Ep 22 - Gary Brackett

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We're going to have three players on defense and we're going to do what we do better than opponent does what they do. We're going to line up and make them beat us.

Yet attitude means how can I proactively change the way I think? How can I proactively increase my life? How can I proactively create better relationships and better work situations for me to enjoy it and welcome to the Gap. The Get Attitude Podcast. The Gap Bridging the gap from who you are to who you want to become and from where you are to where you want to be. Hello everybody. My name is Glenn Bill, founder of the University of Attitude, keynote speaker and author of the number one international best selling book the ABCs of Attitude. I have been so fortunate to help tens of thousands of people Get Get Attitude. Attitude is the secret formula to success in your business and in your life. And this podcast will help you get yours. So let's get some. I want to welcome everybody to our podcast today. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review. We are focusing on Attitude booster number four, which is do more than you are paid for. And the guest that we have today is someone special. It's somebody that you're going to learn from. It is somebody who has lived these principles and who has actually put them into a book and into a digital project or a digital product called Champions Academy. This gentleman played linebacker for the super bowl champion Indianapolis Colts. And his story is his vision, his answers and his insight are going to help you bridge the gap from where you are to where you want to be. Our good friend. His name is Mr. Gary Brackett.

Over the Top Brackett. He makes the pick on his back. Gary Brackett, fingertip control and taking off. Still going before light forces him out. Wait till you see this athletic play by Gary Brackett. Gary Brackett might be the smallest middle linebacker in the NFL, but he is a terrific hitter. Of course, he's very fast and he shows you how athletic he is by making this interception. Times it perfectly and then stays with it.

All right. All right.

Interception.

And Gary, welcome to the Get Attitude Podcast.

Hey, thanks for having me, man. I'M excited to be here.

All right, well, we're excited. That clip's got to make you feel good, Gary.

It always does, man. You know, obviously playing against Tom Brady, he was our arch nemesis up there in Patriots all those years, so getting an intercession against him, man, it feels great.

Gary, you know, we were so compelled to try to get you on our podcast. You know, not only are you a great football player, but I think it's a testament to you, you're a better person. You're an overcomer, you're an achiever. And we're here to get the story about how you went from where you were to how you ended up on the other side of that bridge, how you bridged the gap from that walk on at Rutgers to being called, hey, he may be the smallest linebacker, but what an athlete. And 80,000 people screaming to you. Our gappers. That's what we call our people. Our gappers are going to want to know. So we are so honored to be with keynote speaker Gary Brackett. If you guys want to have Gary as a keynote speaker, all you gotta do is go to GaryBrackett.com he is a new author of the book Winning From Walk on to Captain in Football and in Life. He also has an incredible project and incredible digital product on GaryBrackett.com that focuses on the seven pillars of life that called Champions Academy. So, Gary, you got a lot going on, man, and it's so great to have you here.

Yeah. Now I'm blessed to be here. I think we all have stories and testimonies, and I think for me, leading with my testimonies and leading with my stories and just the attitude that I had to endure, you know, overcoming some of the things that I did, it really just is transferable. And it leads me to this day. And I think that's my. That's my secret weapon, is my attitude and how I remain positive.

I love it. Well, we're. We're here to get into some of that attitude with you. We have people who are out there that are sitting there going, man, they think they had it tough. But I can only imagine, as a former football player myself, the doubt that people put on you, this limitations that people put on you. Let's just start with this. Who. Where did you get your attitude from? And what does attitude mean to you?

Now, that's a great question. I can remember I was in fifth grade and my teacher asked, what do we want to do when we grow up? And I respond to, of course I want to Be a football player. And she told me that was. That was a dumb idea. She said, no one has ever made it from our small town, and no one will ever make it from our small town, so think of something else. And I didn't. I said, I'm going to be a football player. So she sent me to the office for being defiant. So I got home, got in trouble, and then my father asked me what I got in trouble for. And I told him. And he told me something that changed my life. And he said, don't ever let anyone's perception of you become your reality.

Love it.

And I think for me, that's when my attitude's kind of begun and when I realized that I get to control my attitude. Yeah, it's not about what others think about me. It's not about what others say about me. It's about what I think and what I say about myself. So when I realized that I have the control in my own hands, I really started using that to my advantage and knowing that I get to control this, so that's something that I get to dictate, you know, how my attitude shows up every day.

The, you know, the great Les Brown said that. So he must have gotten that from your father or your father might have gotten it from Les Brown. Have you ever listened to Les Brown?

Oh, yeah, I heard him speak in person. He's a dynamic speaker icon, right? In the speaker world, yes.

Well, I got to spend four days with Les in Orlando and he upped my game as a speaker. So I highly recommend if you get the opportunity to do that, and I might be able to help you if you're interested. But yeah, Les is one of my idols and I love that. Do not let somebody's perception become your reality. That's so, so good. And how blessed you were to have a father that did that. Talk to me a little bit about when you were a walk on at Rutgers. Right. Tell me some of the limiting beliefs. If you could put yourself back there. What did you tell yourself? Did you have a mantra? And what would you tell our gappers? When people are telling them they can't do what they know they can do in their heart and in their gut? What, what, what's the mindset? What's your advice? And what did you tell yourself? What's your self talk? When. When you were. When you were proven people wrong? Gary, what were you telling yourself?

You know what, it's funny because when I was initially a walk on, my parents refinanced my house twice in order to pay for my education at Rutgers. That third year, there was no more equity in the house. And my dad called me and told me that I had to come home because they couldn't afford tuition.

Wow.

Well, I ended up getting a scholarship, and the head coach gave me a scholarship. And it was emotional, and I was excited. And I go inside the locker room, and one of the players that was there, Wesley Robinson, he tells me, hey, what's the commotion? You know, I'm high fiving. I'm like, I got a scholarship. I got a scholarship. I get to stay. And he looked me in my eyes, bent my face. He said, a scholarship, you should worry about starting. And it was funny. To that point, I never really thought about being a starter. I want a scholarship. You know, I wanted a meal plan so I could eat right. I had to limit it. Smallest meal plan possible, right? We wanted to keep expenses down low. But when he told me that I should be a starter, it really changed the way I thought about myself. Because so many of us and this. We make a deal with ourselves. We make a deal with ourselves, with life, of what we want. And then life's going to say, okay, you just want a scholarship. You just want to pay for your food. This is the bare minimum you have to do. And we sign off on that deal. But when you challenge life, like, no, I want to be a starter. I want to be the best player out here. And life says, okay, you want to be the best. I need you to show up early. I need you to stay late. I need you every play, play it like it's your last down. And if you do these things, then I reward you for what you asked for. And that's exactly what I did, man. I made that deal.

And.

And I just never look back, man, that's.

That's so powerful. That's so powerful. And for our gappers out there, the question is to you, what deal have you made with yourself? Right? We talk about it. The quality of your life is determined by the quality of questions you ask yourself about your life. And those. Those questions that you're asking yourself, that story that you keep playing, that's the deal you're cutting. And so, Gary, that's deep. You mentioned your parents. I just want to know what their names were and what were their professions.

Yeah, that's. You know, my mother, Reverend Sandra Bracket, she was a reverend or a reverend, and she was a registered nurse.

Okay.

And then my father was a Vietnam vet, and he had, like, odd jobs. His last job was, like, you know, the the propane tanks in your yard. Sure. He would go and fill those.

I'll be dog John. They sound like beautiful people.

Yeah, man. They were like unfortunately. So that's what my book is about. In my first year in the NFL, I lost my father, my mother and my brother in the 16 month span. And you know, it was a lot of adversity. And at that time, you know, I'm a Christian, so you question everything. You question God, you question your existence. And I can remember reading the poem footprints and then that poem, it tells you about a man questioning God. Where are you at? In some of my loneliest times, why are there only one set of footprints? And that's when God responded. That's when I carried you. So I feel like that's kind of what propelled me. And then I realized that I honored dead by how I live my life every single day. So I still talk to my parents daily, man. And through the ways that I interact with people and how I live my life.

Amen. Amen. Amen. God bless you. And so if your mother was a reverend, I know there's got to be one or two nuggets. Give me some revision. Sonya Isms for our gaffers today. When you think about her wisdom and her words, what comes to your mind? What speaks to your heart? When you think of her, what does she.

Funny story. I went from not having a scholarship to being a walk on to then being a captain. So I'm coming home like mom, the captain, all these five star athletes got bigger, stronger, faster and you know, I gotta lead him. Like, how do you lead? And she said, I'm gonna give you a play out of my playbook, which is the Bible. She said, and the Bible says the greatest among us will serve. So in order for you to be a leader, you have to serve.

Yes.

And I think that mentality really served me well because on the football field, for me it was never about my own personal accolades or individual stats. It's about helping others reach theirs. And if I help the team get on track, if I help the defensive line know where they need to go, the linebackers, if I communicated well with everything else and served everyone else and if they took care of that job, that's going to make my job that much easier.

Yeah, that's cool. And you know, obviously the service to others, not only with the book, is manifesting itself through your digital product called Champions Academy and the champions academy, the seven pillars of life, you can get on garybracket.com and so, Gary, for our Gappers just as a. There it is up on our screen. Just give us a little brief overview of if our gappers come and they sign up and they. And they walk the seven pillars with you, what is this going to do for them? What's the purpose of the program? And. And, you know, just tell us about it so we know.

Yeah, you know what's crazy, and I'm sure you feel the same way, and that's why you have a podcast to share. But I believe in this notion that success leaves clues. And I've not only been able to experience success myself, I've been around so many successful people, and I'm always. I almost feel guilty about the knowledge that I've obtained over these years. And I get asked all the time, like, hey, can I meet with you for coffee? Can I get on the phone with you? And that doesn't scale. So what I did, I put all that knowledge, all those frameworks inside of a digital course to help entrepreneurs gain clarity on exactly what you want to do. Because at the end of the life, it's not about success, it's about fulfillment. And you're not going to be fulfilled unless you get clear about what your vision is, what's your personal values, what exactly is your budget, what kind of relationship do you want with your wife and kids? So throughout the course, it really just hones in on. On you taking a personal assessment of yourself. And I call it the Championship framework, short for champ, and Champ for me stands for currently assess your current position. H hone in your desired destination A and it's to apply the 8020 principle. M is taking massive action, and then P is the constant pursuit of that championship transformation. So I think I walk people through the seven pillars and all these areas through that Champ framework to help them gain clarity, get real clear about what they want out of their lives.

That is so cool. And you know, Gary, you have been fortunate to be around some of the most successful people or people that would consider to be the most successful people, you know, in America. And I'm guessing that some of those are in the book. And the book, again, is called Winning from walk on to captain in football and in Life. Just touch on. I know you said it's about, you know, love, adversity is number eight on the attitude boosters. Just so, you know, talk to us a little bit. Yeah, I'm sure when you get the attitude boosters, you're gonna say, yeah, Glenn, that's it. That's it. A little bit about the book. Besides the adversity you face anything else in there that might pique our interest?

I think, you know, we spoke a little bit earlier. I think, you know, for underdogs. Nice. You understand how much you have to work to get everything you want out of life. And I think the book really just talks about a journey of this underdog. No one ever expected him to make it to the college football division, let alone be a captain of the super bowl championship team, let alone have a record for the most solo tackles of any player in any super bowl in history. I had that record against the Saints. In addition to that, this is great. The book is actually getting turned into a movie. So you can catch the movie clips on bracket that movie and you can see the trailer. We actually shot a promotional trailer for the book to get turned into a movie. And we're currently on we funder.com crowdfunding this. This movie so we could bring it to fruition. So not only you get to read the book. Exactly. Get turned into a movie and you be a part of that process as well.

Yeah. That's really cool. Yeah. I mean, absolutely amazing. Gary. The underdogs out there, the underdogs that are listening to us, the people that are facing what people would say is an unclimbable mountain. And you've given us a ton. You've dropped a lot of good knowledge. Is there anything else, words of encouragement to them that maybe you could just pull out to speak to them?

Yeah, I think a lot of times and I speak to and I coach a lot of people that are in situations and, you know, they're down on their luck and, you know, they don't know what to do, what the mountain is steep and they struggle climbing. And so many times people think they got to do more. And one of the biggest things that I realized is this notion of addition by subtraction and what I mean by that. When things are adding up, you need to start subtracting. And that may be people from your lives that were negative, that might be bad habits that you have. Drinking, smoking, staying up late. So when you really get to the point when you hit rock bottom and you want to climb, the reason you can't climb that hill because your bags are too heavy.

Right.

You need to lighten the load. You need to get light, you need to get clear. Exactly what you want to do, get rid of all that other additional baggage. And then you're going to wonder like, man, it's not as heavy as it once was before, or you're not carrying those burdens you're able to place those burdens down. So now the climb becomes easier. And then as you realize, oh, man, the hills getting steep again. It's getting heavy again. Well, what else do you need to drop? And I think, as you realize people, that success. I remember watching Steve Jobs, God rest his soul, and every one of his new iPhone drops, he had on the same shirt, right? Same shirt.

Keep it simple, right?

And so many people think it's, you know, in order to climb the mountain, in order to reach success. Is this complicated formula, right? It's A squared plus B squared divided. No, it's not. It's like, keep on stacking. Good days, 1% better every single day is 37 times better for the year, but conversely, 1% worse every single day. 0.3% is where you end up at the end of the year.

Yep, there you go. Fantastic. Fantastic knowledge from Gary Brackett. Gary? Yeah. One of the things we talked about with our gappers in introducing this thing is, is that there's really only five or there's only very few things that make 80% of the difference in your life. And you got to find those very few things, and when you do, you got to keep finding and then spend more of your time on those few things. And I'm sure as a football guy, you know that these D coordinators that got 58 different coverages and a bunch of craziness, you can't play free when you got all that, let's keep the defense simple. Is that what you found when you played when you were at your highest success as a defensive player? Maybe it was in the super bowl that your scheme was. Your scheme was easy and it wasn't overcomplicated compared to maybe some other years when you weren't successful in football.

So it's funny that this is. It came from Coach Dundee. This is by subtraction. We lost two games in a row. This is a team who won eight in a row. So we lose two games. So in the NFL, when you lose two games, people get fired, right? So it's a 12 o' clock meeting on Monday. Everyone's in their seat at 11:15. The room is quiet. No one is talking. Coach Dungy comes into the room at 12 o'. Clock. He says, hey, if this was New England, five guys gets fired. If this is Philly, four guys get fired and Washington, three guys. He said, I'm not going to fire anybody. The same team that won eight games in a row is the same team that lost two games in a row. And I hear everyone's talking about the noise. We're too simple on defense, offense. We don't have those plays that cause confusion. And I'm a D1 better. We're gonna. We're gonna. We're not gonna add anything. We're gonna subtract.

I love it.

And what we're gonna do is we're gonna have three players on defense, and we're gonna do what we do better than opponent does what they do. We're gonna line up and make them beat us. And it's amazing. When we did that, we went up. We went on another winning streak.

Yep. Yep. Because you could play faster, you could play free, you could execute the way you wanted to, and you could find your inner greatness, which is no question, which is what you do. Gary, we are going to now finish this podcast with something we call Knowledge through the Decades. I want you to go back. You may or may not be remember when you were born. Some of our guests claim that they do. And we're going to ask you what the attitude lesson of birth is. So if you could. If you can remember when you were born, great. If not, Gary is a great husband and father. So you might give a shout out to your wife. That's always a good idea. Right. But what's the attitude lesson for from birth? Yeah.

First of all, like you said, shout out Dr. Reagan Brackett. She's a doctor, so she's my official retirement plan.

That a girl. That a girl.

And I think my lessons from birth, my mind goes to, like, when you try to walk and how difficult it is, and it's this whole notion of fall seven times, stand up eight.

Right.

And as a child, when you tried to walk, for the first few times, you failed miserable. But somehow I look at you now, walking, right? But so many people give up so easily on a first second step that they never realize that not only they can walk, they can sprint.

And, yeah, the bottom line is babies never think about failing. Failing is just part of it. And I think that's our lesson for the gappers today that Gary brings to us, is that, well, as Les said, you got to make know your vitamin. You got to make failure your vitamin. You got to feed on that. And when babies fail, they don't know they fail because we all sit there and encourage them. And I think the other lesson is the reason you kept trying to walk was because there was somebody standing there with their arms out and their hands out. Attitude booster number one. Be nice. Encouraging you, saying, you can do it, you can do it. You can do it. Gappers. Let's make sure we're doing that for the people in our lives. All right, Gary, you mentioned being in fifth grade when your teacher sent you down, but when you were 10 years old, I want you to go back when you were 10 and tell me the attitude lesson in life you learned at 10.

I think at 10, I'm going to go with the golden rule, and I'm going up it, and I'm going to say it's the championship rule on the gold rules. Treat others how you want to get treated.

Right.

But I think, you know, everyone is different. Some people want to get treated differently. So I can't treat you how I want to be treated.

Right.

I want to treat you better than you expect to get treated.

Love it.

I think that's the championship rule. Treat others better than they want to get treated.

And was there a story when you were 10 that that manifested itself in you? Were you not treated well? Were you ever bullied as a kid? How did that come out at 10? What was this? What's the story behind that?

So I was always, like, the peacemaker in school, right? So there was bullies and there was, like, you know, the uncool kids, and I was, like, the cool athlete, and I couldn't get in trouble because I always had sports to play. But I had this, like, this notion to me, like, don't pick on people that can't defend themselves. And if that went down on my watch, like, I was gonna step up and do something about it. And I think that's just always been my M.O. like, I'm not a guy who's just gonna sit around and let someone get bullied.

Right. Gary Brackett, the protector.

Yay.

That's what I'm talking about. So now. Now you're hopping around a little bit. You're 20. You're in college. You're growing up. Ooh, good times in college when you were 20.

Yeah, good times.

I love it.

Good time.

So what's your attitude lesson for our gaffers that are 20? What. What did you learn when you were 20 about attitude?

So I think I shared it earlier. In your 20s, you're going to start sowing those seeds. All right, so what deal do you want to make with yourself?

Nice.

Because what you do in your 20s is going to have ramifications for the rest of your life. So what deal are you going to make in your 20s?

I love it. And, man, that's probably the most powerful thing you gave us today. Hadn't heard that one. You're making a deal with yourself, whether you know it or not. That's the other thing too. But now if you're listening to this podcast, you know it. All right, so now you're 30, you're going, damn, I'm getting old. 30 years old. I'm guessing you were playing for the Colts at that time. I'd love to know your attitude lesson from 30.

So funny story. So I retire, I'm 31.

Wow.

Nine years in NFL. I retired. My wife is going on her third four 14 hour shift in the hospital. My daughter is five years old and I'm coming home from another outing of golf where I stink 120. I'm a few alcoholic beverages in.

Yes.

And my daughter asked me, dad, what do you want to be when you grow up? And I was like, what? Do you see this ring? Do you see this house, these cars? What are you talking about? What I want to be when I grow up? So what I did is I went back to school and I got my MBA.

Yes.

So I think when you're 30s, you should really think about retooling. And so many of us get stuck in our 30s and feel like you're finished learning. I've been to school, I've been to college, I got my mba, I'm in this career. But I think now, what is it like five, six times the average American changes their profession?

Sure, sure.

And I think when you're in your 30s, that's the right age. You probably have children by now. I think being that constant learning and at 30, that's what I really, for me is about looking at my toolbox and realizing I've been using a hammer for 30 years.

Ain't that the truth?

And the challenge when using a hammer is everything looks like a nail.

Right.

So getting inside of that toolbox, oh, this is a calculator. What does this do? Oh, a projector, a ruler. And start sharpening those other tools in that toolbox because as you get older, you're going to start realizing, going to need a whole full gamut of tools to start handing some of these challenges. And I think that's what my 30s were all about.

Man, that's, I mean that is such fantastic advice. I always say, you show me a leader that stops learning, I'll show you a leader that's in a rut. And the only thing difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions. And so your thought about going to the tool, reinventing yourself. So many people that are out there Listening to this, you may be walking on the beach, you may be sitting in the sauna, you may be on the treadmill. And I hope that you give a thought to what Gary said. Now, Gary, you're a recent 40 year old, so we're going to get to play one last thing.

Okay.

I know that you're an entrepreneur. You own several restaurants in town, the Stack Pickle. We got to give a shout out to those. I've had many a great meal and cold beverage there. And again, we're just so grateful to you and your knowledge and what you've brought to us today. But obviously when you turned, when you turn 40, I'm sure you had a birthday party and you sat there and went, who, I'm 40. What is your attitude lesson? What did you say to yourself? Where are you at now with, with all this?

Yeah. So when I, when I look at leadership, right, I look at three things. I look at, are they competent? Right.

Right.

Are they credible and can they make a positive impact?

Nice.

And I think by the time you get to 40, you could really answer those three questions. So now in my 40s, it's about making an impact.

I love it. I love it.

And, you know, now I'm the point guard. Now I want to dish the ball. I want to get other people involved.

You've always wanted to be a point guard. I guarantee it. You've always wanted to be a point guard, right?

That's the great spot. Right. I got the ball right. And I know what position I'm. No, here, here.

Did you, did you play a little hoop back in the day?

Man, I averaged a double double in high school. I was actually a four in our system. We group small school, but, man, I was a big. I still play down low even now. But running a point man in business and in your life, right?

Yes.

I've had experiences with so much. With grief, with success. Yes. With investing, with relationships, with raising kids. And now for me, I see errors when sometimes people are lacking. And some of my friends I see following me and stuff. I just shoot them a call and then I encourage them and they're like, man, I never thought about, like that. They think they're in this bubble on social media. They can pose, hey, I'm at work, hungover. I'm gonna get through this today. Like you're a leader at work, Right. What if someone you work with saw that?

Right. Crazy.

So I think now just being in a position where I could be the point guard and really try to set people up for success, man. That's what my 40s is going to be all about.

Well, Gary, I can tell you, in honor of your wonderful mother, Reverend Sonia, and your father, you created an impact for the Gappers today. You created an impact on the Get Attitude podcast. This is a podcast that's going to live. And I know get ple over and over. You gave us. You gave us more than you were paid for today. I can tell you that for sure. We are very grateful to have you on our podcast. I look forward to raising you up and helping you however I can. And we just want to thank you so much for being a part of the Get Attitude podcast.

Hey, thanks for having me.

All right. God bless. Now, this podcast is a part of the C Suite Radio Network. For more top business podcasts, visit C Suiteradio. Com.