Author: bestdayeverconsulting
CEO and Chief Consultant
If You Are A Leader; Improving The ME, Betters The We! If You’re In Charge Stop Talking They, It Isn’t The Way
The Best and Quickest way to improve a team, program, organization or business is for the leader to get better themselves. Find ways to get better yourself that improve your group! You will find that those you lead will appreciate that you are holding yourself accountable. I can do better at _____________, so we will be able to perform at a higher level . A huge difference to those that say They (meaning their team) should have done this or that and I told them. Well you did not train or teach them or tell them well enough! If you are a true leader, You are responsible! That is why good or bad, you start with ME and not They. Sometimes it is to do more of what was good and sometimes it is to eliminate the bad. When it all works it is because of good leadership that we succeeded and when it doesn’t work it is because of me that we failed. It is not because of them or they that we did not meet the standards necessary. Being a better leader starts with “What can I do better that makes Us better?” It is never about they need to do better, if so you are not yet even an average leader !
Pyramid of Joy Can Change Everything as a Person, Team or Organization (Compass to Success)
In Frank’s Pyramid of Joy there are only 3 levels as finding and searching for Joy should be simple. The foundation or lowest and easiest to achieve is fun. Fun can and should be a frequent occurrence that doesn’t require a lot of preparation or work to achieve; a laugh with friends, a song to dance to, a walk in the woods or a warm up with teammates. Enjoyable moments that are mostly light hearted and require not much planning and are often spontaneous or spur of the moment.
The next level is Happy. Happy is a higher and deeper level of emotion. To reach this level may require more preparation, work, planning and effort. This could include; success at a new skill, traveling to a new place, getting an opportunity, being on a trail. Happy moments help you to find more meaning and richness in your life or with your group.
The highest level is Joy. Joy is at the pinnacle of the pyramid and at the highest level of enrichment, success and leads to the fueling of lives. To reach this level will require preparation, planning, work and striving to overcome challenges and barriers to get into this zone of Joy. Joy could be reached in the following ways; achievement by a student or child, finishing a marathon, team winning a championship or business having their most successful year. Achieving Joy makes life richer, more fulfilling and enjoying elation from accomplishing a hard earned goal or target.
Having and understanding of a Pyramid of Joy helps leaders and individuals to reach higher and more gratifying passage of time. If a team or person understands this, he has a direction to head up the trail to triumph and accomplishment.
Examples that might demonstrate what a Joy Pryamid might look like are; Fun- Walking is fun, Happy – Hiking on a trail in the woods, Joy- Hiking on a trail in Yellowstone Park and you photograph a grizzly bear crossing a stream.
Fun- Team has a BBQ together, with laughs and stories told, Happy- Entire team passes fitness test as they all worked hard and pushed each other in the off season, Joy- Team wins a championship by playing harder than any other team because of their level of fitness.
Fun- Business employees meet after work for a happy hour, Happy- Business employees work together to build a brand at our company by implanting the plan of their leader because all rise together and we are appreciated, Joy- Business rises to become at the top of their field because employees are willing to do those things by their creativity and belief in their company that other companies employees do not do.
By having a Pyramid of Joy helps to give a compass to head in the right direction for fulfillment as an individual, team or organization!
Almost Champions Make Big Mistake
How do you turn a good team, athlete, company or organization into a great or championship program?
Look at these somewhat successful teams Arsenal, Broncos, Yankees, Penn State, Norte Dame and many ACC men’s and women’s soccer teams. Many businesses and companies fall in this category of good not great!
In order to bridge the gap they need to change their mindset to starting as Underdogs working to become Dawgs and then turning their ability to do those areas that other teams find uncomfortable into habits! The group can then move forward to be Winners and Champions !
Just got to spend 5 days with 3X Champion Stanford Men’s Soccer watching those Dawgs working to become Winners! Thanks to Coach Gunn, Drew, Woo and Kevin! Especially Grateful to the Boyz that let me observe them being comfortable doing the uncomfortable as Dawgs to Winners Do!
Most of Us Are Underdogs
Many people have asked what possessed me to write my book “Underdogs to Dawgs to Winners“, well I just felt like there were ideas I had used that could help others to find their way to succeed. We are all underdogs or most of us at something we would like to do as an individual or as a team or organization. We just look at how the person, team or organization ahead of us has more but this is where the book UtDtW comes in. You don’t follow the same path, you find your own less travelled trail that takes you to your successes. You establish a different comfort zone outside of what the favorites do. This moving to where the good stuff is helps you to reach your own pinnacle of the pyramid of Joy. So my book is for sure an Underdog but I stepped outside of my Comfort Zone so you can become a Dawg and a Winner. I wrote it for you!
Daja- Old Dogs Don’t Need New Tricks
As I write this short note about Daja my heart is broken, my body aches and my eyes are filled with tears, we wake this morning without a dog living in our household for almost 40 years. Daja was different in that we chose an older dog to adopt, she was 10 and a 80 pound Pit Bull that was being well cared for at the Foothills Animal Shelter. Deb and I fostered her for the Thanksgiving holidays and we then decided all we needed as a Christmas present was to add Daja to our family on a permanent basis. We did knowing full well we would not have her for long, we got almost 3 years but oh what a wonderful three years it was! The main reason for this post is to help others realize these seniors our a great choice, as Daja enjoyed everyday with us until the end and brought so much joy to everyone she interacted with teaching them about the huge heart and kindness of both senior dogs and the Pittie breed.
Many people when first seeing her might have been intimidated but then saw her smile and got to snuggle with her on one of her many couches, then they would melt when that huge head was laying on their shoulder. The senior dog appreciates the chance they are receiving with a new chapter, they don’t need a lot of training and they always win the argument about who loves who more!
Daja had been at the shelter for a bit and Deb and I had taken her for a few slow walks before we fostered her but at that time we had no idea how much personality she would bring to 3 different homes stretching from Arkansas to Colorado.
So yes I have lost a special member of our family that was all about sharing kindness, joy, love and gratitude but by having her by our side she has improved our lives by having more of these qualities that we need so much of today. So yes I am heartbroken, my body aches and my eyes are full of tears, Daja has taken a piece of my heart but she left me a chunk of hers and my life and everyone she touched will be better for it.
I will work to be a person that Daja would appreciate because I know already she won the who loved who more and yes I am so glad we adopted that beautiful senior American Pit Bull mix that squeezed 13 years of love into 3. Daja you are a queen in this house and in the House of the Purple Bears!
Our Tuke, He Was Not the Best Dog to Anyone but Us
He was last Australian Cattle Dog left at an adoption event and we took him home to foster and within a week it changed to an adoption. The change was two fold we did not think he would be adopted and he had begun to fold his way into our hearts. Tuke led any encounter with other dogs with a bark or growl but he was Our Tuke.
He wanted to be with us wherever we were as he was Our Tuke.
Our neighbors saw a bit of a crazy dog but at home he was sweet and loyal and Our Tuke!
We will miss his joy on a walk or a trail or chasing a ball, as that is what Our Tuke did.
Despite being 17 and blind and having diabetes and 2 tumors he strutted the neighborhood on his last day like the Showdog of Welchester that he was,Our Tuke! Deb, Foxey and I will miss Our Tuke but he is totally folded into our hearts for evermore!
Madame President We Need You! Please!
US Soccer Needs Our President to do for Us What she did on the field and she can! Cindy Parlow Cone has come along just when we need her! USA! USA!
These are the 3 things that need doing for US to reset and start moving forward and you are the one to lead us there!
Because you have been a youth, collegiate and pro coach you can turn us into a team!
1)Get all of us who love the sport working together! Listen to all of the factions that authentically want the best for the sport. To get all of us pulling together we must be heard. In recent years it has been my way or the highway. There are many great organizations and many knowledgeable people that should be heard. Then the best decisions can be made in a way that brings us all together to make Soccer USA better. Madame President bring us together!
2)College Soccer needs your help, in particular Men’s College Soccer. Having been a player and a coach at this level you know the difference it can make in a player’s and person’s life. This is an advantage the US can take advantage of over most of the rest of the world. We need the backing of U S soccer to make college soccer better. We need to have the pro support as this is where a majority of your fans will continue to grow their love for the game. It gives our youth players a place to continue their careers and coaches a place to improve and hone their craft. Madame President you are the perfect one to change the thinking in Chicago about the force that College Soccer could and should be for the USA! USA!
3)Help US Soccer to realize its style! The USWNT as you well know have done a great job over the years of playing the way they needed to in order to have success! When the USMNT has done the same it has had the most successful runs in the World Cup. When we have tried to copy other countries’ styles we have struggled. Our latest flavor has been the Dutch whom we can learn much from but we should not copy. (My fav all time player is Dutch) But a strength that our national teams have almost always had is an area that their teams might have wanted to learn from our teams. The Women’s and Men’s US teams have been examples of work ethic, competitive fight and team cohesion (we can not do well with out these very American attributes). I will wait for the KNVB to call as they have had good enough talent to have won at least one if not more if they had possessed these traits. The point being we take ideas and people from all over the world that make our country better. From this we come up with the way that works for US now! Madame President help us recognize the way for our USMNT be successful and the USWNT can continue to lead the world!
You are the right leader at the right time! All your experiences have led you to this spot at this time! Madame President let us know what we can do to help you lead us! USA! USA!
Help us come together, grow College Soccer to be a US advantage, and find A USA style to help us be our best! Thank You in Advance, BDE
Best Day Ever Consulting and Coaching 