You either worship him or you hate his guts. In two decades he has played in 10 total Super Bowls, winning 7 of them. He has been selected to 15 Pro Bowls, thrown for over 74,000 yards, and is second all-time in touchdown passes only behind future Hall of Famer, Drew Brees. Many consider Tom Brady to be the best Quarterback that ever played the game. If you didn’t know much about Tom Brady and is early days as a football player, you would guess he was a #1 overall draft pick, maybe a Heisman trophy winner. You would be wrong. Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round, out of 7, by the New England Patriots. It could be considered the greatest underdog story of all-time. How did Tom Brady go from a backup plan to arguably the greatest Quarterback of all-time? It was a combination of a winning culture, good teams, and a championship mindset.
Don’t Make Excuses, Make Results
One common theme that successful people have is they do not blame others for their shortcomings. Rather, they analyze what went wrong and then find a solution to fix the problem. Brady has gone on the record by saying “too often in life, something happens and we blame other people for us not being happy or satisfied or fulfilled. So, the point is, we all have choices, and we make the choice to accept people or situations or to not accept situations.” If you blame other people for your shortcomings, not only is it not true, the problem will never get fixed. Chances are the same problem will arise and you will push the blame on someone else again. Whether you are a future Hall of Fame Quarterback or a cashier at MacDonald’s, owning up to your shortcomings and correcting your faults is the way to get successful results and build character while doing it.
Do it! With a Chip on Your Shoulder
When Tom Brady was picked in the 6th round of the NFL he did not make an excuse, he did not pout and whine like other QBs have done in the past. Rather, deep down inside he took the act personally and vowed to himself to prove everyone that doubted him wrong. This is the championship mind-set you can’t teach. Brady says “I’m a pretty good winner. I’m a terrible loser. And I rub it in pretty good when I win.” If you want to adopt a successful mindset, start by finding your motivation. A good motivator will push you forward and prevent you from falling back into homeostasis. Sometimes pain and the fear of failure are the biggest motivators one can have. Then when we succeed it turns into the greatest accomplishment.
Play to Win
If you asked someone “do you like to win?” I imagine everyone will give you the same answer, yes! The truth is everyone likes to win but wants to win with the least amount of hard work. It’s a common knock on the current generation. You will hear “nowadays people just want handouts. They don’t want to work for their success.” In some cases that may be true. Everyone wants to get rich quick or get promoted immediately. This mentality is flawed because even though you say you like to win, you are not really playing to win, you are playing not to lose. Brady elaborates on this type of mindset by saying “I think that at the start of a game, you’re always playing to win, and then maybe if you’re ahead late in the game, you start playing not to lose. The true competitors, though, are the ones who always play to win.”
Tom Brady is one of the better examples of someone that was not genetically made to be a Hall of Fame football player. Experts drafted him in the 6th round of the NFL draft. He didn’t start until an injury forced him in the game and 6 Super Bowl rings later and after 17 NFL seasons people are still baffled by his success. The proof is in the pudding! He has had a Hall of Fame coach by his side, great talent surrounding him, but the one consistent thing that has kept Tom Brady playing football at a high level for this long is his championship mentality. It is something that can’t be taken away and that drives him to be great, every day.
If you are struggling coming up with a championship mentality and want to achieve your fitness goals, it may be time to consider working with a Personal Trainer.
Come in to Iron Orr Fitness Center today to receive a Complimentary Consultation. We will give you a medical grade body composition test, a 20min workout/evaluation with one of our certified personal trainers and develop a plan to help you reach your fitness goals.
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