“There is no choice. And actually, if you wanna be successful, the path that you want to take to be successful, there's really one path, it's making the right decisions. And you don't have a choice if you want to be successful. And that's defined by what you do...

To be successful, to be great - the thing people have in common, they realize they really don't have a choice. There's one way the right way, the hard way, there's no shortcuts…

Everybody tells you that you have a choice. You don't have a choice. If you want to be a really good player, you're going to get up and go to class. You want to be different in your working environment, you've got to do something that somebody else is not willing to do.

That's what successful people are. Successful people are the people that are willing to do something that somebody else is not. That’s what makes you different.”

Admiral William McRaven tells the story of uniform inspections during Navy SEAL training.

Several times a week, the instructors would line up the class and inspect every detail. Your hat had to be perfectly starched, your uniform immaculately pressed, your belt buckle shiny and void of any smudges.

But no matter how much effort you put in - no matter how hard you tried to get the uniform right - it just wasn't good enough.

The instructors would find something wrong. And for failing uniform inspection, the student had to run fully clothed into the surf zone, get wet from head to toe, then roll around on the beach until every part of your body was covered with sand.

The effect was known as a sugar cookie.

You stayed in that uniform the rest of the day - cold, wet, and sandy.

There were many students who just couldn't accept that all their efforts were in vain. That no matter how hard they tried, it went unappreciated.

Those students didn't make it through training. Those students didn't understand the purpose of the drill.

You were never going to succeed. You were never going to have a perfect uniform. The instructors weren't going to allow it.

The lesson? Sometimes, no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform, you still end up as a sugar cookie. It's just the way life is sometimes.

If you want to change the world, get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.

I think about this often when I talk with coaches, athletes, and executives who are doing everything right but not seeing results. The game doesn't always reward effort in real time. The work doesn't always pay off immediately.

The question isn't whether you'll face unfairness. You will. The question is whether you'll let it stop you.

Source: University of Texas at Austin 2014 Commencement Address - Admiral William H. McRaven

The most powerful thing a leader can do is get people to verbalize their own commitments.

Not tell them what the goals are. Ask them.

Drew Brees understood this in 2004 when he was about to be replaced by Philip Rivers. Instead of fighting for his job, he called a team meeting and handed out goal sheets. Top 5 team goals. Top 5 offensive/defensive goals. Top 5 individual goals.

He already knew what the goals should be. He'd done his homework. But he didn't tell them - he asked them.

"If it comes out of their mouth, then they have to own it. They have to become accountable to it."

👉 I wrote a full breakdown of this story on X, but there is more to think about with this topic:

This is the difference between compliance and ownership.

When you tell someone what the goal is, they might agree. They might even work toward it. But when they verbalize it themselves? When it comes out of their own mouth? When they write it down with their own hand?

That's when it becomes theirs. That's when accountability becomes internal, not external.

You can't create a WHY for someone. Ownership doesn't come from being told. It comes from being heard.

The Chargers went from 4-12 to 12-4 that season. Same roster. Same coaching staff. What changed? The ownership.

The question for every leader: Are you telling people what the goals are, or are you asking them what they're willing to commit to?

I've been thinking about intentional living.

It's hard to be patient. It's hard to stay focused. But isn't that how we're supposed to live as humans?

Mindfulness. Stillness. Being on the plan and on track. We all feel like we wander - but the answer is having a vision and direction to work towards.

For some people, that means goals. For me, it's daily cadences and habits. Because you are your systems. You are how you show up. The big values have to break down into daily occurrences.

Do you know who you want to be? Do you know how you want to show up?

This is why self-awareness is so key. If you can't hold yourself accountable, no one else will.

Here's what happens when intention goes out the window: we live too much in our heads. We feel lost. We doubt ourselves. The FUD starts creeping in - fear, uncertainty, doubt. We compare. Our focus lacks. And it becomes a downward cycle.

The antidote is intention.

If you want to start living more intentionally, you don't have to overhaul your whole life. Just pick one thing that fits you. Take a morning walk without your phone. Read for 20 minutes before bed. Create a "not-to-do" list. Journal. Write. Meditate. Set your core values. Set your goals and write them down. Do a weekly review. Schedule white space on your calendar. End each day by writing down three wins.

The practice matters less than the intention behind it.

What would it look like for you to be more intentional this week - not about everything, but about the one or two things that actually matter most?

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: HeadCoachU - 021 - Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid

🎥 Video: Shane Battier: The Art of the Intangible

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