Category: Blog

This late morning I’m watching a team practice their sport. The athletes are learning to close out defensively with intensity. It’s warm, the room is bright, heavy plates line the side of the court just waiting for someone to go soft and earn a trip carrying one overhead. There is a lot of perspiration and … Continue reading Energy and edge…

Sfumato, an Italian word, when translated to English means "soft, vague, or blurred." Sfumato is derived from "Fumo" (smoke,fume). According to Leonardo da Vinci, sfumato is a crucial ingredient to genius. He used this technique in his most famous painting, Mona Lisa, but to him sfumato was more than a blurring of the lines on … Continue reading Embrace ambiguity…

Yesterday, during practice 97 with a team that’s getting real, we discovered the root why behind why deep, lasting, behavioral change is so difficult. We read 2.5 pages out of a book that sited a troubling statistic about heart attack patients. After their first heart attack, the convo with the cardiologist goes somewhat predictably - … Continue reading Agitate…

Remember, the enemy of mastery is thinking you know it already. The enemy of mastery is your thinking, friend. Here’s a helpful hint to prime your mastery mindset. Lets start with what not to think. Never say stuff like, “I know that, I didn’t really learn anything new, or give me something new.” Never say … Continue reading The enemy of mastery is your thinking…

Yesterday, during practice 87 with a team grappling mostly with themselves, we talked about building mental toughness together. Mental toughness, in a nutshell, is ones ability to control the human stress response. In essence the mentally tough control themselves. Yesterday we heard from a few brutally honest teammates that they lack control of their mind. … Continue reading Stress response…

Recently, I reminded a BTL practice teammate that the best way to avoid “tilt” is to recognize it for what it is. This sounds easy. It is not. You see when the brain goes on tilt it is overwhelmed in the moment and flooded with all kinda chemicals that make rational thought nearly impossible. So, … Continue reading The process…

This morning, during a little one on one BTL practice, I helped a client get some clarity. Clarity arrived when I asked him about his favorite movie - Good Will Hunting. He related to Will and the humanity of his struggle to figure it out while traveling along his Builders journey. You see, my client … Continue reading Good Will…

According to John & Julie Gottman the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” regarding relationships are - Criticism, Defensiveness, Contempt, and Stonewalling. Avoid these. Consider them the plague. Here's the BTL four healers. Feel free to overdose on these, leader. 1. When talking about anything tough, remember to give the patient some anesthesia before you open … Continue reading Four healers…