Lloyd

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

Need some entertainment? https://t.co/QYuwTzYyek you're welcome.

[Mike Beckham @mikebeckhamsm]

I immensely enjoyed watching the Oklahoma City Thunder win the NBA Championship last year.

But, I learned more by watching them lose this year.

For the last two years the Oklahoma City Thunder have been the best team in the NBA. That ended on Saturday night when they lost to San Antonio in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.

I’ve decided the reason we need sports is because they teach us about success and failure. Every week we intentionally pit teams against each other in a zero sum game. One side will win and one will lose.

We do this because we want to be a part of success. But we also want to learn how to fail from those we admire. We want to experience failure as a part of a community that is disappointed together.

Even the most successful teams have to go through periods of failure and disappointment.

The same is true of us as individuals.

I do a lot of public speaking and I have come to loathe the part where I am introduced. I get it, the point is to communicate credibility so that people will actually listen to me when I speak.

But when I hear my bio it isn't the full story. It is just the highlights. It is a way of telling my story that sounds like an unbroken string of success.

The people who know me best know the deeper truth. For every success I’ve experienced, I can tell several stories about the setbacks that preceded it.

Simple Modern has been more successful than I could have dreamed. But the startup I helped build in the years before founding Simple Modern was a failure that lost millions of dollars.

Those kinds of stories don’t show up in newspaper articles. They should because they are essential.

Success is like a cake and you cannot bake without the ingredients of failure, difficulty and hardship. Without these challenges, It is impossible to develop the skill and perseverance needed to achieve anything worthwhile.

The Thunder failed to reach their goal this year, but as I have listened to their reactions following game 7 I have heard individuals who are:

Owning the failure
Avoiding excuses
Taking personal responsibility
Choosing to trust their teammates
Looking for ways to grow and improve

In my estimation, someone is a “winner” based on their mindset and not the scoreboard. Winners eventually win on the scoreboard because they have a mindset that makes it inevitable.

I’ve been fortunate to have a front-row seat, both literally and figuratively, to the Thunder’s ascension. I’ve learned that the foundation of their success was built when they weren't winning basketball games. Because the foundation is their mindset and culture. Over the last two years they’ve experienced more success than a fan like me could reasonably hope for.

But since their season ended, I realized something surprising. I appreciate the team in defeat even more than I have in victory.

They have shown me, and many other people in this community, how winners approach failure.

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@Home_of_Fight @Benaskren We love you Ben! @Benaskren

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@IAmMattBurton Good par though!

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@IAmMattBurton Pain man

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@IAmMattBurton This is all because we missed the first half of the first quarter due to NY & Det.

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@ThunderFocus Tbf that block was insane.

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@SoonerScoop Ball don’t lie

[Boyd Myers @boydmyers]

My thoughts on Norman, OK after this weekend’s game vs Tennessee

Beautiful campus.

Small stadium (by SEC standards) but they get loud.

Very passionate fan base.

The absolute nicest people ever. I have been to every SEC stadium, and the people were great.

Easy to tailgate.
We set up in a spot for about 10 hours and met a ton of amazing people.

I drank way too much beer.

The drone show at halftime was awesome.

The Toby Keith tribute was phenomenal. I got a little choked up.

(@AD_DannyWhite get rid of that liberal idiot Garth and switch to Toby. Trust me on this).

Vols fans are super rabid and awesome. It’s good to good again after +/-15 years of obscurity (until the last few).

I had great seats (13th row, 50 yard line, OU side) but the way the stadium lays out, there aren’t many bad seats.

OU’s schedule is brutal, but I will be cheering for them from here on out when they don’t play Tennessee.

OU: You belong in the SEC. Your fans are great. Your heritage is rich.

Stay awesome, even after you travel to the shit holes of Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Athens, and Gainesville and realize that most SEC fan bases suck.

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@TheSlanderU @IAmMattBurton

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@Jay_MWilliams_ Are you the Jaylin Williams from Arkansas?

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@McIlroyRory We love you Rory!

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

@IAmMattBurton Congrats Matt!

[Tour Golf (not PGA Tour) @PGATUOR]

The cop who has a bet on Xander:

[Chris Bakke @ChrisJBakke]

At my hedge fund, I pay an analyst to walk around parks in Austin, SF, and NY and ask these people who are tanning at 2pm on a Tuesday where they work.

We then short the stock.

We’re up 728% this year.

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

SGAJDUB > KDWB

[OSU Cowboy Wrestling @CowboyWrestling]

Welcome to Stillwater, Head Coach David Taylor. Let’s make some magic!

#GoPokes

[Lloyd @CrownTown007]

Parsons does this and there’s ppl talking about the way he throws a baseball..🧐😂

[Bleacher Report @BleacherReport]

Micah Parsons went 1v1 with a sumo wrestler 😳

This Tokyo trip is WILD.

[Nickmercs @NICKMERCS]

@Maxhoma the kids cookin’ 🔥