Daily Message
blog
The Coffee Bean
When you put a carrot into hot water what happens to the carrott? It gets soft and it gets weakened. Some people become "softened" by the environment and lose the "GRIT" needed to persevere.
When you put an egg into boiling hot water what happens? It gets hardened by its environment. So often we allow our environment to cause us to get hardened. Hardened hurts, causes bitterness and we get angry. So often we get weakened by our environments.
But when you put a coffee bean into hot water, what happens? Magic! Transformation! The bean by the way, even if its not grounded, within an hour will actually make coffee. It’s not impacted by its environment but instead the coffee bean transforms its environment. The coffee bean transforms its environment! So imagine that we got this coffee bean in our hands reminding us that we don’t create our world outside in, we create it inside out. And every moment, every opportunity, every club, every kid we can transform from the power that is inside of us. That’s where the power lies. Never think your circumstances define you, they do not.
You define your circumstances by your faith, by your belief, by your optimism, by your vision, by your purpose, by your love and everything we just discussed. The power is on the inside. So let’s go out there together and transform the world. Every athlete, every kid, every day, from the Inside out. You are the transformational coffee bean!
Transform Your 1424!
Set a High Standard
Your success is often a reflection of the standard that you hold yourself to.
When you expect perfection... You may just land on outstanding.
If you’re happy with good... Don’t be sad when you finish on average.
Satisfied with the status quo? You’ll likely end well below it.
Now Go Win Your Day w/a very High Standard!
Lead by Example
Don’t let negativity win today. Remember it starts with you. If you are complaining you’re not leading. If you are leading you’re not complaining. One person can’t make a team but one person can break a team. Stay positive! No energy vampires allowed.
Win Your 1424!
Talk or Listen to Yourself?
James Gills said,“I’ve learned to talk to myself instead of listen to myself. …If I listen to myself, I hear all the reasons why I should give up. I hear that I’m too tired, too old, too weak to make it. But if I talk to myself, I can give myself the encouragement and words I need.
Great advice from Mr. Gills. How many times have you listened to the quiet talk between your ears and have it affect something in bowling. It could be a lane pattern that you have struggled on, looking at the scoreboard, bowling a specific opponent, alignment on the lane, negative self talk, etc. Stop listening to the negative and start talking the positive. As I tell my players: "Fake It (or Say It), to Become It"
Now Go Win Your 1424!!!
Whenever You Get There, You Get There
The beauty of our sport of bowling is that it's a life long sport. I watched Dick Weber and Johnny Petraglia win professional titles in their 70's. Petraglia might be the first player to do it in his 80's. Whether you are an amateur, professional or coach in our great sport of bowling, you have tremendous opportunity to grow daily, yearly and throughout your career.
While it is easy to become distracted with the glitz and glamour culture of instant gratification, understand aging waits for you. Invest time into the process while enjoying the journey. Allow your mind and spirit to be energized with the affirmation each day that "No matter what you do, be good at it, and whenever you get there, you get there."
This a a poem that Coach Bill Parsels (Super Bowl Champion) lived by and displayed in his office. Enjoy!
“Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what’s next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.”
Keep Learning & Growing
Timeless Wisdom
Author Chip Conley makes an essential distinction between the term elderly — years lived on the planet — and the term elder — what one has done with those years. The former is a classification that is often imposed by external societal values. The latter is our responsibility as we gracefully age. Conley believes every day we must:
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Evolve. Reframe the value of your skills and experience, and always re-invent yourself with new ideas. Have passion for growth.
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Learn. Adopt a beginner's mind. Study one thing that you wish you knew. Then become an expert on that subject. Become a "Jeopardy" worthy contestant.
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Collaborate. Your wisdom needs to be shared. Age does not mean seniority. Be willing to use your knowledge to help others and always ask for help to learn. Don't fall into the trap of I don't like new technology — embrace the new (example: Two handers)
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Counsel/Mentor. Help others. Learn from younger generations, and use their knowledge to grow and discover the outer depths of who you are.
Remember, age is mathematics. It is just arithmetic. No matter your age, we each have twenty-four hours each day to engage in bowling, work, family and community that matters while serving others. We must live immediately and not squander the remaining moments we have left. Keep Learning and Growing!
Now Go Win Your 86,400!
Persevere
Persevere = Fight the Fight
As you navigate today, remember, you are much closer than you think. Braver than you believe and stronger than you seem. Do not die with your dreams still inside you. Keep fighting the good fight while showing up for yourself and those you lead. Understand falling down is a part of life. Getting back up is living. And inside every difficulty, there are hidden opportunities to learn, grow, and discover!
Have the Right Mindset
Bowlers think they can reach perfection with their performance, physical game, etc. Ken Ravizza (the Grandfather of mental conditioning) had a practical test for that mindset. It was called the“porcelain test.” He told the player to go home and fill up his bathtub with 4 inches of water and while barefoot step into the tub. If they hit porcelain,they were not expected to be perfect.
Now Go Win the Day!
Win Today!
Are You Winning Your Day?
What we do with every precious new day and how we utilize our 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds is our choice. Understand if you are not planning your future, you will become part of someone else's plan for the future. Our daily action either propels us forward one step at a time or deters and distracts us from our true calling.
Understand, there is no virtue in living below your potential and squandering your time. See every situation as an occasion to grow, learn, and prosper while always being somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody. As American singer and songwriter, Dave Grohl would say, "Always have the highest bar for yourself. Wake up every day, and no matter how crappy you feel, want to change something for the better. Do something that makes someone happy. Create something that inspires someone. Be someone's light when they are hopeless."
Mike Shady Bowling
Mike Shady
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