In this brief motivational monologue recorded on June 11, 2021, the speaker reflects on the recent two‑and‑a‑half‑week national‑team camp that took place across controlled environments—from a COVID‑restricted setting in St. Louis to a summer camp setting. Using the recurring image of climbing mountains—first in Crans‑Montana, then Denver, then Salt Lake City—the speaker draws a parallel between the step‑by‑step progression of a sports team and personal development. He emphasizes that reaching one summit simply reveals another peak, arguing that continual challenge is essential for purpose and meaning. The talk warns against a comfort‑only lifestyle, likening it to muscular atrophy, and urges listeners to identify and embrace their current or next “mountain” as a source of motivation and growth. The segment closes with a weekend well‑wish and a reminder to say “yes” to the challenges ahead.
Chapters
Good morning, everyone. Here is your Moment of Yes for Friday, June 11th. Back in St. Louis for my 24 hours of going from one, one controlled environment into another controlled environment. So being with the national team for the last 2 and a half weeks, being in a COVID-controlled environment, now being with the family, and now going into a summer camp space for the next 2 weeks, which will be another Controlled environment. So I'm enjoying, uh, at least a few hours of, um, of the free world. Yeah, the free world. So what do I do? I go to Panera, get my iced coffee in the free world. Yes. So your moment of yes for today, obviously reflecting on the last 2 and a half weeks, um, a really successful camp for, for the national team. And one of the ideas since we started in the mountains of Crans Montana in Switzerland, and then we went to the mountains of Denver, and then we ended in the mountains of Salt Lake City. Kind of one of the themes throughout camp was, you know, how do you get to the top of a mountain, right? It's step by step. And seeing that the growth of the team and the progression of the team is a process, it's a step-by-step process. And some days it's a step, and other days it feels like a leap, you know, where The championship game against Mexico felt like a leap. It felt like a leap as far as climbing, climbing this mountain that you're on. And when you get to the top of, you know, a mountain, what do you see at the top of the mountain? You actually see that there's another mountain peak. And now it's— you have the opportunity to, to maybe descend that mountain as you start to climb another mountain. And I think that analogy for life, I think It's very easy to get sucked into thinking that we're only ever climbing one mountain with every task, with every challenge, with every adversity that we're dealing with and then you overcome it and then once you overcome it, it doesn't mean that you're done and that life is now easy. It means that you have gained the skill and the knowledge to then climb the next mountain which is often a bigger, more challenging mountain but you're able to take on that challenge because you just grew and proved yourself through the previous challenge of that mountain. It's when we have no mountains in our life, it's often— people often think that their— the goal is to attain a life that is struggle-free. But when you live a life without struggle, you kind of live a life without purpose. And you see that all the time with people that, that have so much luxury and so much comfort that there's no challenge. There's also usually a lack of purpose. And a lack of purpose, there's a lack of meaning. And that's not where we want to be either. So we want to, we want to be in that place where we're always sort of working on something, struggling on something. And I don't mean struggle necessarily as a negative, but, but being challenged by something that keeps us growing, it keeps us open, and it keeps us learning. Because when we don't do that, just like the muscles of our body atrophies, When we don't use them, our mental muscles and those purpose muscles atrophize when we don't have something that is driving and inspiring us forward as well. And so as you go into the weekend, your moment of yes for today is, is to think about what does that nice— what does that next mountain look like for you? Or what does your current mountain look like? And to appreciate it and to embrace it because you know That it's keeping you in the game, it's keeping you motivated, and you know that you're growing and learning as a result. Yeah, that's your moment of yes for today, guys. Have an awesome weekend.
