Lauren Casey

[Lauren Casey @laurenkc22]

@Wickliffe_bb Or the glove. 😊

[Billy Oppenheimer @bpoppenheimer]

After his second year at Michigan, Tom Brady wanted to transfer.

He wasn't playing in games, and he was so low on the depth chart that he only got 2 reps in practice.

Brady met with his coach to express his frustration, “The other quarterbacks get all the reps.”

Coach replied,

“Brady, I want you to stop worrying about what all the other players on our team are doing. All you do is worry about what the starter is doing, what the second guy is doing, what everyone else is doing. You don't worry about what you're doing.”

Coach reminded him, “You came here to be the best. If you're going to be the best, you have to beat out the best.”

And then he recommended that Brady start meeting with Greg Harden, a sports psychologist who worked in Michigan's athletic department.

Brady went to Harden's office and whined, “I'm never going to get my chance. They're only giving me 2 reps.”

Harden simply replied, “Just go out there and focus on doing the best you can with those 2 reps. Make them as perfect as you possibly can.”

“So that's what I did,” Brady said. “They'd put me in for those 2 reps, man, I'd sprint out there like it was Super Bowl 39. 'Let's go boys! Here we go! What play we got?'”

“And I started to do really well with those 2 reps. Because I brought enthusiasm, I brought energy.”

Soon, it went from getting 2 reps to getting 4 reps. Then from 4 to 10, “and before you knew it,” Brady said, with this new mindset that Greg instilled in me—to focus on what you can control, to focus on what you're getting, not what anyone else is getting, to treat every rep like it's the Super Bowl—eventually, I became the starter.”

Takeaway 1:

Greg Harden telling Brady to just focus on being great during his 2 reps reminded me of a piece of advice from the entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

“People come to me all the time and tell me they're stuck,” Cuban explained. “They're stuck in a job they don't like. They're stuck working for a boss they don't like. They're stuck on a team they don't like.”

“I just tell them, 'Be great.'”

“The reality of life is that you can't just always quit your job. You can't just always go to your boss and say, 'Give me the promotion, or I'm out of here.'” You can't just always go to your coach and say, 'Give me more reps, or I'm transferring.'

“So when you're stuck, you've gotta find it within yourself to say, 'Ok, this is where I am. And if I'm going to be here, I'm going to be great.'

Because if you're great at your job, typically other people and companies find out, so it creates opportunities.”

Takeaway 2:

I've written before about “lead measures”—the actions and behaviors that predictably drive success.

The core characteristic of a lead measure, the authors of The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) write, is that “a lead measure is influenceable; it can be directly influenced by you.”

To achieve your goals, they recommend (echoing what the Michigan Coach told Brady), apply a disproportionate energy to the things that are in your control.

Starting at Michigan and for the rest of his career, that’s what Brady did, that’s what drove his success.

In his first media call after he was selected by the New England Patriots with the 199th pick in the 2000 draft, Brady was asked: “Are you aware that [along with starting quarterback, Drew Bledsoe] there’s another quarterback here that they drafted last year?”

Brady said he was aware of that. “And I know he’s a heck of a player,” Brady said. “But I’ve always really concerned myself just with the things I can control. I don’t put a lot of thinking into the other guys because I know I’m not at my best when I’m not just thinking about playing as well as I possibly can.”

- - -

“I never once in my life ever said I wanted to be the best of all time. Ever. I wanted to be the best I could be, period. I learned that in college. It didn’t matter what the other guys were doing. It mattered what I was doing.” — Tom Brady

Follow @bpoppenheimer for more content like this!

[News-Herald preps @NHPreps]

Boys soccer: Unbeaten North Ridgeville tops Kenston, 2-0, with early goals https://t.co/5ARRqBgCEZ

[Lauren Casey @laurenkc22]

@NRHSMensSoccer @NRCSRangers @NRBoosters @NR_Rangers @NRCS_Supt Keep rolling and working hard boys! Love this!!

[Lauren Casey @laurenkc22]

@tracey_kempton @NRHSMensSoccer let's go!!!!! Lots of teammates of my boy there. Keep rolling!

[Hiram College Athletics @Hiram_Athletics]

⚽️IT'S GAMEDAY❗️

@HiramMSOC has a chance to win its third straight home game tonight against the Cougars.

🆚: Chatham
📍: Hiram, OH
⏰: 7 p.m.
📺: https://t.co/PTmjglV5Ib
📊: https://t.co/OiY6EVutu1

[Hiram College Athletics @Hiram_Athletics]

Hiram Dominates Both Sides Of Ball In 4-1 Win Over La Roche https://t.co/IH9y8wz27F

[Lauren Casey @laurenkc22]

Let's go! My boy with his 1st collegiate goal! Go Terriers!!!

[Hiram College Athletics @Hiram_Athletics]

Terriers Keep It Rolling With 3-0 Win Over Thiel https://t.co/BG5uXA7MiT

[Hiram College Athletics @Hiram_Athletics]

Hiram Finds Groove In 2-0 Shutout Over Pitt-Greensburg https://t.co/kfFXTWKIkX

[Hiram College Athletics @Hiram_Athletics]

Welcome Back! Hiram Student-Athletes Excited For 2023-24 https://t.co/yOSbimqSPL

[Hiram College Athletics @Hiram_Athletics]

A busy week ahead for Hiram's fall sports teams -- here's the full schedule:

[Hiram College Athletics @Hiram_Athletics]

Season Preview: Men's Soccer https://t.co/HGjI9LxTmX

[News-Herald preps @NHPreps]

2023 News-Herald baseball all-stars https://t.co/9Sv9wkOTdy

[Wickliffe Athletics @WHS_Blue_Devils]

Great High School Standouts Event Tonight!

Congratulations to our nominees!

Hannah Wright (Athletic Trainer of the Year)

Colin Casey (Top Male Athlete)

[Wickliffe Blue Devil Baseball @Wickliffe_bb]

Congratulations All Lake County Selections
1st Team
Nunzio Zivnoska: SO OF- BA .373/ OBP .482/ PA 86/AB 67/25H/6 2B/ RBI 15/ R 23/ BB 14/ SB 10
2nd Team
Colin Casey: SR- P
Jimmy Nemeth: SR - C
Vince Gargiulo: SR -  Inf
Honorable Mention
Brandon Henderson
Bobby Plumb
Liam Widemire

[Lauren Casey @laurenkc22]

Way to go kid!!! Congrats Colby!

[Wickliffe Athletics @WHS_Blue_Devils]

Congratulations again to Colby Humbert and his 7th place finish in the 400m Dash at the Division II State Track Meet.

Colby was also the CVC Metro Division MVP for Running Events placing 1st in the 100m, 200m and 400m!

(Photo/Graphic Courtesy of Steve Hare)

[Lauren Casey @laurenkc22]

Let's go Colby!!!! Way to go kid!!!

[Chris Lillstrung @CLillstrungNH]

#NHtrack Wickliffe's Colby Humbert discusses his open 4 state berth, 4th with a 49.55, out of the D2 Fitch Regional
Short list of Wick boys 4 state qualifiers all time: Kevin Porter (1986), Demetrius Moore (2013) &, now, Colby Humbert
Pleased for that young man's breakthrough

[Lauren Casey @laurenkc22]

@1225eva @JakeBarker39 Way to go Jake!!!

[Lauren Casey @laurenkc22]

@janafenstamaker Not sure if you're breastfeeding or not but I had to change what I was eating. Limited dairy etc. Once I changed to formula I had to use a different formula that had the protein broken down more because even soy didn't work. Hope you can get some relief.