Few are actually about it, though. And this is why only the few make an impact.
“ ‘Take pride in your work.’
‘Sweep the corners.’
‘Carry the boats.’
Kids don’t even know what that means.
They haven’t watched you do it.
We live in a culture that prioritizes cute catch phrases & hashtags from adults who don’t even live by the code of the bulls*it they say.”
-Ray Zingler on X
The best examples don’t come from words. They come from actions.
I have several great mentors in my life who set the standard for me.
Their influence on my life is what created my ethos.
But of all my mentors, the biggest influence on my life was, and is to this day, my father.
Dad was a college football coach, who eventually got out of the coaching to profession (because he was spending more time raising other people’s kids than he was his own) to start an entrepreneurial journey in the flooring business.
Defensive Coordinator wearing a headset on the sidelines to mat salesman and project installer in office buildings.
Hell of a 180, huh?
But I learned over the years that it was never really about the trade for my dad.
He loved coaching football as much as he loves selling floor mats.
“Huh, how the hell is that possible?”
It’s because it was never about blitz packages or anti-fatigue mats to my dad.
It was about people.
Treating and serving people unreasonably well.
All the time.
The arena didn’t matter.
While that’s the most important lesson I’ll likely ever take from my dad, a close second is work ethic.
My dad is a working machine.
He’s in his 60’s now and still on his hands and knees working on and in the business he owns and then he spends his free time training with weights, walking his dogs, and cutting trees down at his cabin.
And if that’s not enough he’s a tackling dummy for his grandchildren who don’t run out of energy.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve watched him work.
And work fu*king hard.
Of course, he shared many football coaching axioms with me related to hard work, toughness, commitment, & etc. and the only reason I took any of them to heart was because he physically lived his words before he spoke them.
And that’s lost art in today’s world.
Many coaches, leaders, and mentors (people with the titles) will shout the catch phrases from the rooftops, but the reason they carry little to no impact is because they aren’t living what they say.
Live it before you say it.
And live it all the time.
