In this pre‑game video, the speaker delivers a motivational "moment of yes" to the team on September 23rd, the final day of their Germany tour before playing Japan. He outlines the hectic travel schedule—playing Japan, then flying to Spain—while reflecting on Japan’s exemplary behavior at the 2018 World Cup, where the team left the locker room spotless and fans cleaned up the stadium. Using this example as a cultural benchmark, he prompts the audience to consider their own personal and team culture: how they treat environments and people, and whether their actions align with the kind of person they aspire to be. The talk ends with a call for self‑reflection and an enthusiastic wish for a great Friday.
Chapters
Good morning, everyone. Here's your moment of yes for Friday, September 23rd. It's our last day in Germany. Actually, probably by the time you're getting this or watching this, we're already playing our game. We play Japan today, and I believe the game will start at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, 7:30 Central, on ESPN2 if anyone wants to watch. So we play Japan today and then off to In Germany, but then off to Spain after the game. And so we're kind of in, you know, we're— we've done our team stuff for the day. Now we're— once we leave for the stadium, we're packed up and we hit the stadium, play the game, jump on a plane and fly to Spain. That all kind of rhymed, right? And so the idea I'm just thinking about, there's always lots of moving parts and, you know, you come and you kind of move into one spot and then now you pack up and you move to the other. And the fact that we're playing Japan today reminded me of when Japan was in the 2018 World Cup, the last World Cup. They lost in the round of 16 game. Had they won, I think they would have been in the quarterfinals or even the semifinals. And they lost in extra time, uh, and Belgium scored in extra time. And Japan had been winning 2-0 and lost 3-2. Heartbreaking World Cup. Devastating. You get it. And— After the game, Japan went into the locker room. They did their thing. They were done. They left the locker room spotless. Absolutely spotless. With a thank you note to Russia. That's where the World Cup was held. With a thank you note to Russia for the hospitality. And what did their fans do in the stadium at each game? They would stay behind and pick up the trash in the stadium. Yeah. So when we talk about leaving a spot better than, than we found it. They are sort of the gold standard. So I'm, you know, it's kind of fun to get to play them today and the culture and everything they represent, which always gets me thinking about, well, what is, what is my culture? What do I represent? What is our culture? What do we represent? How do I treat an environment? How do I leave an environment? How do I treat people? How do I leave people? And so, yeah, that's just what I'm thinking about today as we, as we get to go and play Japan. And so for yourself, right, what does your culture mean to you? How do you leave spaces? How do you leave people? And, and is that consistent with who you want to be? There you have it, guys. That's your Motive Yes for today. Have an awesome Friday.
