 Excellence of TodayThe transcript of the final plea to remain in medical school from the movie, Patch Adams:
Medical Board: You have been accused of practicing medicine without a license, are you aware that it’s unlawful to practice medicine without a medical license? Patch: Yes Sir, I am. Medical Board: Are you aware that running a medical clinic without the proper licensing can place both you and the public in a great deal of danger? Patch: Is a home a clinic, Sir? Medical Board: If you are admitting patients and treating them, physical location is irrelevant… Patch: Sir, Can you define treatment for me? Medical Board: Yes, treatment would be defined as the care for a patient seeking medical attention, have you been treating patients Mr. Adams? Patch: Well sir, I live with several people that come and go as they please and I offer them whatever help I can. Medical Board: Mr. Adams, have you or have you not been treating patients at your ranch? Patch: Everyone who comes to the ranch is a patient, yes …… And every person who comes to the ranch is also a doctor. Medical Board: I am sorry? Patch: Every person who comes to the ranch is in need of some form of physical or mental help. They are patients. But also, every person who comes to the ranch is in charge of taking care of someone else, whether it’s cooking for them, cleaning them or even as simple a task as listening. That makes them doctors. I use that term broadly gentlemen but is not a doctor someone who helps someone else? When did the term “doctor” get treated with such reverence as, “oh! right this way Doctor Smith” or “excuse me Dr Scholls, what wonderful foot pads” or “pardon me Dr. Patterson but your flatulence has no odour”. At what point in history did a doctor become something more than a trusted and learned friend who visited and treated the ill? Now you ask me if I’ve been practising medicine. Well if this means opening your door to those in need, those in pain, caring for them, listening to them, applying a cold cloth until a fever breaks, if this is practising medicine, if this is treating a patient, then I am guilty as charged sir. Medical Board: Did you consider the ramifications of your actions, what if one of your patients had died? Patch: What’s wrong with death sir? What are we so mortally afraid of? Why can’t we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity and decency and, god forbid, maybe even humour. Death is not the enemy gentlemen. If we’re going to fight a disease, let’s fight one of the most terrible diseases of all, indifference. Now I’ve sat in your schools and heard people lecture on transference and professional distance. Transference is inevitable sir. Every human being has an impact on another. Why don’t we want that in a patient doctor relationship? That’s why I’ve listened to your teachings and I believe they’re wrong. A doctor’s mission should be not just to prevent death but also to improve the quality of life. That’s why, you treat a disease, you win, you lose, you treat a person, I guarantee you win no matter what the outcome. Now here today, this room is full of medical students. Don’t let them anaesthetise you. Don’t let them numb you out to the miracle of life. Always live in awe of the glorious mechanism of the human body. Let that be the focus of your studies and not a quest for grades which will give you no idea of what kind of doctor you’ll become. Medical Board: Mr Adams, please turn and address the board Patch: And don’t wait until you’re on the ward to get your humanity back. Start your interviewing skills now. Start talking to strangers, talk to your friends, talk to wrong numbers, talk to everyone. Medical Board: Mr Adams… Patch: And cultivate friendship with those amazing people in the back of the room – nurses. They can teach you. They’ve been with people everyday, they wade through blood and shit. They have a wealth of knowledge to share with you. And so do the professors you respect, the ones that are not dead from the heart up. Share their compassion. Let that be contagious. Medical Board: Mr Adams, I demand that you turn and address the Board Patch: Sir, I want to be a doctor with all my heart …. I wanted to become a doctor so I could serve others. And because of that I’ve lost everything, but I’ve also gained everything. I’ve shared the lives of patients and staff members at the hospital, I’ve laughed with them, I’ve cried with them. This is what I want to do with my life. And, as God is my witness, no matter what you decide today sir, I will still become the best damn doctor the world has ever seen. You have the ability to prevent me from graduating, you can keep me from getting the title and the white coat, but you can’t control my spirit gentlemen. You can’t keep me from learning, you can’t keep me from studying. So you have a choice: you can have me as a professional colleague; passionate or you can have me as an outspoken outsider; still adamant; either way I will probably be still viewed as a thorn but I will promise you one thing: I am a thorn that will not go away. Medical Board: Is that all? Patch: I hope not, Sir. Why Should We Care? Indifference … the most terrible disease of all. There’s a fascinating dichotomy concerning our attention. We need to learn from the past, live in the present, all while planning for the future. Yet, the balance must be managed just right in order for excellence to result. Too much focus on the past and we’re held prisoner by what was. Too much focus on the future and we’re frozen by what might be. Both place limits on our potential. A bias for action is a trademark characteristic of excellent leaders. They DO. And, doing can only happen in the present. For them, consideration of the past and future serve as bumpers to direct their next actions. The mistakes offer an opportunity to course correct. Each success reinforces the chosen process. Consideration of the future pushes them to draw from experience. The caveat to this dichotomy is the one, and only, thing we have control over: the present. Those on the path to excellence have realized that today is the only place doing takes place. They use yesterday to improve today and they use today as a step towards tomorrow. For them, there isn’t a dichotomy. There isn’t a balance. There is a clear priority: today. For the best, there is a constant focus on the excellence of today. REAL TALK - Action Steps Staying present is the first step, but there’s more to it than that. How we show up matters. How we engage with people matters. How we perform matters. We are looking to be excellent in the moment, to make today as good as it can be. Here are few thoughts on being at your best today:
The past and the future are important and should be considered, but the excellence of today will always be the determining factor in our success. Checkout Surrender the Outcome on Amazon and order The Score That Matters with Ryan Hawk & Brook Cupps. The latest blog from Blue Collar Grit can be found here!
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 When In DoubtHe sits perched at the far end of the tiny, Graham Junior High School gym as we file onto the court for practice. It’s 1990 and I’m a strapping 5’4” specimen weighing in at every bit of ninety-five pounds. Seventh grade basketball is scary. Since this is pre-travel ball, this man sitting on the stage is our first real coach. His criss cross applesauce position gives off Buddha vibes, but his handled goatee makes you think Yosemite Sam … quite the confusing combination.
Nonetheless, he’s the coach so we listen. He puts us through the same drills day after day to help us master the fundamentals. He installs plays to help us take advantage of our most talented players. He orchestrates conditioning through countless line drills. And, we play … well. Well enough to finish the season off a perfect 16 - 0. At this point, now more than thirty years later, I don’t remember any of the practices and only a few of the games. That’s how it usually goes though, right? The things that stick with us are the relationships and maybe a few key experiences. One of those key experiences came in the form of a consistently shared quote from our Yosemite Sam Buddha that he repeated at specific times throughout the season. It would usually show up as quasi-encouragement for players as they entered the game. As a player would pass by him on their way to the scorer’s table to check into the game, he would offer them one last piece of advice before they took the floor: “When in doubt, air it out.” The basketball perspective on this is clear: if you don’t know what to do with the ball, shoot it. Afterall, a missed shot is better than a turnover. While this is some players’ default mode, it typically isn’t for 7th graders finishing out blowout wins. Only recently have I begun to appreciate a different angle on his advice. Why Should We Care? Who doesn’t deal with doubt? We all do. And, what do we do about it? How do we handle it? Well, we do a lot or nothing … or something in between. Sometimes we are paralyzed by it. We swim laps in our doom loop with no way of exiting the pool. Our performance is sabotaged, our confidence is destroyed, and we are left wondering how we ever got here in the first place. Doubt is a master in self-destruction. We question its origin, but are sure of its presence. Doing nothing with doubt will leave us living in a state of doubt that we accept as normal. Sometimes we move through it. We fake it until we make it, knowing full well we are only a shell of what we are capable of being. But, we carry on. We play the part, give it our best, and live with the results. I mean, what else is there to do? We can’t just flip a switch that removes doubt so pretending it doesn’t exist seems like the next best approach, right? Afterall, we could do worse than persisting in the face of doubt. But, there is another option. We can embrace the doubt, use it as a catalyst to prompt action. We can remove the negative judgment and see it clearly for exactly what it is: a sign that we’re still growing, still getting better, still approaching our best. That uneasiness in our stomach lets us know we’re still alive and something is at stake. A reframing has the power to completely change our perspective on doubt as a whole. Consider for a second a life with no doubts, pure certainty. We would no longer feel the possibility that comes with the wonder of what ifs. We would lose the hope that accompanies uncertainty. We would dismiss the growth garnered from continuous struggle. Comfort, benevolence, and mediocrity would rule our life. REAL TALK - Action Steps While my 7th grade coach’s advice may not have been directly intended to help his players deal with doubt in the bigger picture, “when in doubt, air it out” does address a few important aspects of embracing doubt. Below are a few ideas to make the most of the doubt you face:
Thankfully, doubt is inevitable. It’s a blessing, not a curse. When we choose to ‘air it out’ rather than hold it in, we create countless moments to re-establish, or even elevate, the best version of ourselves. Checkout Surrender the Outcome on Amazon and order The Score That Matters with Ryan Hawk & Brook Cupps. The latest blog from Blue Collar Grit can be found here!  Bloody KnucklesMy hands were filthy. A thick layer of dirt had engulfed them like a glove, except for five spots on each hand. Those were immaculately clean and unusually smooth - as if fine sandpaper had been run over each of them thousands of times. Maybe, because it had. The concrete and meticulously placed hoop on top of the garage had become my workshop; the ball, my sandpaper.
Afternoon has turned to evening by now - after a solid hour of countless dribbles that leave your hands tingling, hundreds of shots from every conceivable angle, and, since I’m my own partner, just as many rebounds. I realize any fatigue is merely a mirage when my brother walks out the back door and challenges me to a game of one on one. Immediately I know what the next hour is going to consist of. Not to mention, joy hinges fully on winning. If he wins, he won’t stop talking plus the physical abuse he is about to put me through won’t be worth it. He’s not good at basketball, but he’s big - at least compared to me. He’s seven years older. Every time we play I secretly hope he will find an ounce of compassion and let me win just once. No luck so far. I’ve never beaten him. His strategy, and compassion, haven’t changed. On offense he simply turns his butt to me, dribbles the ball as far away from me as possible, and backs me down. For those unfamiliar with basketball, think of a bulldozer slowly and methodically inching their way right under the rim for the easiest shot possible. He uses his size to his full advantage. I push, shove, and foul my way to game point - next point wins. The problem is, it’s his ball. I try to stand my ground, but he eventually works his way to just a few feet from the rim. As he puts the ball above his head I jump to grab both his arms, swinging on them like he’s a jungle gym. It doesn’t help. He misses his first shot but immediately gets the rebound and puts it in. Game. I’m immediately filled with rage. All I wanted to do was to beat him so I could shut him up. “Maybe next time” he chirped as I walked towards the garage door to pick up the ball. I was calm and cool on the outside, but on fire on the inside. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. Instead of reaching down to pick up the basketball laying against the garage door, I choose a different route. One I immediately regret. I put my fist through our garage window. The sound of the glass hitting the concrete instantly shakes me from my tantrum, just in time to see blood running down my hand. Unfortunately, my hand wasn’t the most painful aspect of the incident. That honor would go to my backside which received five wallopings from dad. The same fire that motivated me to scratch and claw against my brother, the same fire that drove me to practice for hours every day … had just burned my house down. Why Should We Care? Last week I wrote about the pure competition of a child, giving your all in pursuit of nothing but your best. It’s beautiful and fleeting. If only it could last. If only that could be our approach to competition for the rest of our lives. But, it’s not. There is an ugly side to competition too. The ugly side of competition is fueled by the same fire, but with a skewed purpose. Rather than hunting growth through our battles, we begin pursuing recognition and status. The grass-stains are replaced by trophies and we quickly begin to believe that no trophy equates to no growth. What a lousy exchange that we all too willingly accept. This misguided purpose leads us to prioritizing the opinions of others over our own feelings of fulfillment. We go from practicing as a means to maximize and stretch ourselves to preparing as a means to be viewed as superior to someone else or, worse yet, to avoid being viewed as inferior. Our desire to fit in and be like everyone else grows to an all time high. The stakes matter, but they’re relative. A pick-up game against my brother doesn’t appear like high stakes, but try telling that to an eleven year old that wants to prove he’s good enough. To me, those stakes were pretty high. Make no mistake about it, the feelings of inferiority and doubt so many people feel is a result of competition. It’s an external competition we are unknowingly engaged in. And, it’s everywhere in today’s society. The only way to return to the purity of competition is to return to the internal approach of the child. The purpose matters. We had it right the first time. REAL TALK - Action Steps Few things in life are more important than a clarity of purpose. It can provide motivation, inspire persistence, guide decisions, and simplify our focus. Here are a few thoughts to consider when trying to gain clarity on your purpose.
Competition can be a gift or a curse. It can warm the house or burn it down. Purity of purpose and consistent intentionality will allow us to use competition to our benefit rather than our demise. Checkout Surrender the Outcome on Amazon and order The Score That Matters with Ryan Hawk & Brook Cupps. The latest blog from Blue Collar Grit can be found here!  Grass-Stained KneesGraham North Elementary school in the no traffic light town of Rosewood, Ohio is alive with a few hundred of Champaign County’s most untamed beasts: kindergarten through fourth grade students. The air in the building is filled with the perfect blend of loving support from teachers that truly cared and nerve-rattling unease from, well, a few hundred six through ten year olds.
It’s 1987 and none of that matters because today we have a football game. The same game we’ve had for the last four days. But, this one is for the championship - all the marbles. That’s right, we were going to decide once and for all which team was the best … for this week - we’ll pick new teams next week … and do it all over again. But, for now, this is IT! We get organized for recess before the bell even rings. I’ve got the football. That’s all we need. We know the boundaries. We know the teams. Now we just wait for the bell to launch us into our sprint to the field, an experience I’m sure most teachers compare to the annual running of the bulls. The waiting is always the worst part. I’ve been waiting since the whistle yesterday called us to line-up and go back inside - easily the worst part of every day, I might add. But, the wait is over. The bell rings and we’re off. The sprint is on. I’m first to the field which means it’s our ball. Suckers walk - they have to go to the other end of the field and kick-off to us. I’m ready. I’ve got my best sweatpants on, with the bottoms pulled up just below my knee as if I’m leading off for the Yankees. Best, by the way, is all about performance and has absolutely nothing to do with appearance - nothing. The same goes for my tall white socks yanked up to meet my sweatpants and the tattered t-shirt topping off the outfit. My school outfit for the day is based solely on what will give us the best chance to win. The most competitive game of recess football - two-hand touch as far as the teachers were concerned - is played that day. Touchdowns are caught, airborne high fives are everywhere, and grass-stains are forever etched into the knees of our sweatpants … I mean, did you even play if you didn’t have any grass-stains? No. No, you didn’t. The grass-stains were the whole point. Why Should We Care? We should care because competing just to compete is being lost. We’re so worried about what we’re going to get or who we’re competing against that we we’re starting to lose the entire purpose of competition: growth, struggle, improvement! Competition is becoming a risk-management decision. Does this hurt my image if I lose? It’ll be better if I don’t put everything into it so I can say I didn’t really try, right? Wouldn’t want to be a ‘try-hard’ after all. What if I go for it and don’t get it? Does that kill my career? What are other people going to think of me? What excuses can I have pre-loaded to soften the blow in case I lose? Is there a way to be really good without doing all the work, making all the sacrifices, and giving up all my time? How far out of my comfort zone is enough? Is there a way I can just appear like I’m a success, without having to do all that? These questions running through our heads are tragic in two fundamental ways: 1. We stop competing; 2. We focus solely on competing with others. All of the questions above are tied to one of these misguided approaches to competition. No competition ultimately leads to a life that reflects back with the unshakable question: What if? We will always wonder what we were capable of doing, who we could’ve impacted, and what true fulfillment actually feels like. Comparison-based competition will take us to a different question: Am I enough? And, if all we do is compare, the accurate answer is ‘No’. There will be no escaping the exhaustion of the chase, the feeling that we don’t belong, and the uneasiness in our own skin. As smart as we are, fourth graders are the wise ones in this area. They’re just trying to get more grass-stains. REAL TALK - Action Steps Here are the grass-stained answers for the questions above:
We don’t get grass-stains from standing on the sidelines. We don’t get grass-stains from playing it safe or hedging our bets. To get grass-stains we have to compete. Sometimes we’ll win and sometimes we’ll lose, but if we’re doing it right we’ll always leave with grass-stained knees. Checkout Surrender the Outcome on Amazon and order The Score That Matters with Ryan Hawk & Brook Cupps. The latest blog from Blue Collar Grit can be found here!  The WaterlineStory Catalyst
What are you doing to keep the main thing the main thing? Gordon MacDonald starts his book, The Life God Blesses, with a story about a mariner consumed with building a sailboat. I’ve paraphrased the parable below: The man set out to build a yacht. He was well liked by all who knew him and intended to build the grandest boat that ever sailed from his yacht club. He named his yacht, Persona and spared no expense to make it look stunningly beautiful. It was fitted with fine brass trim, colorful sails, and every convenience you could imagine in the cabin. The man’s excitement for the completion of his yacht centered on the anticipation of admiration that the Persona would garner. The more he thought about that day, the more focused he became in making certain to add anything that would make her look good. Since no one would ever see the underside of his yacht, the man wasted no money on the design of the keel or hull. “Why should I waste time and money on those things that are out of sight, below the water line?”, he reasoned. So consumed with the appearance, the man failed to ever consider the seaworthiness of the grand Persona. His plan was working. As construction neared completion crowds came to look at the spectacle that was the Persona. Many thought the man brilliant and envied his accomplishments. Finally the day came for the launch of the Persona. As she entered the water, the man’s pride swelled as the crowd admired her. A few other boats joined her on this initial sail. All was well, until she reached the mouth of the harbor where the wind kicked up and the waves grew in size. Suddenly the Persona started to falter. The boats sailing with her, pulled away, returning to the harbor, but the man who had built this grand yacht was so enthralled with his boat, he continued to sail towards the sea and into the growing storm. Within minutes it was obvious the man was in serious trouble, as the Persona began to take on water. As the waves tossed her about, she was unable to right herself as a sturdy vessel should. In a matter of moments, this small storm had taken the grand Persona down. A closer look into her destruction revealed the sad story of the mistaken man. All his efforts were focused on what could be seen, the beauty above the waterline. His vanity kept him from investing in those things that would have made her a solid boat that could weather the storms. And so, the man who so craved the applause of his friends instead was remembered simply as a fool. Insight Trifecta Below are three questions that dive deeper into the topic at hand. My responses are included. I hope you’ll take the time to explore your responses to each as well.
This is the essence of trusting the process and surrendering the outcome. Control of the outcome is an illusion, so why not surrender it? The external presentation is only impacted by how we choose to show up for the process. Clarity of purpose drives clarity of process.
I do everything I can to avoid doing this anymore. I’m constantly gathering feedback and reflecting to be sure I’m honoring the foundational work our program is built on. Incentivizing above the waterline behaviors without the foundational, below the waterline focus is poison for any culture.
I always wonder - is it really work? It doesn’t feel like it. It feels like chasing a purpose or pursuing a calling. I’ve never thought of any of it as work. It’s just what needs to be done to be the best I can be. Question to Carry A final question for you to consider over the next week: How does consistently attending to your unseen work shift your sense of genuine capability versus your concern about external perceptions? In our life, the waterline draws a clear break between substance and immaterial, what we can control and what we can’t, what truly impacts our life and what doesn’t. It would do us all good to become aware of exactly where our waterline is located. Checkout Surrender the Outcome on Amazon and order The Score That Matters with Ryan Hawk & Brook Cupps. The latest blog from Blue Collar Grit can be found here! |
About bcI'm a teacher, coach, and parent seeking excellence while defining success on my own terms. Archives
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