrets to get famous; lose weight, eat bugs, attempt records, and even commit murders to get famous. Young people today post their deepest thoughts on public web sites. It's as if we are screaming ... Notice me! Remember me! Yet the notoriety barely lasts. Names quickly blur and in time are forgotten.
So, the question is how can you avoid the second death?
The answer is simple ... by being part of a family. It is through my family that I hope to live on for a few generations. When they remember me, I live on. All the experiences we have had, the laughs and the tears create the memories that forestall my second death. If I have done a good job then I will be remembered for one generation, maybe two ... but eventually they are going to say, "What was his name again?"
If you think about this it is absolutely correct. Can you name your great-grandmother? How about your great-great grandfather?
If we are a family we create a rope that connects each of us to one another. It allows us to build traditions that connect us and make us a family.
Adapted from the book .... Have a Little Faith
The first death you experience is actual death. It is your passing. It is what we all think about when someone dies.
Your second death is what occurs when you think that you died and no one would remember you. I wonder if this is why we all try to be known. Think about how important celebrity has become. We sing to get famous; expose our worst secrets to get famous; lose weight, eat bugs, attempt records, and even commit murders to get famous. Young people today post their deepest thoughts on public web sites. It's as if we are screaming ... Notice me! Remember me! Yet the notoriety barely lasts. Names quickly blur and in time are forgotten.
So, the question is how can you avoid the second death?
The answer is simple ... by being part of a family. It is through my family that I hope to live on for a few generations. When they remember me, I live on. All the experiences we have had, the laughs and the tears create the memories that forestall my second death. If I have done a good job then I will be remembered for one generation, maybe two ... but eventually they are going to say, "What was his name again?"
If you think about this it is absolutely correct. Can you name your great-grandmother? How about your great-great grandfather?
If we are a family we create a rope that connects each of us to one another. It allows us to build traditions that connect us and make us a family.
Adapted from the book .... Have a Little Faith
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Why "East Football Tribe?"
A TRIBE is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. Human beings have been a part of tribes for millions of years. A group needs just two things to become a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.
We already have the shared interest (the success of Patriot Football) and now via this blog we have a way to communicate. The individual emails that allowed us to respond to our Winners Manual readings now will be done on this blog with your comment posts.
"Tribes also need leadership. Sometimes one person leads, sometimes more. You can't have a tribe without a leader - and you can't be a leader without a tribe. Every tribe is different. Every leader is different. The very nature of leadership is that you're not doing what's been done before. If you were, you'd be following, not leading." Seth Goodin
Patriot Football needs each of you to choose to lead. The easy thing to do is be a follower, to compromise, or to give up. Don't! Our challenge is to be different. Our responsibility is to attack the status quo. To lead our tribe!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Welcome to the Blog of Patriot Football
Welcome to the blog of Patriot Football.
This blog will post weekly thoughts on how WE can move forward as individuals and as a team. These thoughts will come from what WE have experienced in the past week; the past season; the previous seasons of Patriot Football; the occasional lesson that occurs in the news; and perhaps most importantly from concepts built within our Winners Manual.
WE as members of the East Football Tribe are always looking to improve ourselves physically and mentally. This space should challenge both our mental preparedness and our mental weaknesses as we continue to grow within the East Football Family.
This blog will post weekly thoughts on how WE can move forward as individuals and as a team. These thoughts will come from what WE have experienced in the past week; the past season; the previous seasons of Patriot Football; the occasional lesson that occurs in the news; and perhaps most importantly from concepts built within our Winners Manual.
WE as members of the East Football Tribe are always looking to improve ourselves physically and mentally. This space should challenge both our mental preparedness and our mental weaknesses as we continue to grow within the East Football Family.
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