The Only Thing HOLDING YOU BACK From SUCCESS | Molly Fletcher

I mean, curiosity to me unlocks choices. I mean, curiosity creates choices. And sometimes what that means is when we lean into curiosity, it means we maybe lean into change.

You do a lot of work with like really high top performers and you spend a lot of time in your career doing so. I am curious. I think the number one thing that most people want to know is what's the number one difference between a top performer and. And an underperformer? What separates them?

You know, I would say the people that stay there. Right. So I work with big league guys, NBA coaches, college coaches. The people that stay there versus everybody else is they have a drive to get better. Right. Not a drive to achieve. In other words, they don't necessarily chase achievement. They chase a desire to continue to improve and get better.

And they don't really focus on the competition a lot. Right. They spend more time focusing on what they need to do and show up to show up and be better. I mean, I can promise you Tom Brady doesn't spend a lot of time, right. Worrying about other guys. Serena doesn't worry about other players a lot. They're waking up every day. They know the things they need to do to continue to up the, you know, up their game, if you will. And that's what they focus on. It's an internal drive versus an external desire to achieve.

Yeah. So. And I think that would be. Remain true for a lot of the folks that, that have been in my. My sphere of influence as well is it seems like those that are hungrier are always getting the next opportunity. They're getting the next piece of literature. They're the ones who invest in themselves, are downloading the free resource. They're. They're watching the YouTube videos and doing the pod. There's like, they're constant studying and stewards. Now, as incredibly successful as you've become, or I assume you're doing, I assume you're following the same framework. Is that true?

Well, I mean, curiosity to me unlocks choices. I mean, curiosity creates choices. And sometimes what that means is when we lean into curiosity, it means we maybe lean into change.

Right.

I mean, one of my guys, John Smoltz, went from a starter to a closer, back to a starter. He didn't need to do that. The team needed him to. The GM asked him to. Right. Bobby Cox, the manager at the time, wanted him to. It was uncomfortable. It was hard. It was a whole different routine and rhythm for him. But he wasn't afraid to be curious about what might be possible if he stepped into that discomfort and that's what the best do. They are not afraid to get uncomfortable because they know that the person that comes out the other side of that is a better version than the person that walked in.

Now, do you think that's more of a transition, though? Because at least for me to say I was comfortable with the uncomfortable early on is probably. Probably a stretch. It was almost like I was forced into uncomfortable, realized, oh, there's. There's something here, right here. And then kind of change the. The question I was asking myself from why me? To, oh, what can I learn from this?

Sure.

How can that shape me? So how have you seen that play out even in your own career?

Well, you know, I guess I would tell you, you know, I'm a big story person, right. I mean, I think a story would be, or a moment in time was when I was hired at a small agency. We had a few clients. We had a baseball player and a couple NBA coaches. And I remember sitting in the office, and it was soon after the Olympics was in Atlanta in 96. And I was sitting in my office and I was sorting through, like, gear that we'd gotten for one of my. For a couple of our clients. And I remember thinking, how are we going to grow, right? Like, how are we going to get more talent, more players? Because that's how we're going to continue to grow. Revenue, make a bigger impact, all those things. And so I walked into our bosses at my boss's office, our leader's office, and I was like, what's our growth plan? I'm 23 years old. I'm probably in a pair of pink pants and heels. And he goes, what do you mean? I go, what's our growth plan? He said, well, referrals, like, really confidently. And I said, okay, cool. And I said, well, what do you mean? And he starts walking through the chain of referrals that had occurred to date. And I said, well, what if we got more aggressive? He's like, what do you mean? Well, what if I went out and started to grow our baseball division? We have one baseball player. Let's go get more. And he goes, he kind of looked out the window. I can still see it. And he sort of looked back and he said, well, if you can figure it out, good for you. Go for it. So I put a business plan together, got my head around it. I didn't really know anything, but I thought, let's start with baseball. The Atlanta Braves are in Atlanta, right? There's some minor league teams, a couple really solid college programs. Let's start there and see what can happen. And so, you know, I'd go down to the field at Georgia Tech and lean on the fence with the scouts and the parents and, you know, they'd have chewing tobacco and bubble gum and, you know, and I signed a couple guys that year and a couple more the next year, and a couple more the next year. And then, you know, it continued to evolve. And so, you know, to me it's about asking ourselves, you know, what's possible, right. What if? And oftentimes inside of that question, it's curiosity. It's sort of beginning to say, what?

How do I get curious about what more I can do, what more I can deliver, how more I can serve? And often inside of that, we unlock opportunities for ourselves as well.

Yeah, I was talking to a good friend recently and one of the things that he said that resonates with him and people who have become extremely successful is kind of what you mentioned. They take chances.

They're consciously curious, but the chances they take are very calculated. So in that particular example, one of the things that I kind of recognized is it's not just the curiosity of what's possible, but also like, I'm willing to take a big chance, put out a big risk, and kind of see what comes out of it. And if I'm thinking about that honestly, it seems like ultra performers, including yourself, all kind of do that consistently. But how does somebody do that consistently without also kind of doing making as many dumb decisions as possible?

Sure. I mean, you know, it's funny, I saw all the little moments, right. I saw all the standing over a putt when the sun's going down and you can barely see and just getting that five foot uphill putt just right, right. Draining it, believing in it. You know, I saw the late night practices, the late night shoot arounds, the late night films, the extra work. You know, to me, the, the world, though, saw the guy stand over a putt on a Sunday, win a tournament. You know, the world sees a coach make a call with two minutes left in the game that wins it. You know, the world sees a guy throw strikes in game seven of a World Series. I saw all the little moments that created the confidence in that big moment. And so to me, we build and strength, fearlessness to me is a muscle. And the more that we lean into tough moments, the more, the more that we lean into these challenging opportunities, if you will, the stronger that muscle gets. Will you make some mistakes? Will you? Absolutely. In my opinion, failure is a fantastic thing. It is just Feedback. But I always sort of used to tell my agents that work for me. Right. You know, no. Is just feedback. Right. Failure is a wonderful way in which we can learn and grow. So, yes, when we're stepping into the uncomfortable, yes, when we're being fearless and we're going to hit some speed bumps. But the truth is, if we believe enough in what we're doing and why we're doing it, we drive right over those speed bumps because we have enough of an internal driver to what we want and what we're trying to do, that those speed bumps are just that. They're just a little bit of a hiccup and we keep going.

I'm so glad you said it that way, because I feel like that a lot of reasons that people choose to give up, maybe that maybe they've got the curiosity thing down, maybe they've got a basic working knowledge of how to ask the right questions. But it seems like when expectations don't meet reality, like, immediately, like, we all want to give up. And I'm so glad you mentioned that, because when I look back at the marketplace, whether it's an entrepreneur, whether it's an entertainer, somebody in the sports industry, it doesn't matter. All of them are putting in hard sweat equity long before they get the big, you know, the Stanley cup or, you know, anything like that. How have you been able to adopt that and even teach that into your team? Given your team's been growing as much as they have, how have you been able to indoctrinate them into that same belief system? Doing the hard work first?

You know, so to me, when we think about the things that allow us to help our teams do the hard work, part of it is belief. I mean, I think they've got to believe in what they do and why they do it. If they don't believe, they are going to hit tough moments, they're going to hit hiccups, they're going to hit challenges. So at the most basic level, if they don't believe, you know, I think we've got to teach our people that failure is okay. I think our world today, our failure tolerance, if you will, is just low. Because we live in this Instagram social media world where people take 100 photos and they pick the best. That's not the real world. So we want to make sure our people feel supported and feel loved and know that if they hiccup or make a mistake, you got them right, you're there to help pick them up. You're there to put your arm around Them you're there to support them and that you believe in them. Our teams aren't going to push themselves to do the hard work, to do the tough things, to push the envelope, to challenge the status quo if they don't know that you've got their back when it doesn't go Right. Right. And so, you know, to me, and then I think we want to give our people, too.

The strength to understand the importance of or the wherewithal and the tools to understand the importance of resilience. You know, resilience today, particularly in our world, right. Is so incredibly important, because when we push the envelope, when we do the hard work, when we, you know, it won't always go well, but we've got to recover fast. I remember standing on the range with Butch Harmon, who's a heck of a golf teacher. He's worked with Tiger and Phil and Annika. And I asked Butch, I said, dude, what's the difference between the guys? It was the week of the Masters. I said, the guys playing out here this week, playing in one of the biggest tournaments ever, and everybody else. And literally, he looks at me and goes, oh, the best ones recover from adversity fast Mile. He goes, they're going to bogey holes. They're going to double bogey, but they recover fast. Yeah, our people to do that, too, recover fast.

I like that. I like that a lot.

Well, let's pivot off that for a second.

If.

If one of the greatest tools is resiliency and the ability to recover fast, how important is mindset in that? Because it seems like you'd have to train your brain a little bit to be able to recover fast. Is it. In other words, is it a. Is it a learnable trait, or is it something that you think we're born with inherently, and you either have it or you don't?

You know, mindset to me is. It's everything. I mean, I think it is one of the most important things as a leader, as a team member, as a team that we need. I mean, because here's the thing, as people, we have this incredible ability to tell ourselves stories, right? We tell ourselves stories. Some of the stories lift us up and take us to a place that we want to go. But some of them are limiting beliefs, right, that keep us stuck. So, you know, to me, it is absolutely something that can be learned. And there is so much data around all the kinds of things that we can do. In fact, for your listeners, we have a seven mindset shifts, free workbook, and we made a code for you Unstoppable. And they get put in. Yeah. People can go to Molly Fletcher.com leadership huddles and they type in the code unstoppable and they get a $10 discount on our monthly membership. But they can go to.

Check out our Huddles, which is a monthly group coaching program that we do. And they'll also get access to our seven Mindset chefs. But mindset, you know, when you think about, you know, think about this, right? Tom Brady was 199th pick in the draft.

Right.

I mean, my life is this gigantic metaphor of sports. So Brady's 199th pick in the draft.

Yeah.

He, he isn't supposed to be this good. I mean, he was a six round pick. But when Brady got a shot, he believed that he could do it. He, he wanted the ball. And when Bledsoe went down and he stepped in behind the center, he said, I'm never giving this job back. Right. His linemen wanted to protect him, his receivers wanted to catch for him. His mindset was such that the people around him wanted to see him to succeed and he was prepared and believed that he could. And so I think for our listeners and for your listeners to recognize that, you know, when we're walking into a sales pitch or we're walking into a difficult conversation or a big meeting, we've got to believe.

In our ability to deliver in these moments. Because if we don't, number one, people can tell. And number two, right, it isn't going to work if we don't believe. When I would walk practice rounds with my golfers, if, you know, if they'd tee it up and think, man, I hope I don't spray this thing right.

They spray it right. You gotta believe, you know, you got, it's, it's all about the story that we tell ourselves. And unfortunately, sometimes, and I would, I always challenge people, you know, think about gaps in your life, maybe where you aren't where you want to be and what's the story that you're telling yourself that's keeping you stuck? And what's a new story that you could tell yourself that would allow you to make a shift?

Yeah, no, that's good. That is really, really good. I find that people, I actually say, I would say just my personal experience going from homeless to storm out today, I have probably used reframing or rephrasing or re asking questions or some form of that methodology so many times that it's now become muscle memory.

Yep.

Right now, now it's about how can I get A better perspective on this. What are the things I'm not seeing? Who else can. What do you. What do you guys see? You know, you know, I'm looking around the room. What do you guys see? And I've discovered that that's probably the fastest way past a blind spot. Right. Is to actually get an outside perspective on where you're at. And I think the power of reframing is, like, super, super duper powerful.

It is. And it's also. And you sort of said this, right? I mean, having a group of people around you who have absolutely no agenda, but for you to get better, for you to improve, for you to contribute and to listen to them and to take their feedback and. Because to your point, they can help you see some blind spots that maybe you don't. And, you know, for me, as a woman in the sports space, I had to reframe all the time. I mean, I would be behind home plate at batting practice, and managers would yell at my guys for talking to me, why are you hitting on that chick? And my guys would be like, dude, it's my agent. Right? And they're like, and the manager's going, oh, dude, sorry. Right. Or I'd be walking practice rounds with tour players, or I'd be at, you know, practice with my coaches. And. And I could have said, maybe I don't belong here. There's no other women out here. There's not women walking practice rounds. There's not women behind the plate at bp. Maybe this isn't right. But instead, I thought, what a gift. This is awesome. Nobody else looks like me. I can show up in a way that's different. I can serve these guys. I'm not their wife, I'm not their mom, I'm not their sister. But I can show up in a way that adds value. And reframing is a big part of being able to do that.

Well. Yeah. Well, I'm curious to know, how did. How did. How did you get started with Game Changers? Obviously, a super successful show and fantastic conversations. How did you get started with that?

Yeah, you know, Game Changers with Molly Fletcher is our podcast, and, you know, really, it was probably three or four years ago. One of the women that works with me, we kind of thought, this seems to be an awesome way to. I have such wonderful relationships, which I'm so grateful for. And they're conversations that are like, you so authentic and real. And what's so powerful about it is, I thought, you know, what an awesome way to share a conversation with guys like John Smoltz or Priyanka Jonas or Dabo Sweeney or Tom Izzo or Ernie Johnson Jr. Whatever, and allow it to be a way in which we can lift people up. You know, my personal mission statement is to lead, inspire, and connect with courage and optimism. And anything that I can do that helps do that is what I try to do. And a podcast certainly wasn't my idea. It was my team member Sprague's idea, and it was a heck of an idea, and it's been a great success and helped a lot of people, so it's been fun.

Now, have you stumbled into a favorite episode yet, or are you allowed to.

Say, you know, that's cute? That's a great question. I mean.

There'S been several. I mean, you know, Matthew McConaughey, this is funny. I mean, every. Everyone that we do, you know, it's audio only. And the power went out. I had no power at my house, in my studio. And, you know, it was. I couldn't take a shower. All these kind of things, right? So I have to run to one of the girls houses that works for me and set up everything and all that stuff. It's like the hundred some episode. And McConaughey FaceTimes me. I'm in a baseball hat, a T shirt, and I'm like, you gotta be joking me, dude.

Of all people to FaceTime me on.

The day that I have no bar on the one day. He's the only guy that's ever done that. But, you know, he was really present and really engaged, and it was like he had absolutely nothing else to do. I mean, it was fascinating. After about an hour and ten minutes.

I thought, I have to let him go.

I mean, he's gotta be busy. But he acted like he had nothing to do. So that was a really fun one. You know, Dabo Sweeney, what a man. I mean, you know, he's won a national championship, but what I love about him is that it's not about winning. It's about an opportunity to use the platform that he has to make an impact on people's lives. So, you know, to me, the people that I love connecting with are the ones who've had incredible success that look at the world in a different way, that. That make an impact on people's lives, but they haven't. They're not too full of themselves, right? And those are the ones that are fun because they deliver information that people can lift up and apply to their own lives. That's what it's all about.

Yeah, I know. I Think we've kind of touched on it a few times throughout the show already. But, you know, the importance of being resilient and overcoming. And it seems to me that you take Matthew and some of the other folks you mentioned, Dabo and a few others, they've all been through enormous adversity that created the crushing to begin with.

Yeah.

And it seems like the crushing is what crushes the ego. And then what you're left with is the fruit of whatever the journey was, whatever the lesson was, whatever the wisdom was, you know, that kind of thing. Are you still. Are you still seeing that pretty consistently across everybody that you interview the people that you work with on a regular basis? Are you still seeing that the most humble people are typically the ones who've been through the most?

You know, it's a great question. I would say that's certainly a contributing factor. I think those. A lot of things, Right. That can contribute to humility, from faith to certainly other things.

But, yeah, I would say that probably as a driver, because they know what it's like to not be there.

And they recognize and appreciate. I would say Smoltz is a really humble guy. He hasn't really been through a lot of really tough stuff, though. I mean, it's not like he has done what you've done. He's had a lot of success as a pitcher, but.

He knows that his life is a journey that's quick and that he has had success in such a way that it allows him to give back, and he believes that's his why. And so I think it can be faith, and I think it can be.

Tough times and probably lots of other things that contribute to somebody's ability to stay humble, be humble.

Yeah, I love that. I mean, it's. The reality is we are. We're all on our own journey, some variation of it. Right. And I guess it's up to us to try to make the most out of that journey.

Sure.

You know what I'm saying? So, you know, being a. Being a female in the. In the sports. Sports industry, and then what I refer to as taking over. They don't call you the female Jeremy Maguire for nothing. Right. You know what I'm saying? You know, so that's. You know, there's elements of adversity there. There's elements of adversity in, you know, building a. Building a business around that being everywhere. One of the things that I love most about you and how you just interact with people is I. And I don't know if you see this. So I'M just going to bless you with this, just for fun, is you kind of remind me of what you just mentioned with Matthew. Right. In that. So I've had the luxury, the pleasure of being with Molly one on one, actually, like face to face and a couple different events. And, um, you know, you legitimately make everybody feel like they're. They're the only person in the room. Right. And I, and I know that's blessed you in your career. I know that blesses you on stage. Um, if you guys haven't seen Molly yet, perform, or I say perform, present is probably the best way to say it. Perform and present. I guess it's kind of all one in the same. Right? You guys need to check it out. Like you, you totally need to check her out. Very, very, very, very powerful speaker. Um, a lot of great stories, as you guys can imagine, to say tons, tons.

Like you. Right. We've got a database that we can draw on, which is awesome.

Well, look, I want to. Before we wrap it up, I am curious to know what's next for Molly. What is the lasting impact that you're dedicated to making now?

Sure. You know, we just want to continue to expand our net. I mean, we've touched a lot of people, we've influenced a lot of people. We've changed a lot of lives. You know, I do probably 80 some keynotes a year. We, we have training products that we deliver and train on energy and negotiation. Those are continuing to grow and expand, which allows us to make a bigger impact. We just want to get to more people so that we can get our message out and change lives. Right. One at a time. And so what's next for us is to continue to expand and reach and connect and connect in a way that drives change. Change. Right. I mean, I always, you know, speaking is such a fantastic thing and people leave inspired, but what's most important to me is that they leave with tools and tactics to change their behavior in a way.

Right.

That they hear something. Maybe it's one thing, maybe two, maybe it's three, that they go, I'm going to do that. I'm going to lean into that. And that's what drives me, is the emails, the letters, the notes, the DMs of someone that has leaned into something they've heard from the stage, from our training, and it's made an incredible impact on their lives. You know, to me, that's what it's all about.

I love it. I love it. As you guys can see, Molly is all about service. That's one of the things I love most about her. That's why she had to come on Stuck to Unstoppable. Just the way it goes. Where can everybody find out more about you?

Mollyfletcher.com is a great place to start and that'll connect them to any of our social platforms, Our newsletter, our 7 Mindset Shifts podcast, all that stuff. Thanks for asking that. Sweet.

Yeah, absolutely. And we're going to. We'll post the link down below in the. In the show notes as well to make sure everybody takes advantage of that. I'm a big believer in mind and mindset and mind shifting, so I know that the resource can help them for beyond a shadow of a doubt. Well, look, I have enjoyed hanging out with you. Hope you enjoyed hanging out with us as well.

I loved it, man. And thanks for the work that you do. You're making an impact, which is awesome.

Thanks. It's nice to come alongside of somebody so amazing. So appreciate that. Appreciate the love there.

You're kind of.

All right, well, take care. We'll see you soon.

Thanks so much, man.

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