[COFFEE CLUB]
I’m sampling my way through some coffee gifts from good friends over the holidays.
(If you guys are reading this, thank you!)
This week, its Bivouac Coffee’s The Wild Thing roast as part of a little gift basket they did for the holidays. I told you about Bivouac before - one of my favorite roasters, and this is a solid blend. Although it too is a touch dark for my preferences, I have enjoyed it. 3.5/5
[MUSIC]
Let’s face it, January and February can be depressing months.
Cold, dark, grey… they’re challenging enough without listening to ne’er-do-wells cry into their beers while lamenting lost loves over slow, minor keys.
—> (Record Scratch Sound Effect)
To combat all that, I’m on a hip hop kick with the help of Jay-Z Radio on Spotify.
Call it an exercise in NLP - neurolinguistic programming, aka, “the language of your mind”.
Consider the lyrics to the stereotypical country song:
It was raining the day my momma got out of prison.
She got hit by a train.
And my dog died.
Then my woman left me. 😢😭
I use alcohol to deal with the misery of my life.
Now contrast that with the lyrics to the stereotypical hip hop song:
Everyday I’m hustlin’.
All I do is win.
You ain’t never met a motherf*cker like me.
I’m a boss.
I’m a baller.
I. Will. Not. Lose. Ever.
Remember, “diet” isn’t just what we eat. It’s all that we consume. Music counts too.
I’m not saying I don’t like, or listen to country - it’s my go-to… but sometimes, I have to make sure I’m not being sucked into that “woe is me” narrative, ya know what I mean boss?
[BOOK CLUB]
Not the social media type of “influence”. This is about real world influence.
Recommended to me by a successful serial entrepreneur, who happens to be a coaching client of mine, this book is written by a popular keynote speaker and provides a neuroscience-based approach to improving our communication and leadership.
It’s worth a read for anyone who would like to be a more powerful leader, communicator, and/or speaker.
See below for an easy to implement takeaway from this resource.
Tim Grover is at the top of my podcast guest “wish list”. He was Jordan’s (yes, Michael Jordan) performance coach. And Kobe’s. And some other all-time NBA greats. This book is his follow-up to Relentless, which I have admittedly, not read.
The subtitle of this one is what intrigued me to pick it up, and it has not disappointed. I’ve already gifted it to 3 people. That should tell you how much I recommend it.
Mindset: A New Perspective on Greatness
After Micheal Jordan retired from the NBA, several other NBA players inquired about having his trainer Tim Grover coach them.
Jordan, the ultimate competitor, responded to Grover’s inquiry like this:
“I don’t pay you to coach me. I pay you to not coach anyone else.”
Mic. Drop.
Take a minute to really think about that.
We’ll circle back to it in a sec.
Eventually, Jordan gave his blessing for Grover to coach Kobe, but only because Jordan wanted to see his pal Kobe succeed.
Circling back to the point…
Most of us aspire to be so good that someone will pay us to do our thing.
Musicians want to make enough money to elevate themselves above the starving artist threshold.
Comedians want to be good enough to have people pay to see them in giant arenas.
Nothing wrong with being good enough at something to make a living doing it.
BUT, what if we aspired to be so good, that someone would pay to lock us up exclusively?!
What if you were such a good comedian, that a person with means would pay you hundreds of millions of dollars to ONLY perform for him/her?
Could you become so valuable at your thing, that one person (or company) would be willing to pay for your exclusive services to prevent their competition from having access to you?
That’s a whole new level of greatness.
Go beyond “good enough to get paid” and get to
“so good they’ll pay to keep others from having access to you”.
Food for thought.
How Well Could You Play The Piano Wearing Mittens?
Not very well, right?
That’s how I think of socks. Mittens for our feet.
The most advanced technology inside any shoe is… the human foot.
Yet we stifle it’s innate ability to perform by shoving it inside a foot mitten and then cramming that mitten inside of a too-narrow shoe that prioritizes fashion over function.
Our feet are designed to move, flex, support, stabilize… and we should have the same dexterity on our feet as do in our hands - or at least close to it.
Here are some easy steps you can take (no pun intended)
Do toe yoga daily + Arch raising drill (learn to flex that muscle)
Use a lacrosse ball or tennis ball to roll the arches of your feet daily.
Wear toe socks. (Think: gloves vs. mittens)
Get & use Correct toes. Your toes are probably mashed together from a lifetime of shoes that are too narrow. Use as directed (taper up your usage to avoid injury)
Test - and fix - your footwear.
Want To Test Your Shoes?
Do this:
While wearing the correct toes (toe spacers), put your shoes on.
Can you wear them comfortably while wearing correct toes? If not, they’re too narrow.
Why am I telling you all of this?
Well, I’m a performance coach. And unless you’re a professional gamer, performance includes - relies on - our feet.
Over the last year or so, I’ve had nearly a dozen conversations with folks about foot health, running form, plantar fasciitis, achilles pain, knee pain, and everything else you can add to that list.
I realized that I needed to create a resource that compiles ALL of my knowledge, tips, and tricks for optimizing the performance and health of our lower limbs.
And no, I’m not selling it.
I’m giving it to you, right here, right now, for free. ←
You’ll find assessments, correctives, preventative exercises, footwear suggestions, and much more.