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The Gap
What the media or most people think is difficult and what Level 1 Coaches think is difficult are two different perceptions.
With all that a Level 1 Coach goes through, getting to the top becomes easier even though everyone around you says it’s harder…
How do I know this for sure?
I don’t yet. Because I haven’t made it to the peaks that Antonio Pierce, Mike McDaniel, and Jon Cooper have, but being at Level 1 and being able to listen to what they say and do now, gives a pretty good indication…
“Isn’t there such immense pressure to keep winning?” They said to Cooper…
The perceived difficulty of dealing with the pressure of continuing ‘success’ with Tampa Bay probably pales in comparison to convincing 18-year-old kids from Michigan and their parents to trust a Gordon Bombay, lawyer turned junior hockey coach to come play for the Metro Jets in the CSHL.
Recruiting for Metro was harder for Cooper than coaching in the NHL.
“How do you handle the pressure of coaching the Miami Dolphins?” They said to McDaniel.
Because you’ve hit bottom, got kicked out of the league, went to rehab, and had to coach in the UFL for 2 years… What pressure? HC in the NFL is a cakewalk when you’ve been through Mike McDaniel’s life.
“I can’t believe you made the jump from linebacker coach to HC, that had to be a struggle?” They said to Antonio Pierce…
You know what’s more difficult? Growing up in the projects. Having a kid at 16 years old. Thinking you’re too cool for school so your grades don’t allow you to go D1 right away. Taking a side quest to play junior college and improve your grades, transferring D1, getting to the league and biding your time as a backup because you’re ‘too small’ and then finally getting a shot when the guy ahead of you gets injured.
That’s hard. Not being an HC of the Raiders.
I got asked in my ECHL interview how I’d possibly manage trying to recruit professional players when I didn’t have much success recruiting to my expansion tier 3 team…
Recruiting to the ECHL is easier. Not harder. But everyone wants to believe there’s more pressure, more challenges, and harder monsters to slay…
You might be too attached to your position. That might be your ego talking. I don’t blame you though, who wants their really prestigious job to be ‘less challenging’?
That doesn’t fit the heroic story you’re trying to write…
This is the superpower of Level 1 after you ‘make it.’ You’re not attached to the ego. You don’t believe things are getting ‘harder’. And because you’re unfazed, you see things clearer, make better choices, stay healthy, and continue to compound your success.
If you think the top is hard, maybe you didn’t have a Level 1 beginning to contrast it with.
If I’m coaching D1 and complaining about the transfer portal or whatever the next thing to complain about is in the future, remind me about Level 1. When I was trying to convince 18-year-olds to come play for a 26-year-old, rookie HC with a club hockey playing career and an inability to effectively communicate in a job where that was required. Remind me I lived in the basement of my old billet family house from when I was a player in that city because I couldn’t afford rent at a ‘real place’.
Remind me I was working at Chick-fil-A and UPS during peak season during my HC job because the team owner couldn’t afford to pay me.
Remind me that my fiance was sending me Venmo money to eat.
Truth is, you’ll never have to remind me, I won’t forget where I came from.
Level 1 Superpower
We at Level 1 have such a tolerance to handle adversity. To get punched in the face over and over and still show up. That when the best opportunity of our life presents itself, we’re not only ready… But we’re so much more enlightened and in love with life when we arrive.
To a Level 1, the highest level is the easiest because their journey equipped them to slay all the monsters before they got to the top.
Now they look around and enjoy the view. They play with the house money because they already did the hardest part.
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