Ep 217 | Act Like You've Been There Before

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast. We believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Today is going to be a fun episode for me. Well, they're all fun, I guess, but this one especially, because today I want to pay homage to the greatest NFL running back to ever live. His name is Barry Sanders. I know many of you listening, you may have a different favorite, but I'll tell you what, I think nobody compares to Barry Sanders. And I want to talk about Barry because of who he is, what he stood for, uh, and I want to share some lessons from Barry. But I want to recognize that, you know, the timing of this, it happens to be the NFC and AFC Championship if you're a big football fan like me. And the Detroit Lions are playing in the NFC Championship. And I'm not necessarily a Detroit fan, I'm a Barry Sanders fan, but I am rooting for the Lions because, well, they're the underdog here. But I want to talk about Barry Sanders. Many of you may not know who Barry is. As I mentioned, I believe Barry to be the greatest running back in the history of the NFL. Now Barry had quite an interesting upbringing, as many do. Uh, and, and I think that his upbringing really shaped who he became as a player and as a man. He was rather competitive when it came to winning and losing. He was hyper-competitive. A lot of that was instilled in him from a young age. He was born in, uh, 1968, in July of 1968, in Wichita, Kansas. Small house, 2 brothers, 8 sisters. Showing off in that family was not tolerated, especially by his father William, who was this old-fashioned disciplinarian. And, and his father played an integral role in Barry's life from a young age. I mean, he was always by his side all through his NFL career and beyond. His father was a, was a roofer. He held other jobs. Barry actually used to work with him now and again during the insanely hot, sweltering Kansas summers. Barry would describe it as being in a sauna. It was like being in a sauna. There's no shade, there's no relief from the heat. But the toughest part, Barry said, was working with his dad, because he'd tell you, go get a screwdriver, and you bring him one, and then he'd go into some tirade and start yelling, I didn't tell you to bring me this kind of Screwdriver. I said, bring another one. But the outburst didn't bother Barry. He says the experience was good for him because he didn't know many kids who had the chance to spend a day with their father working. And he learned a trade so that if he ever got hurt, he knew he had something to fall back on. Now Barry didn't have to fall back on anything. He was a star running back in, in Wichita, and he was heavily recruited to play college football. He ended up going to Oklahoma State. Where he had arguably the greatest season of any college running back in history when he ran for over 300 yards in an NCAA record 4 times in 1988. He had 5 consecutive games when he ran for over 200 yards. It's just insane. If you don't know football, that's insane. But let me get more to the point about Barry because it starts to, you know, his upbringing and who he is starts to show up at this point of the story. The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the best college player each year. Barry did not want to attend the Heisman Trophy presentation. He reluctantly did so, and he actually did it via satellite because his team was playing in a bowl game, a college bowl game in Japan. Before he even won the award, which he won, he, I mean, more than deserved to win it. He actually said he thought another nominee— for you football buffs out there— he thought Rodney Peete from Southern Cal should win it and deserve the award. So when he was asked about it, unlike most people who would try to sell themselves as to why they should win it, Barry said he shouldn't even win it. He thinks Rodney Peete should win it. Barry didn't mind though, according to his coach, winning the Heisman. He just didn't want to talk about it. He just did not believe in bringing glory to himself. Now the NFL came calling and the Detroit Lions selected Barry Sanders, the lowly Detroit Lions. At that time, they're incredibly lowly and they bring Barry in and he spends a decade in Detroit. It was the only team he ever played for, yet he led the league almost every year in rushing. He broke team records, he broke NFL records, he won the NFL rushing title, and, and he just dominated. He was incredibly flashy, unstoppable on the field, but he was a much different guy, not just off the field, but even when he did certain things on the field. You know, in comparison to his, to his peers, Barry, uh, would score touchdowns, lots of them. But what you never saw out of Barry, the second play stopped, he became quiet. He became gentlemanly. He would hand the ball to the nearest official. He never trash-talked. He would never dance. He never spiked the ball. And he learned this approach from his upbringing. He would say his parents are get up early, hardworking, go do your job type of people. They didn't want anything from anybody. They said to take care of your own, take care of yourself. And he said that was his exact approach to football. He was never looking for fame and fortune. He just tried to uphold his end of the deal. He wanted to just take care of business. And go home. See, Barry Sanders— why am I talking about Barry aside from the fact that he deserves to be recognized on the week of the NFC Championship, in which his Detroit Lions are playing? I'm talking about Barry because as great as he was, I love that he didn't celebrate. As Vince Lombardi once said, and it's this— this phrase has been attributed to many, but famous football coach Vince Lombardi after one of his players, uh, I believe the guy's name was, um, a punt returner. I'm blanking on it right now. Uh, it'll come to me as soon as I'm done recording, of course. But one of his players, Travis Williams, that was his name, Travis Williams. In 1967, his player Travis Williams scored and danced after scoring a touchdown, and Vince Lombardi A man of many great quotes says, Travis, the next time you make it to the end zone, you act like you've been there before. And as the story goes, that's all he needed to say. Because here's the deal. I think the same applies in business. Preparation and hard work get you there. So it shouldn't be a surprise when you have success. You should expect it to happen. And happen again and again. Act like you've been there before. Because you know what? Acting like you've been there before is important. As an individual's desire to celebrate the small victory should never trump the team's ability to complete the mission. No individual is ever greater than the team. Never mind the fact that when you're celebrating something you've already done, you're not focused on what's next. And if what you accomplished yesterday is still being talked about, you haven't done a hell of a whole heck of a lot today. True professionals, in my opinion, don't celebrate routine individual plays, don't celebrate what's expected. They celebrate team wins. And don't get me wrong here, right? Small wins, short-term victories are important. You need to recognize them. You need to know that you're going in the right direction, but you also need to stay focused on the long-term objective. And the best way to achieve that long-term objective, objective is to act like you've been there before. Barry Sanders acted like he'd been there before time and time and time again, and he's a true professional. So my focusing question for you today Are you acting like you've been there before? Most of you, most of you listening to No Days Off, you're here because you want to get better every single day. You're probably stacking some wins. I'm guessing you're stacking wins. I hope you're stacking wins. When you win, are you acting like you've expected it to happen? Are you a team player? Are you celebrating the individual success? Don't get me wrong, it, you know, Maybe go behind closed doors, right? Recognize you win. I'm not saying not acknowledge it. I'm just saying don't spike it. Don't dance. Be a professional. Act like you've been there before and you expected that result. Are you doing that? That would be your question today. Here's to Barry Sanders. Good luck to the Detroit Lions. Good luck to all the teams. I'm looking forward to a great NFL playoff weekend. Thank you all for joining me here today, the No Days Off podcast. Do me a favor and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.