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Gronk inspired this article. Love you, Robbie G.
Let’s have some fun today. Why? Because it’s F******** hump day and why not!
Oh, before we start today, let’s stay with the Boston sports theme…
THE CELTICS ARE THE BALLS! Congrats to us on raising Banner 18. Our “All In” live docuseries with the Celtics that my glorious Shadow Lion squad is creating is just magical. I spent WELL into the night Monday celebrating on the streets of Boston with this beautiful fan base and will be in rare form at the parade Friday. If you don’t want to see that parade content, don’t follow me on IG.
Speaking of winners…
The Patriot Way
Big boy can move!
Rob Gronkowski is the greatest tight end to ever live and played for the most historic and dominant dynasty in professional sports history.
Ok, we have reached the point in the newsletter where 75% of you reading now unsubscribe. You know what, just leave. If you’re not a Pats fan, and you hate me because I am one, I probably also hate you. SO, SMELL YA. And kiss my six Super Bowl rings on the way out. B****.
Woah. Sorry, got carried away there! Reeling it back in for a real story from this franchise that’s relatable to everyone. So don’t unsubscribe!
Last week I attended Tom Brady’s Patriots Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Gillette Stadium.
As a Pats fan that grew up idolizing this team, it was one of the coolest events I have ever attended. Much love to my Shadow Lion brethren for hooking up an incredible experience.
But even if I wasn’t a psychopath Pats fan, this still would’ve been a very motivational event.
There were so many incredible life lessons from all the speakers (Belichick, Kraft, old teammates, etc.) throughout the night, but this was my favorite…
He’s even handsome from the Jumbotron 😊
Gronk talked about how in his rookie season, he HATED Tom Brady. He said Tom was always on his ass about running routes not perfectly.
One time in a game he had a bad corner route.
He said Tom yelled at him on the sidelines for the poor route giving him the feedback that he better get his ass outside the safety on a flag route if he ever wants the ball.
It took Gronk his entire rookie season to understand that Tom was just grilling him because he saw a ton of potential in him. He wanted Gronk to grow and get better.
Coming out of college, Gronk didn’t have the highest NFL grade, but he turned his career into one of the greatest from a tight end the league has ever seen.
Not sure that would be the case if he didn’t have a QB that was pointing out his weaknesses from day 1 and giving him critical feedback on how to get better each day at practice.
After listening to all of those speeches at the event, it’s very clear Tom’s accountability carried on throughout the rest of the team and was the reason why he won seven Super Bowls.
Tom could’ve remained silent, never got on Rob’s case about the poor route running, and they never would’ve improved.
He motivated people like Rob to become great. And it all started by holding people accountable and giving them proper feedback.
Learn from Rob. Take feedback as a positive. Even if it's negative!
Coach, WTF?!?!
Gronk and I were very similar caliber athletes (JK), so here’s a story about me.
Have you ever heard of the cliche in sports, “if your coach yells at you it’s because he likes you. It’s when he stops you should start to worry”?
Well, I lived this scenario out playing in college and trust me, it’s true. And replace “coach” for your boss/co-worker/friend/parents/girlfriend, it still applies.
Only putting this here as photo evidence that I was once an athlete. P.S. the game was completely sold out…
The second I stepped onto campus at Colgate, my head lacrosse coach was absolutely ruthless to me.
I was always a hard-working kid doing the right things within the team. Besides my “Hakuna Matata” duet freshman year during our Halloween party, that was an absolute pitiful performance. So, it never made a ton of sense to me why coach was always on my ass.
Because my coach constantly chirped and picked a part every little piece of my game, I thought I was never going to step foot on the field, ride the bench for 4 years doing whacky cellies on the sidelines with the boys and never get a girlfriend for being complete a loser.
But after not sniffing the field freshman year, I started every game my sophomore season until I graduated.
When I started getting more playing time, I realized that Coach had a handful of guys he ripped into on the practice field, and it was typically the guys who played on game day.
It took me a couple years to figure out, but he was really just trying to push you if he was yelling. He had a method to the madness. It was the kids that weren’t getting much playing time that he was quieter to.
I was taking the digs very personally when I wish I had the perspective back then that it was a positive thing and that it was just constructive criticism, or in less fancy words, good feedback.
Coach Murph, if you’re reading this, I now know that was all love. ✊
You Got It, Boss!
Let’s head to the workforce…
Have you ever had a boss tell you something that is wrong with the work you produced and you want to punch them in the face?
Honestly, I haven’t but I know they exist.
Typically, the one’s you want to punch in the face are one’s that tell you your work is s*** but give zero reasoning as to why.
There’s a difference between feedback and just yelling.
If there is no constructive criticism included in the response, then yeah, it’s just worthless comments.
Next time your boss points out errors with no context, ask for real feedback. They will probably appreciate it and give you a solid answer.
Now that I’m a bit more experienced in the world of understanding feedback, I absolutely love when my boss and Shadow Lion teammates point out why we should be doing things a certain way.
It makes me feel like they actually care about my growth within the team.
First month at Shadow Lion, I had a million questions. Still do. But I ask them, get feedback and apply those learnings.
If I was working on projects, screwing up and no one was saying anything, I’d be in trouble. My career would be headed south.
If you’re lucky enough to have a boss and co-workers that give constructive criticism, you should blast open a bottle of champagne and celebrate, because you’re on the right path with a great team.
Maybe you guys will dominate your industry for the next 20+ years winning six awards along the way. Nahhhhh, no one is ever going to replicate the Pats 2000-2020 run!
But take what your team says with a positive mindset. They are aiming to make you better!
Danny’s Diary Feedback
When I first started this Diary, one of my best friends from high school hit me up and was pretty much like “dude, WTF is this s***”.
Initially I was like f*** off, but then I realized he was only reaching out with feedback because he cared.
It’s the idiot on the right with his eyes closed, $200 bounty for his head!
Beyond the heavy chirp to start, he added constructive criticism that I applied to the writing, and it was for the better.
He was reading every single word of the first couple editions, and we actually had a couple phones to chat about the newsletter and the best ideas for it to be successful and valuable to you all.
He wasn’t trying to be an asshole just saying the newsletter stinks and is a bad idea. That would just be a crappy friend.
Instead, he gave genuine feedback.
Same thing happened with the Morning Blitz.
The early days when we had 200 subscribers, we’d run surveys asking for feedback. I wanted to kill anyone that didn’t say it was perfect. But I was really young and stupid then.
I learned to celebrate the fact that people were taking the time out of their day to give us feedback to improve the product and get better.
If no one replied to those early surveys, we’d never have gotten any better.
Let’s Talk Chicks
Look, I’m 27 years old and not going to sit here and give out relationship advice, BUT feedback works well in relationships too!
When my girlfriend tells me to put the toilet seat back down after using the potty. I listen!
Took me a couple times to figure out what she meant, but I got there.
If she never gave me this very important feedback, she’d often fall into the water.
I take her feedback, implement it, get better, and it leads to positive results.
Yes, I do have a beautiful woman in my life, sorry ladies (or dudes)!
In case anyone missed it last week, here’s one of my favorite newsletters I read to help stay in the know on adult stuff that I think you’d also enjoy!
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Thank you all for reading. If someone disagrees with you today, or gives you some constructive criticism, instead of brushing it off, give them a hug!
Speaking of feedback, I want your honest thoughts on how I can improve these blog posts. Please shoot a response to this email with your ideas!
See you next week. GO CELTICS GO!
Love,
Danny Healey