If you were lucky, as I was, when you were young your parents exposed you to team sports. Joining a team usually meant you were about to be supported by a variety of external motivators. For example, joining a team meant you would be encouraged by parents, pushed by a coach, and challenged and inspired by team mates.
In hockey and baseball, my parents cheered for me, sitting in the stands or the bleachers, yelling and screaming encouragement and advice. My Dad was a total athlete, a very good ball player, an even better hockey player, and I benefited immensely from his demonstrations, instructions and expectations.
Year after year on every team there was always a coach, molding and teaching me how to better my performance and teamwork, whether it was hitting, skating, running, shooting, throwing…. Under the coaches eye I was always training some skill and got stronger and faster and better.
But I also performed with team mates, who drove me to be my best. If I remember correctly, and I’m sure I do, it was the opinions of my team mates, that mattered the most to me. Their praise or disappointment held the most weight. Their admiration or disrespect cut the deepest.
My parents. My coaches. My team mates. That was a lot of outer motivation and inspiration to ignite my own inner desire to perform and excel. Now, its been 30 years since my last team sport, the last time my parents encouraged me perform, the last time my coach drove me to excel, the last time my team mates expected greatness from me, and the last time I expected greatness from them.
These days I am training solo, I am training for all different reasons, and I’m training with all different motivators. Today, any physical challenge I engage in is purely self-inflicted, and any motivation I generate is from within. All things considered, I train today with an intensity that often exceeds the intensity of my late teens.
But here’s the thing:
I can be as self-motivated as anyone, but I have a deep sense that something is missing from my life.
I can’t help but wonder if, surrounded by a team of badass men today, I wouldn’t draw out of myself even deeper and higher levels of performance, achievement, or even greatness. Especially greatness.
Seems the men I meet these days understand and know what I mean when I talk about being held to account by respectable, inspirational men. They understand the value of it. So let me ask you:
When was the last time you stepped up before a group of strong and hungry men and stated your goals, your mission, and your deepest purpose in life?
When was the last time you gave a voice to your deep yearning, and were held to account by men you respect, to stay true to that yearning, come what may?
When was the last time greatness was expected of you by men you trust and admire?
For me, it’s been more than 30 years and for me, it’s time I did something about that.
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