KNOWLEDGE MENTORS
Mentors. You must have them. At least one. “We grow taller by standing on the shoulders of giants.” (No idea who said that, but it’s true. Allegedly it was Bernard of Chartres.) What’s that mean? It means that if you take a genius-level mathematician like Pythagoras or Euclid, I am way smarter than they were. And any high school kid that took calculus is way smarter too. Why? Pythagoras or Euclid never got to calculus. I did. So, I win. Isaac Newton discovered gravity, but I took three physics classes, so I beat him too. Not a big deal. There are tens of thousands beyond me. The phrase means that “giants” in any industry have all or most the knowledge in that industry during that time period. And others down the road study the giants and the greats and then get even smarter. The next generation evolved the information and gets even better at it. That’s how it works. Think about it. The original automobiles had wood wheels. That was the best idea at the time. Yeah, well some cars today can go 200 mph. That’s evolution.
Bill Belichick’s father was the head football coach at the US Naval Academy. The Academy alone has several hundred books on football. Just football. In addition, Belichick was a huge Paul Brown fan who modernized and evolved the approach to coaching pro football well beyond his peers. Add in a lifetime of learning from the greats, plus all the books he read from other greats, plus his father and his contacts, and he’s arguably the greatest football coach ever. . . for now. He took everyone else’s knowledge and evolved it. Having a mentor, or two or more, simply increases the speed of your development. They learned years of lessons and now you can learn what they learned only faster. Mentors increase the speed at which you adapt and improve.
Actual Human Mentors
Working with and learning from people is optimal.
Talk face-to-face with people at much as possible. The mentor might have a simple idea or statement or habit to teach you. Let’s say it’s “Be Disciplined early every morning at 6:00 a.m. and set yourself up for success. Watch fifteen minutes of film to prep your mind on your day’s targets.” The statement is helpful. It tells you when to start your day. It also tells you what to do each day. All good things. Then obvious questions arise: What is a good routine specifically? What if I have a 6:00 a.m. workout; does that mean I start at 5:00 a.m.? What changes when I travel for games, need more sleep, am on vacation, etc.? Now it’s a conversation. Discuss the different ideas. It’s two-sided too. On one side, you must stay Disciplined and do it daily. On the other side, there are always exceptions. Say Ball State just played in Toledo, Ohio on Tuesday night, and the team got on the bus to travel back to Muncie, Indiana and arrived back home to bed at 4:00 a.m.. It’s not good for your morning routine to get up on two hours of sleep.
People form bonds with those they work with, identify with, and like. This happens a lot more with face-to-face encounters.
We are social creatures. Support is stronger together. Marriages don’t work so well when spouses don’t see each other for weeks or months at a time.
Want to know what your future looks like? Look at the five people you hang out with and work with the most.
Do-It-Yourself Mentors
Read. Period.
See Number 1 above. You can’t be your best without getting smarter in your field. You also can’t win without learning how to win at life. So, read. Read books, articles, etc. on how to get better mentally, nutritionally, in recovery—in short, the six-Inch Blocks we outline here.
If you are looking for more specific help and training, contact us at Athlete Builder: www.athlete-builder.com or come to our gym to train and work with us in person: www.unbreakableathleticsacademy.com.
On-Line Mentors
If you can’t meet face-to-face, then meet online. Set up video chats and conferences. It’s a small step below in-person meetings but still great. If not online, then have a phone conversation. Last resort is text and DMs. It’s better than nothing. But so much is lost simply texting. You didn’t come this far just to come this far. So, make your time count.
Not everyone worthwhile is nearby. My brother, Eric Beebe, is a very successful entrepreneur in Cleveland. We talk every Friday before lunch about how the week went. We hold each other accountable while we live in different states.
Some are masters of their craft and must be sought out. The only way to reach them is online. You get what you pay for too. So, find greatness and pay them for it. It’s the same as paying Purdue University for a great engineering or business degree because Purdue is excellent. Find someone you need to learn the required skill from and hire them to mentor you.
Podcasts. There are excellent resources and discussions in podcasts. Revisit the Brainwashing section earlier in the book. You love soccer? Listen to every podcast that has David Beckham or other soccer coaches on. Do this during your morning walk or while in the car. Maximize your time to get better.
Social media. The same authors, coaches, and podcasters have educational content on their social media pages. Absorb the free content and apply it. Move forward!
Systems of Mentors
For example, as my son Sam begins his senior year, he is considering playing soccer in college. I’ve always trained him for his Mindset and his strength and conditioning. Naturally, we discussed it. Then he talked with another D1 player I introduced him to at IUPUI, a local university. Then he talked with his current high school soccer coach. Finally, he talked with his former soccer coach as well. Sam has always been a joy to coach because he’s so coachable and his effort is always through the roof. He took it upon himself to get as much information and data as possible to make his decision. He sought guidance from a number of great sources which helped a lot. As of this writing, he’s looking at D3 and D2 schools if he wants to play. We will have to wait and see how his senior season unfolds and what he decides. But he has a plan and the help so he can make decisions and move forward.
It takes a village. What’s the “one thing” I need to do to get better? I love Tim Grover’s response: “There is never just one thing!” It’s never as easy as one thing. Some things are more impactful than others, but it still takes dozens and hundreds of things to get better.
It takes multiple forms of mentorship to get better. The person who can teach you how to heal and recover isn’t going to be the one to teach you how to train to become the strongest, fastest, most powerful athlete on the field. So, you need at least two.
You’ll need all the forms listed above. You might need a book on recovery. You might listen to podcasts on mental toughness. You could meet with someone who is an expert at your sport and position. You might learn a ton on YouTube as well. It’ll take many different forms.
Allies: It’s easier and more effective to handle adversities together. We are talking about work here. Right? I’m asking you to think, decide, and act. So, find someone to act together with and you’re more likely to stick to it.
Mindset: You need someone to help you advance and become mentally tougher. More resilient. Someone needs to push you to seek discomfort, to work. That’s the only method for improving.
Knowledge: You need to become an expert in your craft. Who are potential mentors here? If you play linebacker, then start here: the starting linebacker, the starter who just graduated, your position coach, your defensive coordinator, All-State, All-Americans linebackers from your school, other high-level performers that you can reach out to. This last piece is a bit of a challenge. So, ask for help. Ask your position coach for a suggestion and an introduction.
Teammates. Who are the captains on your team? Work with them and see how they work and lead. Find someone in ROTC and meet with someone who’s in a leadership role. Find out how they work with and lead others. You can’t pick your family. And you can’t pick your teammates. However, you will need to find a way to work with them so you can get where you want to go. It’s better to find a way to work with them instead of against them.
Training. This is huge. Hopefully your S&C (strength and conditioning) coach is legit. Know this and tattoo it on your body and burn it into your brain. The best is near the top physically. That means close or near the top in strength, speed and power. Miss any of those components and you are not at the top and you are not at your own personal peak either. So, find someone to teach you how to maximize those components. “Weak things break.” – Louie Simmons. Be the strongest on the field and you have a legit shot.
I can get you strong, fast, and powerful. Period.
Nutrition. You must eat to perform. Someone needs to teach you. Two-thirds of any physical changes are a direct result of your Nutrition. You need a system. And your system will evolve as your season changes and as you age. There is no getting around it.
Recovery. You are putting yourself through hell to win. You must recover fast to do so. Again, you need to learn how. Find someone to teach you.
Process
Start with one. This book is a manual. Do not implement every strategy or tactic at once. It’s overwhelming and not sustainable. Sustainability is far more important being great just one time. It is so much more valuable to be very good consistently day in and day out, than it is to be great only occasionally.
Find one person to join your tribe and help you out. Connect with that person. Pick the primary area of focus. Most likely you will look for someone in your sport and work with that person. This is typically the primary target. However, it’s not always the case. Look up Maurice Clarrett, the former one-hit-wonder running back for Ohio State. He was almost Heisman-worthy as a freshman and led his team to a national title. The NFL has a rule that athletes must be in college for three years prior to entering the draft. Well, Clarrett decided to challenge that rule. Long story short, he lost. He never played college football again, but he was still drafted after his three years were up. He went to the Denver Broncos and subsequently did not make the team. Fast forward a couple years, and he ended up in prison with an alcohol addiction.
Still, look him up. He completely turned his life around. He’s a motivational speaker and travels the country helping kids out and getting them on the right path. He didn’t need a football mentor. He needed a life skills mentor. That was his primary weakness. Now he’s helping so many avoid the paths he chose. For yourself, find your biggest weakness, and find a mentor to help you through that challenge. Once you evolve and are working well with one mentor in your tribe, find another one for a different area. And repeat until you win everything.
Share your “Why.” Be real. Be authentic. Be serious. Let your mentor know what you’re after and why it’s important. No, why it’s critical to you. Get deep into it. Then find more and more “Whys” that keep you on target in the same direction.
Work through your SWOT Analysis. Make your assessment of your SWOT Analysis and have your mentor do the same. Hopefully, he or she’ll have meaningful insights as to other aspects you may not have realized. Remember the two main keys:
Your main strength is your competitive advantage. Constantly improve and elevate that area. It’ll be the main way you beat others.
You must eliminate your main weaknesses at once. Be Relentless and crush it. This is the component that is holding you back the most.
Set Targets. Find the one habit that needs to occur that will further your competitive advantage. And find the one habit that must occur to fix your biggest weakness. Schedule it three to thirty times a week and execute. Write it down and track your results. Watch and see what happens. Example: a typical NFL receiver will catch two hundred balls from the jug machine daily. That is accomplished outside of practice. Their job is not to catch the easy balls coming their way. High school kids can do that. Their job is to catch every ball that comes their way, especially the bad ones. That’s the extra margin that separates wins from losses, winners from losers, millions of dollars from being broke, Hall of Fame from not making the team.
Carrot and Stick. Reward and punishment. Accountability. Track your results daily. Get a notebook, a planner, or an app. Sure, there are the long-term rewards (having a long pro career) and punishments (getting cut from the team). Those are huge. However, it’s the short-term consequences that lead to the long-term results. Collaborate with your mentor. Write down and share short-term rewards and punishments, and check in weekly on Fridays before noon. Example: Your optimal body fat to play at the pro level may be 9 percent. You’re at 17 percent. Your three-month goal is to get to 14 percent. Your Nutrition targets and habits are set. Now you check in every thirty days to see if you’re down 1 percent. You hit it? Great! Buy yourself new training swag. You miss it? Great! No swag. Do a walking lunge for one mile and adjust your habits and/or execution for the next month. You ever walk a lunge? I have. Normally DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) occurs a day or two later. I struggled to walk up the stairs from the soreness two hours later. You’ll set a different, more realistic target next time. Or you’ll execute like you should have in the first place and accomplish the goal.
Gratitude. No one must help anyone. No one. Others must choose to help or not. Think about it. I’m not helping you unless you buy the book. Otherwise, you probably don’t know who I am. Your coaches are there to help. Your family could too. But to work with you one-on-one? That’s time and effort. It’s resources and money. And what goes around comes around. So be thankful and show them you’re thankful. Help your mentor back. Reward and thank him. Be generous. He’s changing your life! And when you can change someone else’s, you’d better do it too. We’re only on this planet once. Everything matters. Make your actions count. Be thankful and humble or you’ll end up humbled.
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