In this motivational monologue recorded on August 19, the speaker shares insights from recent talks given in Louisiana to a youth club, a college team, and a high school club. He recounts conversations with parents and coaches about what they truly value in youth sports. Parents emphasized mentorship, character development, resilience, teamwork, and personal growth, mentioning winning only in passing. Coaches, however, expressed concerns about player retention, club hopping, and the pressure to secure Division‑1 scholarships or professional prospects. The speaker highlights the common mistake of assuming an audience’s priorities and urges listeners to ask questions, stay curious, and seek clarity. He frames this reminder as a “moment of yes” to start the week, encouraging a focus on character and team‑building over winning and warning against unchecked assumptions in any collaborative setting.
Chapters
Good morning, everyone. Here's your moment of yes for Monday, August 19th. August is flying by. I just got back from Louisiana late last night. All I did is talk for 2 days to a youth club, a college team, and a high school club. Long days, good stuff. One of the things I talked to the parents of the high school team, I talked to the parents of the club, And I, I started the talk off by asking the parents, what is it that you really want from your child's experience in the club? What are you looking for? What's the end result? And all of them said things like they want good mentors, good influences in their life, teach them how to deal with adversity, teach them how to deal with struggle, how to be a good person, how to be a good teammate, all these things. Finally, like one grandfather said, like, you know, like winning's good too. I was like, yeah, winning's great. Yeah, nothing wrong with winning, but it wasn't the focus of anyone in that group. And when I had spoken to the coaches earlier, their fears were about parents leaving the club, club hopping, always, you know, being focused on Division 1 scholarships and my kid going pro. And in this parent group, it didn't come up once. And it was just a good refresher reminder to me, especially in new sports, so often We assume what the audience is thinking, and so we craft our vision and we craft our— how we treat them that direction. All specifically to say, so many coaches don't find time to do more of the character and the team building because they feel so much pressure to focus on the sport, when those just aren't necessarily in alignment. So for us, it's, it's how often are we assuming something about, um, maybe, uh, at work, or, or assuming something about the people we work with, or assuming about just a group where we assume that they— their priority is this, when in actuality it's, it's, it's more in alignment with where you are. So again, always that great reminder of what, you know, assuming does. But, and a good reminder for how important it is to ask questions, be curious, and get clarity. Because maybe what you're assuming about what their agenda is, isn't exactly that. So there you have it. That's a good way to start your week, not making assumptions. That's your moment of yes for today. Have an awesome week, everybody.
