Tom Laidlaw-NHL & 39th season of the CBS series Survivor

Mike Hartman, performance mindset strategist. This is Develop the Mindset of a Champion with former Stanley cup champion Mike Hartman.

Hello and welcome to Develop the Mindset of a Champion. Today I'm speaking with Tom Laidlaw. You can see right there, true grit life. And that will say a lot about Tom when you hear his story. Former Canadian professional hockey player, played 700 games, played for the New York Rangers and the LA Kings, two great markets to play in. Tom is a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, businessman. Really a great guy. He was an agent for many years, too, to many players. I think 23, 24 years in the NHL. And one thing I thought was really cool, that he was on season 39 of the CBS show Survivor. And I thought that was great. I mean, I shared that with everybody. Tom, great to have you today. You know, the purpose of what we do is we share our stories and how we inspire others. And you've been inspiring to me most, most definitely here. We've done a lot in New York together. You know, please share your story and people would really love to learn about Tom Wade Law.

Oh, great. First of all, thanks for having me. I love what you're doing. You and I didn't ever play with each other, but I know most people that are former, especially hockey players, we all have that kind of common bond. So you and I have hit it off pretty good. So I think we, we feel a lot the same way about each other. Yeah, the Survivor thing was interesting. You know, it's one of those deals when they first come to you and talk about it, you're like, well, I'll give it a shot. You know, it's not going to happen. But when you finally get selected and then you actually go out there and then you go to Fiji and they drop you off on the island, it's one of those things like, you know, wow, it's really happening. So that was a blast. And it was great to do it. You know, I was 60 when I went out there, turned 61 out there. So it's kind of proven that, you know, a big part of my life is always trying to get better. And I keep saying to people, you know, it doesn't matter what it is, if it's your age, your height, your weight or whatever it is, don't let something stop you from doing what you want to do. So. So that was a lot of fun doing it. So, yes, I've been very fortunate in my life. It's interesting when you read that stuff, what you've, what I've done In my life, it's. You kind of look back and go, you know, this little farm boy growing up outside of Toronto and to make it to the NHL first of all, and then do all those other things. It was a real thrill. You know, it's interesting for me with the true grit life. So this has probably evolved over the last three or four years. And we're in the process of writing a book, and I sat down with the writer and I just made sure that I said, I don't want this book to be about me. I wanted to say, here are my experiences in life and here's how I overcame things. And I'm trying to teach lessons to people about training your mind and your body to get better all the time and fighting through things and everything. But when I wrote the book, it's funny, like, I started talking to him and he would kind of hit on things, and I would look back at things that really all centered around going back and thinking about growing up as a kid. And my father and my grandfather in particular, not. Not just them, but particularly with them. And, you know, growing up on the dairy farm where they would have to get up every day, milk the cows 365 days a year, didn't matter how they felt, didn't matter how sick they were, and nobody was there to write some newspaper article about them, tell them how great farmers they were. You know, they just had to go do their job. And then I, you know, I kind of went forward from there. And all the things that happened to me, playing in the national hockey, becoming an agent, and with all those things, like, I was never one of the best players on my team. I was never the smartest guy in the room as an agent. It's just that I would show up every day just the best, as if my father and grandfather were milking the cows. And. And it wasn't just the showing up part two. Like, they, you know, we didn't have much money, so, like, with all the farm equipment for, like, with the tractor, like, they would never let that tractor go out of the barn until every grease fitting was greased and every. Every piece of equipment was taken care of. Tell a famous story about my grandfather. He went to buy a truck one day. You know, it's on the farm, you know, so it's dusty and dirty and everything. He went to buy a used truck and opened up the hood and there was dust in the engine. And he said, I'm not buying it. He would buy, because when he washed his truck, he would wash the Engine too. That's how meticulous they were, taking care of things. So I look back at my life and that's how I lived my life. And it wasn't like it was some. I was taught something. I just grew up thinking that's the way you're supposed to do it. You're supposed to do it right when you do it. So consequently, my successes came from, you know, when I, when I played defense, I would do the little things right. You know, if I make it a breakout pass, I would do it right. I would put it on that forwards tape and always play the body all the time. So all those little things that made me successful in life and all my careers came from my father and grandfather.

That's fantastic. And I remember playing against you in LA and you just. The first thing you do is when you go to the stadium is you. You want to see who's on that roster. And I look at true grit life and Tom Laidlaw, he. Oh, no, really, I gotta deal with him tonight. I think we had to deal with each other a couple times, respectfully.

Yeah.

But it was. That's the first thing I look at. Sure. I know you played with Wayne Gretzky, that was great. But I'm not looking at Wayne Gretzky. I respect Wayne Gretzky. In fact, some nights, you know, in Buffalo we had, that was our, you know, our part of our job was to cover, to be out when Wayne Gretzky was. But I'm more worried about Tom Laidlock because if I do something that's out of character, Tom Wade Law is going to come, or Marty McSorley or one of these big guys is going to come and you're a monster of a big. I mean, you're fit. I don't even want to say your age. I don't. That's not really appropriate. But one guy said to me last night, Mitch Beck, he lives not too far from you. He shared this at your eye. And he goes, I'm a grasshopper. He goes, I'm a grasshopper. You could talk about the grasshopper thing. And he said, oh, that guy's a beast. I said, no kidding? And I'm going to share. You know, the purpose of this is to share why you're successful. Like, you've taken your hockey and you've turned it into an entrepreneurial life. You've taken the entrepreneurial life, used it in your agent business. You've taken all these. You said the word little things in details and you applied them to your life to be Successful, the same thing you need to do if you're running a company. You're a young athlete. No matter what it is, it's. You mentioned the word. It's the littlest things in details that really, that really make a difference. So Mitch Beck was talking about that. Can you share with me what is a grasshopper?

Well, it's funny. When I first started the whole social media thing, I had no clue what I was doing. This three or four years ago, my son was trying to teach me what a hashtag is and everything. I'm looking at him like he's got three heads. So we were just joking around. I think it's from the movie Kung Fu where the teacher would call the pupil grasshopper. So I just thought that was pretty funny. I kept saying grasshopper, people laughing about it. But as it evolved, I started. I, myself and other people started doing research on grasshoppers. And they've been around for hundreds of millions of years. They've survived ice ages, you know, dinosaurs have gone away, and. And grasshoppers continue to go. Grasshoppers are always moving forward, keep going one step at a time. You can't kill them. They never stop. So that's how really grasshoppers now become more. Not the funny thing that would start out to be, but more symbolic of what, you know, people that live, live the true good life really are. They just keep moving forward. And I should back up, too. We should make it really clear. When I looked at the lineups, we were playing the Buffalo Sabers, and you were on it too. I was the same way as I thought. God, I got to deal with him again. So you were the same way. You were definitely.

The one thing I want to share with you is that what, what people, what they should know is no matter what you do, you do it to the best of your abilities. I've used this before. People say, I've heard you say that, but even if you have 60%, you still have to give 100% of that 60%. And a lot of people say, I want to do this. I want to be better. And when you told me I have to share this with people, I mean, being on the show was great. I watched your leadership. You were an assistant captain of a professional sport team. That's fantastic. But you told me that every day you start at 3:30am that's how your day starts. Tell me about that.

Yeah, so, you know, again, it kind of goes back to growing up on the farm, right, where they, you know, my father and grandfather have to get up really early in the morning, it's dark. Most of the times they get up. And it just. It kind of evolved. Where. And it's funny, I use the word evolve a lot because it wasn't like I just flipped a switch and became this true grit life guy. I think I was always determined and motivated, you know, and disciplined to do all little things and do what I did. But I don't think I really grasped what, you know, where it came from and how I could even get better at what I was doing. I was just kind of going through life, living the true grid life, because that's all I knew about. And then when I started looking back at it and so, you know, I said, okay, I'm gonna be more. I want more discipline in my life. I felt like if I. I proved my discipline, I could get more out of my life, get up at the same time every morning and do more stuff, get to the gym. So I was actually around that same time, I was watching a video from this Admiral William McRaven. You probably have seen it. And he talks about the importance making your bed right? It's fantastic video. You know, I was like most guys, you know, I, you know, divorced twice, so I'm single, so my bed never got made. So I watched the video the first time and I said, okay, I'm going to do this halfway. I pull the sheet back. And then I went and watched the video again. I said, I missed it. I missed the entire purpose of what he was saying. And it said, do it right. You know, and that's. It kind of clicked, like, okay, yeah, my father and grandfather, do it right, you know, and putting on a show for somebody else, it was just the fact that you're the only one that sees it. If you can't do the little things right, you can't do the big things right. That starts off your day. So it's the same thing when I go at 4 o', clock, I have to be out the door before 4:00'. Clock. And I post a video every morning of myself and the timestamp on it and everything. And the idea is that it's called a march, it's really a walk. But I say to people, get the most out of each stride that you take. So make your bed perfect. Get the most out of each stride. So that starts the day. The way you're talking is now, get the most out of everything you do. And that leads to everything you do in your life. Your relationships, your work ethic, you know, working out of the gym Your diets and all that stuff.

And that's true. And we're going to talk about that because we have an agenda. I have five things to talk to you about. And Tom, I started working with you and doing some stuff here with the team the last couple years and really getting to know it, know you and really enjoying your presence at the Garden and you doing different events. But the most thing I really enjoyed is just having the conversation because you do the similar things that I believe in. So what I did is I went to trugritlife.com and usually I have these questions prepared and I know who the guests are and I know their character and a lot about them. But you had something similar that I believe. And the first thing you had on your website is relationships. And what I used to do is I tell everybody a long time ago, before we even met, is life is built on relationships. And I'd love to hear how you use relationships within in your life.

Definitely. You know, it's funny, I'm sure you're the same way. You know, you grew up being a hockey player and ultimately playing in the NHL and people kind of treats you a different way because you're a hockey player, right? And maybe you take that for granted that people are always going to be nice to you. You're always going to get favors done for you because you're a National Hockey League player. But as time went on, I realized, like, again, I hate again being a divorced man. I look back at my relationships with my ex wives and I think, you know, your tendency is sometimes you'll blame them, it's their fault, whatever. And I look back and go, no, it's, it's me. I'm in control of my life. I'm in control of everything in my life, and that includes my relationships. So now when I meet people, whether it's, you know, a business or we go to an event with the Rangers, like I say to myself, those people, first of all, I'm getting, I'm representing the New York Rangers and I'm representing myself and those people that I meet there, that may be the first time that they see me or meet me, they may never meet me again. So I have an opportunity now to make an impression on them. All right? So if I walk up to them and I give them kind of a halfway handshake and my head's down and I'm really not paying attention to my conversation with them, they're leaving, going, he's all right, that's these guys. But flip side of if you walk up to that person and you shake their hand, and you look them in the eye and you ask them how they're doing, and you actually sit there and listen to how they're doing and pay attention to their life. Now, I've had people come back to me, or it's come back to me in other ways where people go, wow, I had this buddy of mine that met you the other day. He just thinks you're the greatest guy in the world, right? And now you. Not only is that good for you, but you've made a difference in somebody else's life, too. Here's this former NHL hockey player who really cares about this other person, and they're going, wow, you know, I guess I really am something. So I just think it's like everything else. It's just you, what you put into it, you're going to get back in return. In fact, if you give more, you will get more. And I think sometimes it's getting kind of pound into our heads that, you know, be careful, don't give up too much, right? That person is going to take advantage of you or you're not going to get it back in return. You know what? I don't buy that at all. I think you give everything you've got. If that other person doesn't respond the same way, that's their loss. You know, you've still done what you need to do for you to be stronger for yourself.

That's so true. That's so true. You know, we talked about it earlier. You and I do similar things. And I was in. I was in that at an event at Bloomberg. A financial guy at this big Bloomberg event, and they invited me to meet people, and I was introduced there in the city. This is before all of this stuff that was going on here. You know, this coronavirus. And I'm in the city and a gentleman walks up to me and says, hey, do you know Tom Wadel? I said, of course. He goes, well, he spoke to our company. His motivational speaking was unbelievable. I live out in Connecticut. I had to go home and share. This guy was a very large company that he represents financial company. And I said, absolutely. I know Tom. He goes, you really empowered their team. But the neat thing about it, he says, what do you do? I said, I do the same thing as Tom, but stick with Tom. The point is, we talked earlier that we love helping each other totally. And I'm going to tell a little hockey story because I always believe in stories. But I was playing with the Buffalo Sabres and There was a time where one of the guys, an older guy, played 15 years. He wasn't playing. He was in, out of lineup. You know, there's only four left wingers on a hockey team, and he was in and out of lineup. I was playing every night in Buffalo, and he was sitting. I came in at 19. This guy won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders. Clark Gillies. And Clark was a hero of mine. So I could say this, yeah, yeah. And I really room with Clark. And I almost felt bad sometimes. I said, wait, this is Clark Gillies? But you know what? He was the first guy that had me over for dinner, the first guy that took care of me, the first guy that privately said, hey, kid, do you need anything? And also, I room with him. He goes, if you ever talk in your sleep again, we're gonna have a problem. That's the only time he took me under his wing. He didn't care. You know, he knew he was towards the end of his career and he wanted to look after me and relationships and that type of thing. To me, that was so important. Now the next thing I'm going to talk about is personal goals. And I always talk about three sets of goals. You have the measurable goal that. That's attainable, right? Okay. My goal is to, you know, it's not like my goal is to make $50,000 this month or my goal isn't to win a championship. That's more the vision goal. A measurable goal is something that's measurable. I'm going to wake up every day at 3:30am like true grit Life, Tom Wade Law does. And I'm going to start my workout. You're going to be structured by that calendar. The next part is the vision goal. So that's the goal. That's the dream. So if you don't see you living that dream, I don't know who else will. Please share with me your goals and how you would, you know, what you look to achieve your goals and how you share with people and businesses how to attain those goals.

See, that's a fantastic topic. And I love the way you said that, too. Breaking it down to those. Those categories. You know, one of the biggest things, I look back at my life and I'm sure you're the same way. You know, you're so proud of yourself. You had to work hard to play the National Hockey League. So you had a goal, you accomplished the goal. You played in the National Hockey League. But I tell people all the time, too, that Wayne Gretzky and I had very little in common. But one of the things we had was we had goals and both accomplished our goals. The difference was that my goal was to play in the NHL. His goal was to be the best player that ever played the NHL. So now when I so like and I said there's no, there's no like limit on how good you could be at something. So don't tell me you want to be your best. Always keep pushing to get better and better all the time. You never like. I didn't know that I was going to be able to get up. It's, you know, I'm 62 years old now. I didn't know that I was going to be getting up at 3:30 in the morning and, and doing the workouts that I'm doing and speaking the way I'm speaking and having the diet that I'm having and having the impact of the way I'm having. I didn't know I could do that. So now I'm doing that and I'm thinking to myself, well now, okay, now what's the next thing? Keep pushing yourself. It's kind of like going on Survivor. It was just a challenge to do something to like, like I, I believe so much that we concentrate when we work out. We work out our bodies so much, right. I think we can work out our minds the same way if not more. Keep pushing yourself to different levels. Like to me it's when I get up at 3:30, it's not just crawl out of bed, you know, like it is pop out of bed, get the bed made perfect and then before you leave the room, turn around, look at the bed and get the juices flowing. Like I get goosebumps going looking at my bed. Other people probably think it's weird, but it's like I'm saying to myself, I want to be better today. I want to keep pushing myself to get better and better. So my goal isn't to just say, okay, this is, I want to weigh, you know, a certain weight or whatever it is. No, I want to be the best I can be. But I don't know what. There is no limit. Don't just, I, I don't want to say this. The best I can be is this. No, there's more and more and more to give. You just don't know what you can do. We, we probably use such a fraction of what we can of our minds and to me that's where it all starts. Right? We don't, we don't really know how far we can push Ourselves. So don't put a limit on it. Just keep pushing yourself every day to get better and better.

No, I love that. You know, and people say, you mentioned the mind. People say, well, you retain only 10% of the things you hear, so write it down. That's a little thing. So your mind is everything. Don Luce, who I'm going to have on the show one day, he doesn't know it yet. And Don, I mentioned this last time he drafted me and I talked to him and I brought this up last time because it sounds redundant, but it's really true. He said to me, mike, what part of hockey is mental or what part of business is mental? And I said, I don't know, 80%. He goes, no, 100%. Because everything you do, you're using your mind. So that's where I want to get into the business side of things. You went from hockey to being in la, coming to New York, two big markets, and you got right into the business world right away. You were coming out successful right away. Can you give advice to some of our business guys out there that have their own businesses? Right now, they're starting a business, they work in a company. Why don't you give some advice on how we could help them?

Yeah, you know, it's funny thinking about that too, because I had a, you know, didn't make much money back when we played, and I had a young family at the time. And I literally, from the time I retired and I started my agent business, it was about a week or two. You know, I sat around, thought, okay, what am I going to do? I met with another agent. Well, geez, I'll just do it myself. And I always think to myself, geez, I'm glad I was smart enough to know what I was doing. But not too smart to scare myself, right? Didn't overthink the process. It was like, keep it simple, stupid. But it was. I found out again, I didn't even know it at the time, but again, looking back on it, it was the same thing as my hockey career. I didn't know any better. I just knew that I had to show up, all right? And then I had to do the work and I couldn't blame somebody else. And when I went out on the road and I was going to recruit out in Western Canada, I was going to be gone for 10 days. I packe every day with meetings. So I was never just sitting around the hotel. I was on my dime. I was away from my family in Southern California. Here I'm up in Regina Or Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. And I packed it through every day. But, like, there's a few things. Like, I think I had a. I had a Navy SEAL on my podcast one time, and he said this to me. He says, the first thing people need to realize, life is not fair. It isn't.

That's true.

It's never fair. Assume that right away. Like, when I hear people say, oh, that's not fair. Well, you know, it's not fair going into it. Life is not fair. You know it. And you're not going to be perfect. You're going to make mistakes. There's nobody that's perfect. If you start to realize these things, then you're going to deal with failures. Like, I remember starting the aging business, and I just finished being an NHL hockey player. So everybody's always telling me how great I am. And now all of a sudden, I'm walking into these living rooms asking these parents to have me represent their sons, and they're saying, no. And I'm thinking, what? Nobody says no. Me, I'm Tom Laidlaw. I played in the NHL for 11 years. And then it's. I started. I. I guess I was lucky again, going back to my upbringing where, okay, didn't work out, just get back up and get going again, you know, and that's. To me, it's, life is not fair. You're not going to be perfect. It's good. You've got to show up every day. There is no magic pill. And you're not going to be like, you know, Wayne Gretzky. We talked about Stefan Matteo. I was thinking about him today, and he scored that big goal against the Devils, right? Well, that was a big moment in his life. Big moment for the Rangers. But that didn't just happen that night. That happened many years in advance of as a kid and working hard, making to the National Hockey League, so it won't happen overnight. You're going to make mistakes, and life is not fair.

That was awesome. That is so true. I want to get a little bit about mental strength, because we talk about the mental side of things. Like the mental strength as it relates to, you know, when you work with some of your hockey players in the agency or even you give these. I know you've done a lot of different seminars and you've done a lot of different things with some large companies. What do you tell them about the mental side of things?

Well, I think we get conditioned so much stuff. Like, you know, I give the example of the days of the week, right? So everybody now thinks, okay, Monday, they go, oh, God, it's Monday, you know, or Wednesday now is become hump day because you're just trying to get through the week. And then Friday becomes, oh, thank God, it's Friday. Well, why do you think that way? Because everybody else, like, you watch TV and everybody else is saying that's the way it is. Like, even when it gets cold now, they call it a polar vortex. It used to just be cold, right? So, like, we get conditioned by all these outside forces to think a certain way. And that's where you mentally train yourself to say, no, I, I just. Because somebody else is saying that Monday's a terrible thing. Doesn't matter. It doesn't mean that I have to accept that. I love Mondays. Monday is another thing to get up and get going again. Wednesday for me is pump day. I'm pumped up. I'm not just hoping to get through the week. I'm firing my way through the week. So it's, it's. And it doesn't happen overnight. And again, you're not going to be perfect. Perfect. You're going to slide sometimes you're going to get drawn into a rut where you're not feeling good about things and you're feeling sorry for yourself. But that's where you've got to be able to have that ability to have something there for you that snaps you out of it, to say, no, that's. That's it. Like, for me now, like, even my training, when I'm training in the morning, like, I've learned so much more about getting my mind into the muscle so that when I'm working out, I'm focusing on that muscle, right? And if I'm going to do five sets of 15 reps, I'm doing five sets of 15 reps. I'm not. Like, if I'm all by myself and I stop at 13, that doesn't cut it. You know, times where maybe you're tired, right? And you say, oh, I Gotta quit at 13. But that's when it's important to get back up and do the other two right away. Like, once you. It's the same thing. You train your mind to do that, and you can do it over and over and it won't happen overnight. You gotta do it bit by bit. But you, you do the same thing.

Well, that leads me to ask you. So can you give us a little bit about your workout program? Do you have a recovery day? Share with me what you're doing to stay healthy. Because again, I don't wanna say your Age, but, man, you look great. You bring an amazing energy. Every time I see you, your energy level is always the same. I love that about you. Tell us what you do to stay healthy. I mean, I don't like the word diet all the time, but we use the word diet. What do you do to put good foods into your body? Share that with us.

I like the way you said that. Yeah. To me, it's not about a diet. It's a healthy lifestyle. And again, same thing. I've evolved in my health, a healthy lifestyle. Like, if you go back, you know, three or four years ago, I was okay and I worked out hard and all that kinds of stuff, but now I've taken it to a whole different level. Like, and again, that's that idea about getting better every day. I'm constantly looking at my diet like it sounds terrible when I say it this way, but during this quarantine time, I've used it as an opportunity to improve my diet, improve my workouts even more. I've got Google in my home here. I spend more time talking to Google now. So I'm talking about, like, the healthy foods like chia seeds and ginger and turmeric and all this stuff. So it is. It's a whole healthy lifestyle. It's an attitude as much as anything. Anything. Right. It's not the specifics of what you're eating. It's not the specifics of your workouts. It's an attitude about having that healthy lifestyle and always keep going. And I say to people, listen, don't make it into drudgery, that you hate your healthy lifestyle. Live your life all out. Like, if it's time, like on a Friday afternoon, it's happy hour and you want to sit and have a margarita, have a margarita or have 10 margaritas if you want to, but you get up the next day. I just heard Brooks had the old saying, if you want to fly with eagles at night, you got to wall with the pigs in the morning. That's fine, get up and do it, but have your fun. But to me, the workouts, again, like I said, I'm always evolving. So when I went on Survivor, they'd have a lot of challenges where you have to really be good at your balance and everything. So I started working out on a balance board. And I know how you were, but I meant, you know, getting your bad back from playing and all that kinds of stuff. Since I work out on the balance board all the time, my core has never been tighter. I've got a six pack now. I Never had a six pack in my whole life. You know, it just made my exercise. Like I said, when I work out, it's total concentration. Like my workout isn't just about my body, it's about my mind more than anything. You know, obviously the benefits come to the body, but it's like, like focusing. I do. If I'm doing an arm curl, my mind is in my biceps. Like I'm thinking about every time I move my bicep that I'm doing the exercise properly. So it's that whole, that whole discipline thing and that. And it kind of goes back again to like getting up at 3:30 in the morning and doing, making the bed properly and going on a march so you get the most out of each stride. For me, it's just my life has just gotten so much more rewarding. Like I, I feel like, you know, like I give more to other people. It makes me stronger every time I do that. And again, that's all part of that healthy lifestyle. It's a mental and physical healthy lifestyle. So it's made a huge difference in my life.

And it's great because we talk about mindset a lot and people say, can you give me some tools? Well, I'm bringing on some great people. It's not just about tools. It's about listening to people like yourself, listening to other people we had along the way and what are they doing to get better or get to that next level or to improve. And one thing I want to talk about is I always believe I talk to different businesses. I've coached many different businesses. I know you work with many. The one thing I say, and I'm a fault of it too, I need a coach, a coach needs a coach. And Tom, I'm going to be calling you to help me, but it's sometimes good to really focus on one thing, be the best of it. If people say, do you remember Tom Laidlaw as a hockey player? Oh man, he was a leader. He was a strong defenseman. Boy, he was hard to play against. And you did that one thing really well. And hey, yeah, Wayne Rescue scored all the goals. And we had Luke Robitaille in la and we had different guys that played that way, but I was a really steady defenseman. And I tell athletes, I tell people practice and everything, but really focus on that one thing you're good at. And can you elaborate on that a little bit?

And to use the hockey analogy, you're exactly right. Honest to God, when I first started playing, I tell kids this all the time. I could not stand up on my skates. When I first started playing as like a six year old and I was never ever the best player on my team, on every team, every team I ever played on. But what I did was. And again this is one of these things I didn't even realize what I was doing. It just came back to my upbringing with my family. I would show up every day like it was. To not show up at practice was just unheard of, you know. But when I showed up I did my job properly and that was to be that good defenseman. I had a junior coach and junior beat us. Rick Hay was a fantastic coach and I guess I'd gotten that like 15 years old and I got a little lazy or something and we did breakout drills. Every Wednesday night we would do breakout drills and it got to the point where every time we came time to do breakout drills I would break out drill into a sweat because he was on me the entire time. He wanted me to skate as hard as I could. Had my head on a swivel so I could know where the outlet pass was going to be. When I got to the puck in the corner and moved it, I had to move it as quick as possible to the forward and get it right on his tape. And he would scream at me the whole time until I got it right. But you know what? That was one of the. I think he saw something me and he knew that's something I need to work on. And that became a part of my game. Herb Brooks said to me one time when her first came to coach Rangers after my rookie year I had a pretty good rookie year and we're getting ready for the first game of the regular season. This day before practice and he's going around the whole team. He said this is what you've got to do. Ron Grasher and Barry back. This is what you've got to do. And Laidla, when you get the puck, give it to somebody else. You're not supposed to have it, right? So yeah, I was devastated when he said it but it's, it's the truth. It was great advice. Get the puck up to somebody else.

You know who I relate to? I, I mentioned this before. I'm a big baseball fan. I watch the Yankees and this guy Carmine, which I found out he's a big Roman Carmine. He's a big, big hockey fan, a big. And I never met him but I love, you know, he's a back. They have Sanchez. When the season was going on last year, he was catching for games And I felt so good when a. When a player like, you know, Carmine would come in, because I was that guy. You know, you played regular, but I. But it's. Sometimes you feel for those guys. And he had. He had a home run, won a game. They called up this guy Mike Ford one night and his family was there. He went to Princeton and he played his first game in the Yankees. And he grew up outside of New Jersey. I don't know why, but I vicariously lived through all of those guys still when I watched. And that's the thing about. And it's the same thing with whatever it is. It could be your business. It could be anything. I got a question, a Survivor question from Mitch Bett. He said, I've lost some of it, but he says you're a creature of habit with your daily regimen and what you do. When you were on the show Survivor, how did you get out of that? Because was that show. Did you. Was that like a two week long? Was it a month long? Did you change your workouts? What did you do?

We were there 39 days. We were there out of the show. So it was. It was a long time. So obviously you couldn't work out, really, because I lost £27. I was out there. So you couldn't go. You know, you're trying to conserve energy because all you're eating is rice and coconut, so you gotta be. I normally bring in around 3, 500 calories every day. When I was out there. They say we're only getting like 300 calories, so you had to be a little bit careful, but it is. I'll tell you what, though, like the physical part, yeah, you had to monitor that, but it was the mental thing, too. I remember at one point, actually, I think it was the night that I got voted off the host, Jeff Probst, you could tell it was one. There was a whole bunch of things that happened to lead us to the point where there was. There was a three of us, that one of the three of us was going home, we were getting voted off. And Jeff Probst knew that everybody, there's no hiding it. That's just the way it was. And he. He asked the three of us all at different times, he said, you know, have you ever begged for anything? And he got to me and he knew the answer right away, too, because he knew what he was doing. He saved me for last. He says, Tommy ever begged for any of this is, nope, I will never beg. Who I am is what I am. If they want to Make a decision to get a room, that's fine. But I'm going to be what I am right to the very end. And you know, I remember because, you know, he'd asked the other two first and we're getting, getting there and there's a flash in my mind. At first it's okay, do I, do I, you know, do I lie here and say, oh yeah, I'll beg to do whatever to say. Said, no way, I'm not going out like that. If I'm going out, I'm going to go out standing up. So but it was that, that, it was that habit of that's who I had become. That's I wasn't begging for anything. I was going to work for it. If it didn't work, working for it, then I get up and I go do something else.

So.

Yeah, that's a good question.

Well, Tom, it's been a pleasure having you. You and I could talk for hours. I mean, zip right by you and I could really talk for hours. And I've always enjoyed spending time with you, learning from you since the first day we met years ago at a team event. And now the time we spent together this last couple years. Thank you so much, people. True Grit life. Hey Tom. Can anybody get in touch with you? I know this isn't a salesy show, but I'm getting messages on my phone. Hey, how do I get in touch with Tom Laidlaw? Where can I see what he does?

My website is true gritlife.com you can follow me on Instagram at Real Tom Laidlaw and on Facebook as Tom Laidlaw. And listen, it's a two way street with you too. I love talking to you. We think a lot the same way. There's always little differences we have in our opinion, opinions and stuff. But I really admire you and the way you live your life as well. Great job, Tom.

Thank you and thanks to Tom and true Brit life and have a great day.

Good job, guys.