Gratitude with Adam Graves

Welcome to the Healthy Mindset App podcast where host Mike Hartman, a performance coach and former professional athlete, brings his passion to help athletes and workplace athletes achieve their dreams and goals while being mindful of everything else in life. Mike also uses this platform to share his targeted assessment application, Healthy Mindset course, meditation and goal setting technique for the athlete and workplace athlete. We're glad you're here. Now let's dive headfirst into this episode of the Healthy Mindset App podcast. Here's your host, Mike Hartman.

Well, I grew up in, in Toronto. My dad was a policeman, and as a kid, that was my hero. I'll never forget having the opportunity to shine his boots when he was in full uniform. And then he became a detective and wore a suit every day. And some of my fondest memories were in the driveway shooting pucks with him. And I'll never forget because he used to work either 4 to 12 or he would work days. When he was working days, we would shoot pucks at the end of the day, and if he was working nights, then I'd run home at lunchtime and we'd shoot pucks in the driveway. But at the same time, we always had used cars. We never had new cars. When I was a kid, we always had lots of brothers and sisters, had foster kids. My mom and dad were foster parents, so had probably 20, 25 kids come through our home and range from anywhere from a day to a weekend to a couple weeks to a couple years. And shared my room with kids, same with my sisters. And that was just, that was just the way we grew up. And everything was around our neighborhood, playing road hockey every day, riding our skateboards, bikes, playing soccer. As much as I loved hockey, there was just so many things as a kid you loved doing. Whenever I thought of hockey, my dad always said, he said, you know what, if you don't do well in school, you know, you know what? You're not going to be able to play hockey. That, it's a, it's a privilege. It's, it's fun. And if you're going to commit, then you commit. And I've even said that with our kids, Violet and I, with our kids, is that you don't necessarily have to be the best player. You don't have to play at the highest level, but when you commit, you have to commit. It's out of respect for your teammates and for, for the game itself. And it's one of those things that it's a privilege. Yeah. Wonderful teammate and real, real talent. And these are great people that's the best part of the game. You talk about Belzy, and it's the friendships and it's the people you meet along the way. And I know that's the one thing you can never take for granted. And Steph knows this. I mean, every time we see each other smiling and laughing, and as much as we're together a ton, and Hardy, you know, it's the same thing. There's a humility about the friendships, that they're honest. You don't have to talk to someone every week. And you just, you know, when you get back together, you pick up where you left off, and there's just such a comfort there. And certainly hearing, you know, the names, you know, like Scotty and Belzy, it's terrific because a lot of great times, a lot of great memories. Hardy, it's great to be here. And Steph, you guys are like brothers rather than friends. And then a lot of people don't know this, but Hardy and I have, growing up almost together from early teens, skating together, and being good buddies from our Detroit Windsor days. So it's, yes, we won a cup together, but our friendship started, you know, a lot earlier than that. Mo is one of the great people that I've ever come across and been able to call a friend and a teammate and learn from. And the interesting part was Mo was only a year older than myself, and it was always. You always looked up to him, which is kind of strange when you're talking about junior hockey and you're 17, 18 years old, that you could look up to someone that's only a year older than you. But Mo was that type of guy. He was our captain. And then he decided to retire. He was a draft pick of Philadelphia, got a puck in the eye, and his vision was affected by it. So he decided that he was going to step back as an overage, go on the bench with Tommy Webster. And that's what he did and certainly made a great decision because he's been one of the great coaches over the last 30 years in the National Hockey League. I think he was a head coach at 28 in Hartford. But that was the only reason I ended up getting the C in my last year, juniors, because most, you know, stepped aside and became the coach that he is today. And for me, the most important part of the game isn't the game itself. It's. It's what you can do with the game and the people you get to meet and to hear your story, Mike, and. And that's the humbling part of the game because at the end of the day, I'm a fan. I'm a huge Ranger fan. I don't miss any games. I love the excitement. I love the energy of the Garden. And in many ways, we all have different things that we're doing in our lives. And when you have something to look forward to, like the game, it's terrific. My dad, because he was such a. That was my. My hero inspiration. And I know looking down at my son, he started to tear up. And that made me emotional and thinking about my dad and that. And it was. But again, that's. These moments are all to be shared with the people that you love, right? Otherwise, they don't. They don't carry the same meaning. And that was something that, like I said, I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with it because I understand that honor, but also understand the type of player I was. And I wasn't, you know, the fanciest of players as, as you guys well know. So it was, it was a great privilege.

You mentioned Steve Yzerman, you know, you mentioned Mark Messier. I'm going to mention Stephon Matteo and yourself. One thing that you guys have is you replace, you know, an ego with empathy and you put people first, whether if it's in sports or in life, and if you're running a company or you're running a business, it's the same thing. Your people are everything, and that's something that you guys do. The other thing that I've noticed with all, with Steph and you and I know Steve just a little bit from Detroit and Mass, it's all about communication and how you communicate with others. Both of you, Steph and Adam, you're great communicators, and I'm learning. So for me, I take everything I believe you can learn from anybody. You don't have to win a. You know, it's called develop the mindset of a champion, but I don't mean winning a championship. It's about being a champion, whatever you do, and giving 100%.

We're so glad you joined us for this episode of the Healthy Mindset App podcast with your host, Mike Hartman. If you're enjoying the show, please feel free to rate or subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. That helps others find the show, and we greatly appreciate it. To dive deeper and learn more about the Healthy Mindset program or to get in touch with Mike, please Visit our website, healthymindsetapp.com thanks again for listening and we hope you'll Join us again in the next episode of the Healthy Mindset app podcast. Until then, be well.