“Experts are the ones who think they know everything. Geniuses are the ones who know they don’t.”

Matt Rhule was asked what advice he'd give to people chasing big goals.

His answer cuts through all the noise: "The dream never gives up on you. But most people give up on their dreams."

Read that again.

Your dream is still there. It's waiting for you. It doesn't matter what field you're in - the dream doesn't leave. You leave.

The dream is loyal. The question is: are you?

I talk with coaches, athletes, and executives all the time who started doing the right things, looked around, didn't see immediate results, and quit. They tried something else. Then they gave up on that too.

Rhule nails the pattern: "What most people do is they start trying to do it and they look around - 'hey, it's not really working, is it?' and they quit."

The gap between where you are and where you want to be is filled with people who quit too early.

His advice when it feels like everything is falling apart? Double down. Push every chip to the center of the table. The moment you want to quit is the moment you have to double down.

"You do what Theo Epstein said when he went to Chicago. You double down. You go all in. You take all your chips and put them in the middle of the table and you say 'No forget this, I'm not going out like this.'"

Do the same hard, tough things every single day. And when you don't get the results you want, double down again. Eventually, the results will come - but only if you don't quit.

The only chance you have to reach the top is to do what the people at the top do. There are no shortcuts. There are no hacks. There's only the work.

Source: Matt Rhule | Interview with Josh Pate

Arizona State women's basketball coach Molly Miller has a simple tool for building culture: sticky notes.

During practice, if she doesn't want to interrupt the flow but needs to check the culture - body language, energy, effort - she has her manager write it on a sticky note and slap it on the scorer's table.

Someone turns it over and slumps their shoulders instead of getting back on defense? "Sticky, poor body language."

No stopping the drill. No belaboring the point. Just a quick, direct note that says: fix it.

At the end of practice, the team looks at the stickies together and sees where they need to get better. Sometimes there's a consequence. But more importantly, it's immediate, non-judgmental feedback that everyone can see.

Miller on why it works: "If you want to change behavior, use stickies."

The deeper insight is what she said about building culture from the start:

"From the get-go you have to establish what that looks like. You cannot cut corners. We did not take any shortcuts in our culture. We have culture checks daily."

Culture checks. Daily. Not weekly. Not monthly. Daily.

It's just a small moment in time where you check yourself. Does this look like what we want it to look like - from a body language standpoint, from an energy standpoint, from a prep standpoint?

The best teams don't wait until things fall apart to address culture. They check it constantly. And sometimes, all it takes is a sticky note.

Do I audit myself enough?

That's the question I've been sitting with this week.

The hardest thing to do is live in the weeds - the daily grind, the details, the execution - and still think strategically about the bigger picture. What's the right balance? Am I spending too much time on one and neglecting the other?

I question myself on whether I'm doing a good enough job of having a process to consistently audit my own performance.

I usually use mornings to write and hold myself accountable. I've done Sunday reviews, but if I'm honest, they should be more consistent.

It's easy to coach others on reflection and self-assessment. It's harder to hold yourself to the same standard.

So I'm asking myself - and maybe you should too:

What's your process for auditing yourself? How often do you step back and ask if what you're doing is actually working? And if you don't have a consistent process...why not?

The best leaders I know don't just demand accountability from their teams. They demand it from themselves first.

For coaches and leaders:

For athletes and performers:

All of these posts and more are in the Coaching Vault.

What I am reading and listening to:

📚 Book: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

🎧Podcast: 30 Unfiltered Minutes With Indiana Football Coach Curt Cignetti: Bison Drops

🎥 Video: Distinguished Speakers Series: Mike Krzyzewski, Head Coach - Men’s Basketball, Duke University

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