Landen Burke

Madrid, Ames, Davenport. Chiropractor and Strength Coach

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

I joined an American gym. I carried the smallest weights to a corner and lifted them with correct, ceremonial form.

A man the size of a vending machine nodded at me and said, "Light day? Respect."

It was not a light day. It was my entire strength. He chose the interpretation that protected my honor, and he chose it instantly. I have received less mercy from diplomats.

A week later, a stranger asked me to spot him. I did not know the word. He explained: stand over me, and save my life if the bar wins.

A stranger. Placing his breathing privileges under my supervision. Based on nothing. I have guarded castle gates with less seriousness than I guarded that man's bench press.

Then it was my turn, and I met the greatest lie in America.

The bar was too heavy. It sank toward my chest. Instantly there were hands on it, lifting it as if it were empty, while their owner screamed, "ALL YOU, BIG MAN. THAT'S ALL YOU."

It was not all me. It was almost none me. He carried the entire bar with two fingers while insisting, loudly, that I was achieving this alone.

Everyone knows it is a lie. It is also the truest thing anyone has said to me in this country. The whole gym is held up by it, the same way the bar was.

Last month I failed a lift, loudly. The clang brought three men jogging over like lifeguards. Nobody laughed. The vending machine helped me up and said, "We've all been under that bar."

We. All. Under the bar. It is apparently a nation.

They have taught me the nod. I am now authorized to nod at strangers who are suffering voluntarily at six in the morning.

Monday. Six a.m. They leave me the good bench.

All you, they will say.

It will not be. That is the joke everyone is in on, and no one will ever say out loud.

[Brian Surratt @b_surratt]

Way to go Mayz!!!!! @MayzieSurrratt

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

The man at the hardware store called me "boss."

I do not work there. I want to be clear about that from the beginning, because of what followed.

I had only asked where the nails were. He pointed and said, "aisle six, boss."

Boss.

I stood very still. A title is not given lightly. In my country, to be named the head of a house is a ceremony that takes a full day and three witnesses. This man had done it in half a second, over nails, and walked away.

But done is done. I had been appointed. I would not dishonor the appointment.

So I assumed my duties.

I began arriving early. I learned where everything was. When a customer looked lost, I guided them, because a boss does not abandon his people. When two boxes fell, I restacked them. When a child cried, I gave the child a small respectful nod, and the child stopped, because authority comforts.

A real employee found me straightening the paint cans. He asked what I was doing. I told him, simply, "my job."

He called his manager. The manager arrived. I bowed and prepared to receive my first performance review.

The manager said, "Sir, you can't be back here."

I understood. A new boss must earn trust. I accepted the demotion with grace. I returned to the floor and continued serving the people, now from a humbler station, which only deepened my resolve.

By closing time I had helped forty customers, reunited a man with the correct drill bit, and been thanked, by name, as "boss," four more times.

Four more appointments. I now hold five titles at a store that does not employ me.

A weaker man might find this confusing.

I find it an honor I never asked for, and cannot return, so I have simply decided to be worthy of it.

The manager walked me out gently and said, "have a good one, chief."

Chief.

I stopped at the door.

That is a promotion.

So I will be back tomorrow. Earlier. There is clearly a path here for a man willing to work, and I intend to climb it, one kind stranger's word at a time, until I have earned every title this generous country keeps handing me for free.

I do not know what I am the boss of.

But I will protect it with my life.

[Madrid Tiger Pride @MadridTigers]

Boys and Girls both are District Champions. What a night!

[Landen Burke @CoachLandenB]

@TylerJa69784111 @TeganThoma I’m in!

[Jim Farley @jimfarley98]

6:40:835! ​That's the new record lap time around the @nuerburgring for Mustang GTD Competition in the pre-production / prototype class. And with the Ford GT MkIV's time of 6:15:977, @Ford now has the fastest two Nürburgring lap times of any American automaker. This is what @FordRacing is all about. Relentless innovation.

[LeBron James @KingJames]

You don’t wanna miss this!!!! LETS GO BOYS!!! 🙏🏾🫡👑🏌🏾😁

[Jevyn Severson 4⭐️ @JevynSeverson]

4⭐️TE
6’6 220
Sophomore season
612 total points
249 total rebounds
24.5 PPG
10RPG
20-5 record

First team unanimous all conference, first team all SubState.
@adamgorney @GregSmithRivals @Andrew_Ivins @AllenTrieu @GregBiggins @MadridBoysHoops @BrandonHuffman @CoachTMcCormick

[Kadyn Severson @KadynSeverson]

Had a great visit yesterday with Simpson and I’m grateful for being able to meet with their coaching staff. @MarquesKyle @SCStorm_MBB

[NFL Stats @NFL_Stats]

Average 40-yard dash times for each position since 2000:

WR - 4.48
CB - 4.48
RB - 4.49
FS - 4.53
SS - 4.55
OLB - 4.60
TE - 4.70
ILB - 4.76
FB - 4.80
DE - 4.80
QB - 4.93
DT - 5.06
C - 5.30
OT - 5.32
OG - 5.37

[Ricardo @Ric_RTP]

The CEO of Uber just revealed his controversial way of running his company.

His principle:

Hard work is a learned skill.

And if you haven't developed it by now, you probably never will.

Dara Khosrowshahi went on Diary of a CEO and dropped something most executives would NEVER admit publicly...

He was asked a simple question:

"Have you ever seen someone who wasn't a hard worker become a really hard worker?"

His answer: "No. No one occurs to me."

Not one person. In decades of building billion dollar companies.

Then he explained why:

"The most important skill in life is the skill of working hard. It's not something you can turn on and off. It's a LEARNED skill. That's not something you're born with."

Read that again.

He's not saying hard workers are special or gifted.

He's saying they LEARNED it. Developed it. Trained it like a muscle.

And the people who never learned it?

They stay that way forever.

This is the guy who turned Uber from bleeding $3 billion a year into printing $10 billion in free cash flow.

The guy who took Expedia from $2B to $9B in revenue.

And his entire thesis on success comes down to one skill most people never bother developing.

Here's how he runs Uber:

"You come to Uber, you're going to work your ass off. If you're not performing, we're going to let you know. And if you don't fix it, we're going to push you out."

He sends emails on Saturdays.

If no response by Sunday, he follows up with just "?"

When HR told him he was "scaring people" early in his tenure, he said:

"Then they can leave."

And here's what separates this from toxic hustle culture nonsense:

Dara has dinner with his family every night. 6 to 8pm is protected.

But he's back on email at 9:30pm.

And again at 5:30am.

It's not about grinding yourself to death.

It's about the refusal to be outworked.

"I'm not going to let anyone outwork me. They may be smarter, more talented. But I'm not going to let anyone outwork me."

He studied the elites. Ronaldo. Jordan. The pattern is always the same...

Talent gets you in the room.

But the thing that separates the best from everyone else?

"They work their asses off. They're disciplined. They're structured. They're relentless."

That's learned behavior. Not genetics.

The uncomfortable truth here is that most people had their chance to develop this skill.

And they didn't.

Now they spend their energy debating whether hard work is "toxic" instead of building something.

The question isn't whether this is "fair" or "healthy" or whatever cope people want to throw at it.

The question is which SIDE you're going to be on.

The people who learned to work?

Or the people who learned to make excuses?

[Kadyn Severson @KadynSeverson]

After talks with my family I’m excited to announce that I’m entering the transfer portal. I have 2 years of eligibility left and I’m a 4.0 gpa student that has made the dean’s list every single semester. I’m looking for a program that values culture and hard working atmosphere.

[Jevyn Severson 4⭐️ @JevynSeverson]

4⭐️ TE 6’6 225
Hit 1k points last night as a Sophomore more to come let’s go!
@adamgorney @GregSmithRivals @Andrew_Ivins @AllenTrieu @ChadSimmons_ @innov8ivebyRyan @MadridTigers @MadridBoysHoops @BrockHinkel @CoachTMcCormick

[Madrid Boys Basketball @MadridBoysHoops]

Congratulations to @JevynSeverson on scoring his 1,000th point tonight in just his sophomore season!!!! Jevyn becomes the 8th member of Madrid hoops to go over that mark.

[Coach Brock Hinkel @BrockHinkel]

Shout out to @TylerJa69784111 for the @Sports_Attack machine! These two guys are big fans. Always wanting to get extra work in! @JevynSeverson @EmersonBridge1 #TigerPride

[Tyler Severson @TylerJa69784111]

Thanks @lwb192000 for the work you are doing with @TeganThoma!!!!

Really seeing changes in his sprinting form and explosiveness! 💥💥💥💥

[Coach Clif Marshall @ClifMarshall]

The fastest L-Drill ever recorded at the NFL Combine.

Pure efficiency. Elite shin angles. Controlled deceleration → instant re-acceleration.

This is what agility looks like at the highest level.

A record-setting 6.28 by Jordan Thomas, trained by my friend and co-worker Ben Creamer at @IgnitionAPG in 2018.

[Tony Holler @pntrack]

Feed ‘em.

[Dave Portnoy @stoolpresidente]

Barstool Pizza Review - Taste of New York Pizza (West Des Moines, IA)

[Jevyn Severson 4⭐️ @JevynSeverson]

Super blessed to have received my 7th D1 offer from Texas A&M University go Aggies!
@Coach_Ellsworth @ColbyWeihausen5 @CarsonCallaway7 @DerekMillerTAMU @MadridTigers @innov8ivebyRyan @CoachTMcCormick @adamgorney @GregSmithRivals @Andrew_Ivins @TheStrengthU