In this brief motivational monologue recorded on August 31st, the speaker reflects on the distinction between influence and control in personal and professional interactions. Drawing from a recent board of trustees retreat and observations of coaching practices at SLU, he illustrates how day‑to‑day influence is built through specific, helpful guidance rather than attempts to control others’ thoughts or outcomes. He acknowledges his own frustration when trying to control, noting that true influence stems from how one treats and shows up for people. The talk concludes with a call to action, urging listeners to consider how they will be influential in the coming week and to "crush it with love."
Chapters
Good afternoon, everyone. It is Monday, August 31st, the last day of August. You kind of feel it, right? Does it feel like September or that, that, uh, the summer is over? And then I look down at the car and it's 92 degrees. Summer's still here. Well, I'm in St. Louis. Just got back from Colorado. Um, a little more pleasant weather-wise, but that's neither here nor there. Your moment of yes for today. August 31st. And that is, it's just about influence. It's just about influence. Everything that we do is our ability to influence, not control, right? Probably something I've talked about dozens of times on here already. So, where that comes from for me in a couple of things is, I just got back from a board of trustees weekend retreat and noticing some frustration that I was feeling and voiced a few different times. And again, noticing the desire to want to change someone's mind, control someone's mind, and realizing how much frustration comes with that, right? But influence is different. Influence is the day-to-day impact that we have Which, how do we create great relationships, is that day-to-day interactions, the influence that we have day in and day out, not by trying to control the person or the outcome, but how we treat them and how we show up. Great example of that today is, is getting, getting back to SLU practice and just seeing how coaches were disseminating information through film, through training. Helping guys make specific adjustments, right? That's influence. That's not just getting mad at someone and telling them to do better, right? It's giving them specific examples, specific helpful information so that they can make those adjustments. That's influence. And so the older I get, right? Look at that, all that gray hair. The older I get, Right? The more I try to remember and I got, you know, I was kind of frustrated with myself. Look at that guy, I bet you, yeah, yeah, I could influence him. Probably not. Getting frustrated at myself for getting frustrated with others and realizing like, you know, it's just about, I can influence by how I treat people and show up, not by getting frustrated at them. So, how are you going to be influential this week? That's your moment of yes. Go out there and crush it with love, everyone. Have an awesome week.
