IDL13 Season 1: Earn Your X with Mike Nilson
What is your initial reaction to mistakes and failures? How can you increase your ability to progress by changing your mindset? Why is a commitment more impactful than setting goals?
Today you’re going to hear from Mike Nilson, he fought through an Achilles tear when he was in college, and even more recently, open-heart surgery. He did all of this because of his commitment to stay and grow.
Meet Mike Nilson
Mike is the owner at U-District PT and the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at Gonzaga University.
Over the last 20 years, he’s become a Fellow of Applied Functional Science, a licensed sports nutritionist and hold a master’s degree in leadership. But more importantly, he’s spent his whole life playing, studying & coaching basketball.
Mike’s full-time job is researching & implementing programs to help athletes jump higher, cut quicker and finish stronger on the court.
If there’s an innovative and effective way to workout basketball players, he’s bought the program and tried it.
Mike has trained NBA, college and high schoolers, but his favorite ballers to coach are his three kids: Carter, Ella & Memphis.
Visit his website. Connect on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Listen to his podcast here.
In this episode we discuss:
Growth mindset vs fixed mindset
The importance of teammates and family
Goals and commitments
GROWTH MINDSET VS FIXED MINDSET
“… I read this book about growth mindset and the importance of encouraging people for effort and attitude and how adversity can be really good if you have the right mindset on it … when I think about mindset I think that the biggest piece is realizing where you have a fixed mindset and where you have a growth mindset.”
In Mike’s business, they use the think-say-do model:
What do you think?
How do you speak out the thoughts?
How to enact the thoughts into reality?
When you come into a place where you can learn, having a growth and open mindset can allow you to bring in so many more lessons in comparison to when you think you already know what there is to know.
By seeing yourself as fallible, that you can make mistakes, you allow yourself to open up to a whole plethora of lessons and wisdom that you can learn only through encountering mistakes with a growth mindset and open arms.
the importance of teammates and family
Sometimes even the bad things can turn out well. When we have a team of people that support us when we are down, we are able to gather their loaned strength into ourselves and make the most of the situation at hand.
By going through tough situations, we can realize that we are stronger than we think ourselves to be, and then we can know that the next time we have to go through something difficult, that we will be okay, and that we will make it to the other side.
“When those tough circumstances come into your life, to be able to sit back and say ‘we’ll see, we’ll see how this thing turns out’ instead of judging it as something bad. ”
goals and commitments
Goals are things that you want to do. Commitments are things that you have to do.
“… but ‘I want to’ is not strong enough to ensure you’re going to achieve your dreams and that’s why I think we need something like a commitment. ”
When you change your ‘I want to’ into ‘I have to’, you can increase your skill set, your ability, and your progress exponentially.
Make a commitment to yourself and your progression as a person in your field and as a person who experiences life. When you use the ‘I want to’ mindset, you then push yourself with ‘shoulds’ and we all know that when we ‘should’ do something, we push against it.
However when you use the ‘I have to’ mindset, you push yourself with your dream at the forefront and tell yourself ‘I get to’ do this thing because I ‘have to’ achieve this, and you, therefore, work with encouraging yourself instead of putting yourself down.
Resources, books, and links mentioned in this episode:
Visit Mike’s website. Connect on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Listen to the Hoop Commitment podcast here.
Team Behind the Teams: A Cura Personalis Model For GU Athletics
The Impact Driven Leader YouTube Channel
Join the Impact Driven Leader Community
Connect with Tyler on Instagram and LinkedIn
BOOK | Mindset - Updated Edition: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential by Carol Dweck
About the Impact Driven Leader Podcast
The Impact Driven Leader Podcast, hosted by Tyler Dickerhoof, is for Xillennial leaders who have felt alone and ill-equipped to lead in today's world. Through inspiring interviews with authors from around the world, Tyler uncovers how unique leadership strengths can empower others to achieve so much more, with real impact.
Rate, review and subscribe here on Apple Podcasts or subscribe on Stitcher and Spotify.
Podcast Transcription
[TYLER DICKERHOOF]
Welcome back to the Impact Driven Leader podcast. This is your host, Tyler Dickerhoof. Man, I'm glad you're listening in today. Right now, we're in the thick of the NCAA tournament, basketball time and I have the great pleasure today to speak with a guy that's become one of my close friends. He's become a close friend because you know, whether he realizes it or not, he impacts my life a lot. I got to know Mike over the last couple of years, and I kept hearing about this guy, Mike Nilson, Mike Nilson. You know, he is an owner of a physical therapy fitness business here in Spokane. I knew he played a little bit of Gonzaga and people are just like, "Oh, everyone knows Mike. Everyone knows Mike." Now I have the opportunity to catch up with Mike a couple years ago, and we really created this friendship, this desire to grow and learn about leadership, about mindset.
So I've been very privileged to be able to have this ongoing relationship with Mike. And as I keep learning about Mike, as you guys will learn about Mike in this podcast, he's a great guy. Let me give you a little background if you don't know. Mike Nilson was a basketball player at Gonzaga University. Again, we're in the NCAA tournament. Mike was a part of the team in 1999 that made it to the elite eight. They were the Cinderella of Cinderellas. During his senior year in 2000, he tore his Achilles tendon right before the conference tournament, missed out on the opportunity to play, and that team finished as a sweet 16. Mike and several others that are still in the Spokane community are major contributors to the Gonzaga basketball program. Gonzaga basketball is today what it is because of individuals like Mike Nilson.
Mike also works within Gonzaga University and their sports performance, works with the women's team, works with the men's team, really contributes a lot to the program. You will see whatever Gonzaga is doing right now in the tournament is doing part because of Mike's contributions. So as you listen to this episode, I don't care if you're a basketball fan or not, I know Gonzaga has created the culture they've created because of the effort and worked in mindset, the commitment that people like Mike Nilson have had just over a 25 year period. I mean, going back to when he started at Gonzaga and before that, and so I'm so thankful he got to share a lot of behind the scenes, what can Gonzaga does. And as you listen to him and as you listen to the things that he's learned and grown about, you're going to hear about the leadership traits at Gonzaga.
You're going to hear about what their model is and you're going to hear the heart and compassion and how a guy who fought through the Achilles tear when he was in college to open heart surgery just a couple months ago and his commitment to stay and grow. If you're not fired up by this episode, if you're not, really, if this doesn't pull at your heartstrings I don't know what does. So thank you for listening. I'm so glad to be able to share this with you.
[TYLER]
All right, Mike, glad to have you here on the podcast, glad to be chatting with you catching up. I mean, it feels like forever between COVID and everything's going on in your life, but I'm excited to chat with you. Kind of, and I mentioned this a little bit, but this is what I think of you. When I think of you. I think of mindset. And I think of that, just the conversations we shared and you know, so when this podcast is going to release, it's kind of in this kind of three or four episodes, all about mindset. And we were talking a little bit about that before we started recording. So just kind of start off, when you think of mindset, what do you think about?
[MIKE NILSON]
Well, that's one of our leadership traits that we teach in our basketball program. So it's a little bit of a cheat because we think about growth versus fixed. And there's a great book called Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck who really changed my world, not just my basketball world, but my parenting world. Because I vividly remember my kids drawing little paintings for me or doing a math problem. They'd bring it to me and I'd be like, "That's unbelievable. You're so smart. You didn't even try and you got it right." And I'm praising them for not trying for lack of effort, for being smart, for being talented. And then I read this book about growth mindset and the importance of encouraging people for effort and attitude and how adversity can be really good if you have the right mindset on it. And so yes, when I think about mindset, I think that's the biggest piece; is realizing where you have a fixed mindset and where you have a growth mindset, because it's not like you have just one or the other in every environment.
Even in the same environment, I was a good basketball player on the defensive end. I had a really nice growth mindset. You know, I could handle failure, I wasn't afraid to make a mistake because it was a growth opportunity. And then I crossed the half court line and I have the biggest fixed mindset where I'm afraid of making a mistake and I have this attitude, which is, you can't miss the shot if you don't take the shot. And so it's amazing how, even as an adult, I have to still work on that growth mindset.
[TYLER]
So you peeked into my notes. I was going to ask you about Carol's book because honestly, I didn't know about the book till you. And so I massively enjoyed the book. How did that book come into your life and why? I mean, you mentioned it kind of as parenting, but did it, it dramatically identify your past and how did that say, "All right, I'm going to help players moving forward?"
[MIKE]
Well, one of the benefits of working at Gonzaga is you're just around motivated people who are always searching for the edge for the thing. And so that's the time I was working, not just with basketball, but I was trained in golf, tennis, soccer, and I believe it was the soccer coach here, Amy Edwards back in the day that brought the book to me. And she brought a couple of great books to me. One of my other favorite books is called the Talent Code. And that was a game changer, not only so fun to read, but also a great parenting and a great coaching book. So she had brought that in my life and it was like I said, a big aha moment. And I'm really big in the idea of if you know it and you don't do it, you don't know it.
Speaker 2:
So it's not enough just to read books, how are you going to implement them into your life? So here at Gonzaga, we used to think, say, do model. And so what are you supposed to think about mindset? Well, we think growth versus fixed. And what do you say, what do people with a growth mindset, how do they speak? What we say? Good. So when we have a challenge that comes upon us, if all of a sudden we find out that instead of playing an average team, we're playing the first place team in the division, we say good instead of looking and saying, "Oh, we have a bad ranking in the NCAA tournament." If you get paired up and have a bad ranking, good. To be the best you have to beat the best. And so that's what we say and what do we do about mindset.
Well, we nod when we're coached and this is a huge one. I coach not only here at GU but I coach my kids' sports teams. And this is one of the first lessons I teach them, which is you come to practice because you want to get better. You don't come to practice because you're already the best and you already know everything. And so you should be really excited when a coach tells you how to improve. You nod your head. Hey, you're supposed to be deeper in a stance instead of saying, "Oh, well, coach, I was this or I was that." You don't make excuses. You nod your head, you accept, you invite the feedback. And so that's how it kind of came into my life and that's how we've been practicing it. What I love about leadership is as I'm teaching it to the kids, I'm also giving myself friendly reminders. I might not be nodding when I'm getting feedback. Most of the time I do, unless it's coming from my wife though, you know, [inaudible 00:08:09] a little bit.
[TYLER]
I can't relate at all. Mike, not one bit. So you mentioned a little bit about, you're a Division One athlete, you played at Gonzaga, then you played professionally, you're back in the community at Gonzaga. And you know, in the 20 plus years now, since you had played at Gonzaga, it's really taken on this culture of mindset and growth. And I know yourself and coach Few and so many of the other former players in the community, like John Stockton have been a major part of that. How was that, you know the seed of when you guys first got started and really made that run into the sweet 16, how has that evolved that idea of mindset and either the seeds that coach Few saw into the program and everyone else has carried the torch? How has that mindset part really been you know, this culmination to now having a kind of perennial success in the men's sports, the women's sports? How has that all evolved through the community at Gonzaga?
[MIKE]
Well, when I first started coaching my kids, I asked coach Few for some advice on what I should do to be successful coach. And he says, "Well, if you want to be a great coach, you got to get great players." And that's what he's been unbelievable at doing. Although the faces might've changed a little bit over the years, you might have taller faster, stronger, maybe more talented athletes, maybe, the thing that has not changed is the mindset, the toughness. When I was coming to Gonzaga in high school, I was the best player around. I was MVP of my league. I was the hardest worker I knew. And then I came to GU and I had a rude awakening, which was, there's another level to this thing, Matt San Tangela was my roommate and my best friend of the first day on campus and I didn't know that there was another level to hard work and he had it.
When most of our friends, our fellow students were going to parties on Friday night, he had somehow came across the key to the gym and we would go get shots up Friday, Saturday night in the off season. And I was just happy to do it because I just love basketball, but I'd never seen that level of you know, he was just so meticulous with his workouts. Another guy was Richie Frahm. I had class with him my freshman year, and I'm in the back taking notes on the English class or whatever class we're taking, I look over, he's taking notes, except for he's writing his individual workout. He's going to get 20 shots from the left elbow, he's going to get 50 reverse finishes, and I'm like, "Okay while I'm doing something else, that's not basketball, these guys are just obsessed with getting better."
And so that was kind of the culture back in the late nineties, early two thousands. And then I had a really cool story happened just the other day. I've been staying away from everyone. I think I kind of told you I had open heart surgery and so I wasn't able to come down to the gym. But I forgot something in my office right before the surgery and so it was 10 o'clock at night and we figured everyone would be gone for the gym. My wife drives me down and I go through Volcker Center and I hear music and a ball bouncing, 10 o'clock at night, on a Saturday. And it's Jalen Suggs getting his workout and it just did my heart so good because we all get to see the fruits of his labor.
We get to see how talented he is and people say, "Oh, wow, what a gifted athlete?" And maybe he's gifted, but to go shoot at 10 o'clock at night on a Saturday, when most people, once again are watching movies or are doing what college students do, he's putting the work in. And so I think that's been the real the foundation of Gonzaga success; is people want to get better here. And it doesn't happen by accident. You know, my fellow straight coach Travis Knight, we've worked together for the past 20 years, he's a great guy and I've learned so much from him. Every Monday they have these things called PGMs, Stanford Personal Growth Mondays, where it's just him and the team. No coaches, and they have discussions and not necessarily lectures, mostly kind of, he asks great questions where the guys can self discover what it means to personally grow, to be their best and do the interior work. And I think when you do that every single week, when that's a priority it just happens that you show up on the court. So once again, just another reason why I love being in this environment, because I'm so interested in it. And then I have another strength coach that might even be better at me at doing it. So I just get to learn every week here.
[TYLER]
Well, I mean, it really comes to the idea that iron sharpens iron. When you surround yourself with people that are going to lift you up and challenge you in a healthy, good way, it's like, "Hey, we can do this together." As you mentioned about Matt and Richie and, I know you've spent a lot of time with John Stockton and he, as I look at and have gotten to know a little bit from afar, different relationships, like you met Jen Travis and to see John and to see Mark and they're two totally different guys. So two totally different personalities, but yet there's a lot of similarities where, as I look at them, they are very unassuming, humble guys that just put their head down and do the work. And again, as you mentioned that about Jen, which thank you for sharing that story, because as this comes out hopefully, Gonzaga is making that run to the finals like they should, because they have that dedication, that talent and recording it, still in the WCC, as semi-finals, women's just made it to the finals today.
As part of that culture, it continues to breed it. That's who we are. How much has, as you've been a part of that and seen this evolve over 20 years, taking on that, we're going to do the little things. How has that been emulated at every turn so when a new player comes in, they see the culture that you laid the foundation as a player and in the community? How much of that mindset really has been cultural?
[MIKE]
Well, one of my mentors told me that everyone should find someone that's 10 years older than them and have them as a mentor, because for me, I'm in my forties. Well, I know what it's like to be in my forties, but I don't know what it's like to be in my fifties. And so I think that mentorship piece is crucial. And you brought up John Stockton and I told you, there's another level that I got to see with Richie and with Santangelo and Casey Calvary, all of these guys that were just so mentally tough and put the work in. I'm glad I met them first because I would have never believed the next jump, which is John Stockton. And he is the pros' pro. He is the hard workers' hard worker. All of these guys that I play with and anyone that's ever been around John is in awe of how tough he is.
I just did a podcast episode yesterday with Jeremy Jones. He's playing over in Europe and he was a walk-on, ended up breaking the starting lineup, and he talked about the Sunday games that we have. The story he shared was really cute. He came in and he said, he almost didn't come but then he thought, "Well, I just show up and maybe sit on the sideline and watch," because he had a really bad headache. It was almost making him sick to his stomach. His head hurt so bad. And so he came up to John and said, "Hey I'm just not feeling good. My head hurts." And before he could even finish his sentence by saying, "I'm just going to watch today," John said, "Well, good thing that your head's a long ways from your heart. You're not going to die. Let's go." And he is just so tough.
So I just love being around people that are the best in their craft. And so to be around coach Few, I mean, he's one of the best basketball coaches of our time. John Stott, in my opinion is the greatest point guard in the history of basketball. And I've just seen all people. Like I got to go to a Stevie wonder concert a couple of years ago, and I was with my whole family and I just sat there and I just cried. You know, you just see greatness no matter what it is. And so it's just, I got to pinch myself that I get to be around John because his mindset was what really, I think, lifted us to the next level. Every preseason from September to mid-October, we got to play with John. He would come and he would get prepared for his preseason by playing with us.
And I just tell you what, like most of us turn up our intensity, like a radio dial. You know, we go from level six to seven to eight, and John's like a light switch. He steps on the court, we check the ball is like off to just on. And before you even know what's happened, he's punched in the gut and he's laying the ball up and he's already playing defense. It's amazing. How intense is that? That kind of stuff rubs off. And then it's amazing to see how many other guys now have passed on that torch. You know, we have Gary Bell on the men's side working, and he is just a phenomenal person, a phenomenal coach. And so to have him mentoring the guys, he's about 10 years older than the current players, and so I think that connection will be awesome. And we mentioned the guys, like the Jalen Suggs of the world, hopefully we'll be lucky enough to have him come back in the summers and mentor these current guys.
[TYLER]
Yes. Well, I think it is that transcending legacy that when people can model after and see, "Hey, all right, how are you walking through that path? It's really an important part of mindset. You know, you don't know what you don't know until you don't know it. And as you mentioned, where you come out of high school coming out of Western Washington, you are this MVP of your league, you come to Gonzaga and all of a sudden, you're just another guy. And we have that so often in life where we can have success at wherever level and all of a sudden we see a new challenge and that's every day,. I want to talk a little bit about some of the challenges you mentioned earlier, your open-heart surgery. I know your senior year at Gonzaga, you also during the tournament tore your Achilles tendon. So those two medical setbacks that I know, two totally different points in life, how did your mindset affect you in that and how did that model to others? Because I've heard those stories and I'd love to hear it from your mouth.
[MIKE]
Well, the first thing that comes to mind with my Achilles tear was the importance of teammates, the importance of family, because I think from the outside, a lot of people saw this positive, tough, stoic guy that was cheering on the sidelines. What they didn't see was moments after I tore my Achilles I'd been crying like a baby in the locker room. And I always get emotional when I talk about this. So I'll try not to cry, but I remember my dad coming in the locker room and just laying it out for me, "This is what you're going to do, Mike, of course cry. I'm so sad. I'm going to be crying with you later on tonight, but right now this is what you need to do. Your teammates are about to come into halftime and you're going to greet them with a high five and you're going to tell them that they got, they have to step up their game. They're down a soldier. So everyone's got to pick it up and you're going to be right with them along the whole way."
I didn't want to do it. I just wanted to curl in a ball at that moment. And so I was just so thankful and so lucky. Not everyone has a dad like that. Not everyone has a coach or a friend that'd be able to be there for them and be their strength when they're not strong. So I did it, my teammates came in and, well they got to see the positive side, so I'm just so thankful for that. And then what's kind of cool with experience is that idea of we'll see, there's a cool parable about the you know, the kid that gets a horse and every one of the community says, "Oh, that's great," and the Wiseman says, "We'll see." And then the kid falls off the horse and breaks his arm and everyone says, "Oh, that's bad," and the Wiseman says, "We'll see." And then the military comes in, they're going to take away all the able bodied people, but they don't take the boy because he has a broken arm and every one of the community says, "That's good," and the Wiseman says, "We'll see."
I think having all those setbacks and having the experience of seeing well, even the bad things have turned out really well. You know, tearing my Achilles is I tell people is one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me. It'll allow me to stay around and take one extra year at school so my fiancé, now my wife at the time could finish her college education because she was going to drop out of school early and go to Europe with me. And I thought that was pretty selfish to take away my wife from all her friends and take away that senior year experience. But because I tore my Achilles, she got to finish her degree and I got to in love with strength conditioning. At that time, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and laying in my bed, rehab and I started thinking, "Well I love nutrition, I love basketball, I love weightlifting. Why don't I be a strength coach?" And so that year when I took off, I got to study nutrition, started working out, I got certified as a strength coach and then I approached Gonzaga and they didn't have a strength coach at the time. And I said, "I will train the men's and women's basketball teams for free if you let me take classes."
So I got to go back and take anatomy, physiology, take my labs. And so what a great experience to be able to have a first job right out of college, working with Gonzaga basketball, are you kidding? So then I got to play overseas. And even that was a great thing because by the time you're senior, it's kind of hard not to get burnt out. You know, I just never had a break since the time I was four years old, I've been playing basketball and you almost take it for granted. And that whole year I couldn't play hoops. I just started itching and I started seeing how lucky the guys were. Like I'm waking up at four in the morning to go train at Gold's Gym and I'm training these people that may or may not even want to be there. And all I could think about is, "Man, if I'm going to get up and go to the gym is so much more fun if I'm the one working out, if I'm the one sweating and shooting."
And so it gave me my love for basketball back. So for all of those reasons, tearing my Achilles was one of the best thing that's ever happened to me. And so when I found out that I had open heart surgery, I was just sharing with you before the show, I didn't even want to know what it was about because no matter how hard it was or how easy it was, whatever I knew it would end up being one of the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. And it was a lot more difficult than I thought. It was a rough time but now on the other hand, it's the same thing. I never thought I would appreciate walking up the stairs. I'm literally excited to walk up the stairs. Like that's my goal today; is hey, every hour, take a break, go up and down the stairs. No one's on campus today because everyone's in Vegas. So I got a little basketball and I just been doing little jogs up and down the court and I'm like, "How fun is this? I get to play hoops. I get to run up and down."
And once again, you kind of take all that stuff for granted until you can't walk, until you can't breathe, until you're scared you might not be able to live. And then all of a sudden this is a gift. So I just love that idea of those things, when those tough circumstances come into your life, to be able to sit back and say, "We'll see. We'll see how this thing turns out," instead of judging it as something bad.
[TYLER]
I want to circle back in and kind of tie into this idea that, you know sometimes the greatest mistakes or adversities can be what really propels you into something new. And one of the things that you mentioned is that you were known as a lockdown defender. That was Mike Nilson, just like all defense, just the guy. And then you mentioned that you get on the other side of the court and you kind of froze up; is what you said. You know, you didn't want to make a mistake. And a couple of weeks ago I was with my son and we were at a basketball tournament. He's in fifth grade playing basketball and I happened to be writing, doing the scores and Luke written Ridnour 's dad. So Luke Ridnour played in the NBA for 12 years.
His dad was a long time, very successful coach in the Pacific Northwest and he was sitting next to me. So I got to visit with him the whole time, just a great guy. And Luke was coaching his son, his son was playing against my son and his son makes this drive to the basket and just kind of throws the ball up. And he didn't, "Oh man. Oh, that wasn't a good play. It was a good try, good effort. Keep trying." And it, as you mentioned that about being on the offensive side and not having that freedom in your mind to say, "Hey, I'm just going to try." My son, again here, the other day, he was bringing up old NBA highlights of the 10 greatest moves. And he's looking at him and he's just in awe looking at Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan, it's just brand new world to him. And as I'm thinking about this, as you're sharing how important from a mindset point of view, it is not to be afraid to fail, not be afraid to make a mistake. So as you're working with these really elite players, players that are going to go in the NBA or players that you've worked with that are now in the NBA doing well all-stars how have you helped them or how have you guys really recognized the opportunity, it's like, "Hey, make mistakes. It's okay," and have that mindset?
[MIKE]
To me, it's everything and I'm almost thankful that I'm not great at it in areas. I have this mentor that I meet with and he always says, "Mike, aren't you glad that we're kind of messed up like we are, because if we were perfect, just think about how conceded and arrogant and we'd be." And so I have to remind myself of that because I'm pretty good at beating myself up on the basketball court when I make a mistake. Ye I want to be able to teach other high school and college athletes, the importance of next play. You make a mistake. Even the greatest shooter in the world, a Steph Curry is missing half his three pointers. He went over ten one game. Now me, I would never get to that because if I'm over two, I'm not shooting anymore. He was over 10 and then he comes back the next game and sets the NBA record.
And so those are the stories I tell, not only to my players, but the story I tell to myself and it's really difficult. You know, I like to share my failure and for a lot of years, I didn't want to tell anyone that I was afraid because I was embarrassed. In high school, like I said, I was starting guard. I scored a lot. And then I got to college and that wasn't my area of expertise. And we had guys that were better shooters, better slashers, better finishers. And I kind of started just navigating in to a spot where I could find time on the court, because if I was known as a shooter, I'm not going to be as good as Richie Frahm. I wouldn't be sitting the bench behind him my whole career. My job was to be able to penetrate and kick and handle the ball. I'd be behind Santangelo for all four years. But I found a little niche of rebounding, defending, diving on the floor, toughness, hustle.
That was a spot where there's always room for a guy like that on the court and so I could just, I could enhance all my teammates skillsets. And so I doubled down and I got so confident. Like I said, I actually enjoyed making mistakes, which is so crazy. The year after I graduated or two years after Dan Dick, I was getting ready for the NBA draft. And I said, "Hey, if you'd like, I'll be full-time defense for you. You know, like whatever you need to do, if you're working on your left hand or driving to the rim, I'll just guard you." And you know, he was all American MBA player and I loved going against him and I wasn't afraid, "Well, gosh, what if he beats me in scores?" I'm like, "Well, perfect. Then I'll be able to learn another option, a different place to put my hands so I could strip the ball or I can take a shot." And so those are the things I want to remind myself on offense, which is every time he missed a shot and turn the ball over, if you have the right mindset, it's the opportunity to learn.
You know, it's kind of like, gosh, there's a really good, like a Disney movie about an evil character that every time they make a mistake, they have this computer and then they can say, "Oh, okay. Now I'll never make that mistake again." So if someone chinks the armor, "Oh, okay." And so it's like this machine that constantly keeps learning and learning. And I think boy, if I could have that on offense, I'd really be able to help some other kids out that are struggling. And so right now, I don't know, I struggle with it because I always believe you can't give something that you don't have. And so I don't have that on offense and so I really struggle with how do I give that to someone, but I always think, "Well, but I have it in this other area." And if they could maybe learn a life lesson or they can see the correlation between what I'm doing over in this area to what they need help with, it might help a bit. I think if I was really good at teaching it, I would have a growth mindset on offense. So come back and check in with me in another couple years and see if I've gotten better.
[TYLER]
Well my thought on that is if we can accept it, first of all, then we're at the point to start doing something about it. We're going to the root of saying, "Why did that come? Why do we have that mindset? What can we do about those thoughts? Now, what can we do to start correcting them?" If you dig to the base of the plant, then you can understand why the fruit that's coming out and if you want to change that, then you dig to the base and you know, able to kill that plant, as opposed to just taking off a branch or two thinking, you're going to affect it. I want to transition from the standpoint of, we talked something about here, obviously Gonzaga, but talking about your experience in seeing a lot of very talented people that you've gotten to know throughout the entire world of strength and conditioning and coaching and basketball.
There's a lot of them that have amazing talent, but never were able to capitalize on that talent because they didn't have a growth mindset. You know, what's something that really stuck out to you as far as why they didn't have that mindset? And I'm not looking to point fingers at someone, but just some of those attributes? Was it limiting belief? Was it that they didn't have that positive reinforcement? What's something that you recognize like, man, if they were just in a better environment or they have this mindset, I know that talent would take them to places they couldn't imagine.
[MIKE]
Well I have my little program called Hoop Commitment and a reason why I named it, Hoop Commitment is because when I learned the difference between a goal and a commitment that totally changed my life. Goals are things that you want to do. So I always tell my athletes, when I say, what's the goal you say, I want to. And we also set goals. We should all want to shoot 50% from the three point line and we should all get, want to get a Division One scholarship or be a professional athlete. I think all of those are awesome, but our want to or goal is just not strong enough to ensure that you're going to achieve your dreams. And that's why I think we need something like a commitment. And when I say what's the commitment I want my athletes to think I have to.
So when you can change, I want to into I have to, your whole life changes. And I think to be a great player is more than just what you do on the basketball court. Matter of fact, most of what you do off the court is what supplements or what gives you the energy to be successful on the court. And so that's why I think this leadership piece that you're a master in is so important because we know basketball and life is a team sport. And so it doesn't matter how good you are if you're surrounded by people that can't get the job done. You're not going to be as successful as you want to be. We know sleep is so important. We know nutrition is so important and so this year what I'm doing is for the whole year, I've made a commitment to study nutrition.
And I think if you want to be successful at nutrition, it comes down to commitment, I have to. It's not that hard. It just takes a long time. And so the biggest mistake I see people who don't reach their potential are people that haven't made a commitment, haven't switched their mindset to not like, "Oh gosh, I want to eat really well today. I should eat really well today." If you say I should, there's no way it's happening. Or, "I'll do it tomorrow." But if you say, "I have to," and not like I have to like, feel sorry for me like, "Oh, I guess I have to go to school today." You say like, "This is so important to me. There's no way I'm going to fail. I have to do this." And so this year I've made a commitment to study nutrition every single day for 365 days for at least 15 minutes.
That was really difficult to do when I'm in the hospital. The day after my heart surgery, I did not want to study for 15 minutes. If it was a goal, I would have failed, but I have this calendar on my wall and I made a commitment to myself. And not only that, now I tell everyone on my podcast that I'm doing it. So now everyone's going to check in. Everyone's kind of waiting for me to break that chain of success. Every day that I complete my commitment I earned the right to put an X on my calendar. And so I don't, I have over a thousand because I can't even remember how many I have now, but there's no way I was going to skip a day because I don't care if I'm sick, tired, unmotivated. If I just had heart surgery, well, I can study for 15 minutes.
I might come in the form of, I got energy for five minutes right now, then I got to take a nap and I'll do five minutes later. But to me, I think, I guess everyone that has a hammer sees things as nails and to me, the hammer that I have is commitment. And it's not the only way to be successful, but I tell you what is a sure fire way to be successful. So that's what I've been teaching my kids, not just my athletes. My son Carter loves basketball. He loves guitar. Well, if he wants to be a good guitar player, it's not that hard. You know, the guy I'm studying this year, Dr. Berardi says people overestimate how difficult things are going to be and they underestimate how long it's going to take. And so people overestimate how hard it is to learn how to play guitar.
It's actually really easy. You just have to learn how to put your fingers here and here, but it just takes a long time. They think they might be able to do that in a week or a month. If you want to be a good guitar player plan on the next five to 10 years, digging in and doing work. And so that's something that I really want to teach my kids. It's something that I've practiced. You know, something that today I'm going to go home and I'm going to study my nutrition. I'm going to practice my guitar skills because I just love doing it. I love that idea of putting in work, not because I want to, but because I have to. Music is that important to me that I'm going to commit time every day to doing it.
[TYLER]
Well, I mean, I think the example that you share through, obviously through Hoop Commitment and your involvement, and I'm fortunate that you get to put that, share that to my sons. And as my older son who, his soccer club is going through that process and earning his acts. And what I love to see is I don't have to remind him. He's doing it because he's seeing the value of getting better and so then he I'll be asking, "Hey, what's your task this week." And then he'll tell me, and he gets enjoyment out of it and I think that's where, when it starts young and it's part of, "Hey, I want this to be a part of my life to where, I have to, because that is the routine that I set to set my mindset in order." To me, that's what's really important.
It's kind of, one of my five hours for mindset is routine and building that routine and just as you've modeled to me, as far as earning that X that you learn from Seinfeld, if you can commit to that, man, you can grow and develop any skill to some level. The key is understanding which skill is going to help you become a master at what you are. Like when you were a defensive specialist, it's what can I do to be able to move laterally better? What can I do to make sure that I know how to drive that offensive player where he isn't comfortable? What can I do to learn those skills? I just, I have learned that about you and it's like, now you're talking about nutrition and as you've grown as a leader is how can I build my skills up so that way I'm more valuable to others because that value is already there.
So I appreciate that example you are for me and this community. I'm thankful to call you a friend and be able to have you impart some of those learning lessons that you're learning on myself and others.
[MIKE]
Oh, I feel the same way. I love our meetups, our connections, because not only is it good to have a friend like you, but I always learn something new. And thanks for all you do for our community and for leadership. And it's just an honor to be on the show.
[TYLER]
Well, thank you again Mike. Goes zags and I hope when this is airing that we're raising a banner here in Spokane. Why not to? The women's and men's, why not?
[MIKE]
You heard it first.
[TYLER]
It'd be awesome.
[MIKE]
You heard yet first.
[TYLER]
All right. Thanks Mike.
[MIKE]
Thanks, Tyler.
[TYLER]
All right. So thank you for listening to this episode. Remember, subscribe, give me a review. Let me know how you're doing, share this with somebody, share this with somebody that they're going to get value from this today. You know, I do this because I love to interview the people I love to interview, I love to talk to them and learn from them. I hope you're getting value. Let me know, send me an email, give me a review, subscribe, do all those things, share it with people. Help me so that way I know that I'm on the right path and that you're getting value from this. If you share it with someone, send me a message and let me know. Share it on Instagram, share it on Facebook because it's not about me, but some of these guests, man, it's their great opportunity to share their work. Whether it's some of the authors, whether it is individuals like Mike, what he's doing, his Hoop Commitment podcast in community.
In the show notes, I'm listing a documentary and I want you to go watch it because I want you to learn about the heart of Gonzaga University. This is a great follow-up to this episode that you heard from Mike. And I'm so thankful to him. I'm thank you for you listening.
Remember this month, we're talking about mindset. We're talking about mindset with a few of these episodes, and I'm so thankful that as Mike is kicking off this month, that you get to see some of this grit. And we're going to hear that from some of the coming guests, as they talk about things being so debilitated in their confidence that they went hid in a movie theater just to watch movies, to escape it. You know a lady who was a survivor of Oklahoma City bombing and ended up 200 pounds and becoming an iron man. You're going to hear stories of these people and their mindset and it's contagious because when we control our mindset, man, we can accomplish anything.
Thank you for listening. I appreciate you being here and again, subscribe, give me a review, let me know how I'm doing. And just go better today because that's what Mike's about and his commitment. Earn your X. Thank you.
