Old School Grit by Donnelly Darrin

Author:Donnelly, Darrin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shamrock New Media, Inc.
Published: 2016-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

Rule No. 7

Put the Needs of Others Above Your Own

“Mental toughness is doing the right thing for the team when it’s not the best thing for you.”

BILL BELICHICK, Super Bowl Champion football coach

Monday, March 23, 2015

Kansas City, Missouri

It’s Monday morning and I’m back in Kansas City, writing this from my den at home. What a weekend we just went through.

On Thursday in Portland, we played one of the longest games of my career against VCU. It went back-and-forth for two halves and three overtime periods. When it was all said and done, we emerged with a 98-96 victory.

Our team had no time to rest. We had to embrace a keep-moving-forward mentality and quickly shift our attention to the next game. That wasn’t easy to do.

Up next on Saturday would be Arizona, the No. 2-seeded team in the West Regional bracket. The Wildcats had won the Pac-12 championship and they were ranked No. 5 in the nation. They would be the toughest opponent we had faced this season. We were heavy underdogs going into the game and most people thought we didn’t have a chance, especially after such an exhausting game on Thursday.

During Friday’s practice, my players looked worn out. I overheard complaints about soreness and injuries. I saw sagging body language. I didn’t see anybody diving for loose balls or fighting for rebounds as though the game was on the line. Our three-point shooting, which had become a vital part of our offense, was abysmal (when your legs are tired, long-range jump shots are one of the first things to suffer).

I knew there was only one message I had to deliver to my team before the Arizona game: It’s not about you! It’s about your teammates. It’s about what you’re willing to sacrifice for the guy next to you.

You see, our guys were exhausted after Thursday’s game. At this point in the season, pretty much everyone is dealing with nagging injuries and sore muscles. A three-overtime game at this point in the year can deplete you physically and emotionally. It’s easy to feel drained of energy. It’s easy to let your focus shift to how tired you are, how much pain you’re feeling, and how much you need a break.

But I couldn’t let that happen to this team.

My thinking was that the only way to avoid an emotional and physical letdown would be to make sure each player on my team stopped thinking about himself and how tired he was. Instead, he needed to focus on playing for the guy next to him, his teammate, his brother.

Something magical happens to your energy level if you can make that mental shift.

It’s amazing what a man can achieve when he takes the attention off of helping himself and focuses it on helping others. I call this principle, The Power of Sacrifice.

John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” What a powerful statement. A statement speechwriters today would never dream of writing in our “what’s in it for me?” culture.

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