Читать книгу Coach to Coach - Martin Rooney - Страница 14

That evening, Brian pulled into his driveway feeling less stressed than usual. Inspired from his meeting at the diner, he felt compelled to take action on the homework the old man had given him. After texting Marcus a serious apology and request to be at practice tomorrow, Brian turned off his phone and made a commitment to stay a little more present with his daughters and Kelly. When he walked in, he was greeted by his girls. He had forgotten how good it felt to see them come running and yell, “Daddy's home!” when he walked in the door. They had a nice dinner and conversation, and even Kelly seemed a little more at ease than usual. In a weird way, Brian already felt a little more in control because of the old coach he had met. And when he thought about it, the old coach hadn't done more than listen and give him an assignment.

“So, what's gotten into you?” Kelly asked.

“What do you mean?” Brian answered.

“After that loss yesterday, you would usually be hitting game film and stressing over next week's game. You seem a little…different. Is everything okay?” Kelly inquired.

“Sure, babe,” Brian assured her. “I just met an unusual coach today and he gave me an interesting assignment. I guess it already has me thinking, and that thinking has slightly changed my attitude, too.”

“What was the assignment?” asked his oldest daughter Jenny. “Is it like he gave you some homework?”

“That's exactly what he did,” Brian answered. “And just like you, tonight I am going to make sure I get it all done.”

“So he's your teacher?” asked his youngest daughter Jaime.

“Ha! Well, I guess he is,” said Brian realizing his kids were always listening. “And I have a strange feeling he has a lot to teach me. At least I hope he does.”

“I thought you knew everything already, Daddy,” said Jaime.

“No, Jaime,” said Brian. “Every Daddy always has more to learn.”

That night, Brian kept his commitment and was more present. It felt good to focus on the girls; they were growing up right before his eyes. And after teeth were brushed, a story was read, and they were tucked in, Brian let Kelly know about the assignment and asked her what she thought his answers might be. Kelly always seemed to know him even better than he knew himself. Her answers revolved more around service and helping others than football. She reminded him of his previous volunteer work and other coaching jobs before he got so “serious.” This was the inspiration Brian needed before he started to jot down his own ideas.

After Kelly went to bed (she had to get up early to get the girls off to school and then to work) Brian pulled out the paper and concentrated on the word enthusIASM. As he thought about what he really loved to do, he remembered a conversation with one of his former athletes who signed a huge contract in the NFL. Even though the player had more money than he would ever need, he was unhappy. Years later when he and Brian were talking at a team reunion, he remembered the player remarking, “24 hours is a long time to have nothing to do. You can only spend so much time on a beach or playing golf.”

That comment always stuck with Brian. So, he decided that money was not what was firing him up. After all, if it was, he would be involved in another profession. There had to be something deeper that would get him up early and keep him up late. Brian thought the easy answer would be football, and although it was still one of his greatest passions, he could see that he was not sold on football being his purpose. As he remembered, the instructions were to find the intersection of his passion and his purpose. Perhaps when he did this, the money might appear, too.

At the kitchen table, Brian kept digging deeper into what really drove him. Inspired by some of Kelly's answers, he reflected on his past and the people who had inspired him the most in his life. He realized immediately that his father had not lived his passion and purpose. His dad worked hard for 40 years and made decent money, but obviously did it solely to provide for him and his family, not because he loved it.

The person who seemed to have found the intersection was actually his high school track coach. Coach Scarola was always on fire and never seemed to have a bad day. Although he surely didn't make the big dollars, he never seemed to be without, and Brian realized he always wanted to be as well liked as that coach. In fact, it was Coach Scarola who inspired Brian to be a coach in the first place. That was when inspiration struck. Brian realized his own passion didn't come from making money or football, it came from helping people. And how was he best able to help people? Through coaching! Coaching also passed the IASM test—I AM SOLD MYSELF—for Brian. He believed that coaching was important and knew his own life would be radically different if he hadn't been blessed with some of the coaches he'd had. Satisfied with his answer, he wrote Helping others through coaching on his sheet under the word enthusIASM. And then he wrote a note to himself as his goal: I want to be a better coach. Somehow his mind felt clearer and like a weight had been lifted as he went to bed.

Brian felt like he had taken a few steps forward. Little did he know he was going to be knocked back a few more the next day.