This is going to be a really long post, so please, bear with me!
It's a Saturday morning in Lagos and I'm putting my people to sleep because they have just worked hours on end overnight when I realise that my friends had sent me the trailer of Jada Pinkett Smith's new show, The Red Table.
I had saved it to watch later (I'm a big fan of the Smiths by the way and for good reason too! But that's another post for another day! lol), so I was really excited to check it out.
I have always been really fascinated about how some brands do PR, so much so that as I was watching it, I saw how Facebook Watch was presented to me and played into my mind and consciousness that I knew I had to check it out. It's the same way with Ciara and TraceMe.
I'm such a big fan that they pull me in and urge me to check out the video on demand service naturally.
On checking out Facebook Watch, I found "Tom vs. Time", a show about how, New England Patriots' quarterback, Tom Brady prepares for his games and I was in awe.
I've always seen Tom Brady as a fantastic player, a superstar and supermodel, Gisele Bündchen's husband but today I saw him as a self-motivated intellectual driven by one thing ... winning!
He doesn't see his aging as an issue (he's a 40year old NFL Player, that's a big deal), he doesn't see losing as an issue, he doesn't see opponents as an issue, he sees them as motivation and I learnt quite a few things from him.
I was amazed at his work ethic, his drive and most of all, his love for the game.
I thought I was a hard worker till I saw this 6 part series.
Tom's not only working hard, but he's working smart.
And that brings me to the topic, what motivates you?
There are two primary types of motivation. Extrinsic and Intrinsic. Stay with me. This will get quite interesting.
Extrinsic Motivation is geared towards external rewards and reinforcers like money, praise and awards while Intrinsic Motivation is geared toward internal rewards and reinforcers like enjoyment, happiness, fulfillment, achievement and a sense of competence.
I like to think that intrinsic motivation is best majorly because I see that as self-motivation. Correct me if I'm wrong but the money, praise and awards are dependent on other people's perception. This means that you're basing your happiness, fulfilment and self-satisfaction on what another person feels or thinks of your work and I think that that's unhealthy. Those things won't last and those things are subject to human error.
Why not motivate yourself?
There's something I said this week and I realised that I have always lived my life that way. I said "I can do anything so far I put my mind to it".
Sounds cliche, I know, but I have come to realise that once I put my mind to something, I always get it done and I even do great at it. If I'm doing shabbily at something, just know my mind isn't completely there.
How do you get things done?
How do you drive yourself?
How do you push yourself?
Tom Brady, in Tom vs Time, spoke brazenly about a lot of things in his life that I thought to share them with you guys!!
Here are 15 things I learnt:
1. Speaking on his parents
“I was always fairly self-motivated and my parents just opened the door for me. They never managed my expectations. They never tempered my enthusiasm. They always built on that.”
2. Speaking on deeper purpose and miracles
“Spirituality means a lot of different things to different people. For me it’s your deepest purpose. I do want to know the whys of life. I want to know why we’re here. Where we’re going. Trying to find that deeper purpose. To live it through sports in a very authentic way makes so much sense to me. Having these dreams and goals and aspirations, and waking up and putting in the work, and miracles happening, and all this magic that sports creates, and I’m in the middle of it. I get to live that through sports.”
3.Speaking on criticism
“I feel that I have a belief in who I am. I chart my own course and then I live the life I want to live. Being physically fit and emotionally stable and spiritually sound. Are there times when I’m frustrated that things are said about me that I wish I could defend? Yeah! But I don’t want to go in that mud every day. Because I know that once I engage I’ll have to re-engage. And I don’t like fighting. That creates inner conflict in me. So I do need to protect myself. If I’m putting my energy out in 20 different areas, then I don’t get to be who I want to be … because I don’t have anything left.”
4. Speaking on losing
“I’ll never let go of losses. That scar tissue is too deep, too thick.”
Cameraman: “Why would you put yourself through it?”
Tom Brady: “Still a lot to learn.”
“I think about losing for days. Days you wake up thinking… It’s too painful. And I could feel like, “It’s just a game”. But because it’s more than just a game for me, I feel like I’m losing in pursuit of what my life is. Thank God there’s another game next Sunday.”
5. Speaking on preparation
“If you want to perform at the highest level, then you have to prepare at the highest level.”
6. Speaking on putting yourself to the test
“You never really know what you are. You create this hypothesis of what you are, what you think you are. And then you go test it out. When you finally go up against competition you’re faced with realities. [And it’s] not what you hoped you were, or hoped you would be. You find out where you’re at.”
7. Speaking on motivations
“I know what my motivations are. And it’s not to satisfy other people. It’s to satisfy myself. And if I’m satisfied with myself I’m good. I feel good. I’m going to live a very purposeful life. I’m going to create change and positivity in a big way, and I want to do that being who I am. People will find negative things to say about that, absolutely. But I’m just going to keep charting my own course.”
8. Speaking on expectations
“No-one gives a shit what I’ve done [in the past]. They want me to do it now.”
9. Speaking on togetherness
“One of my coaches said something great. He said, ‘I want to look in your eyes and know that you want the same thing that I want. Once I see that I know we’re going in the right direction."
10. Speaking on leadership
“My connection with [my team] is through joy and love. It’s not through fear, or insults. That’s not how I lead. When you have a group of people who hold each other accountable every day, those are the teammates that you’re looking for. You can keep building on your success, because nothing’s going to change at this point.”
11. Speaking on “work-life balance”
“The hard part for me still playing is that my kids are getting older and I’m not available to them. Things still revolve around my schedule, my day. And it’s hard because so much is about their dad’s life. And their dad’s life is great but it’s just their dad’s life, it’s not their life. It’s challenging and you’re always juggling what the right balance is. There’s so much to do with so little time.”
12. Speaking on surfing as a life lesson
“I think in a lot of ways surfing is like a metaphor for life. As a beginner I just want to get in there and go out and paddle. When you do that you find yourself in a lot of whitewash. You’re wasting all your energy when there’s nothing to accomplish. In order to be good at it you've got to go with it. You can’t fight the force of mother nature. You've got to find the rhythm of it.”
13. Speaking on continual progress
“I don’t feel like I’m on the last half. I still feel like I’m on the first half. I still feel like I’m charging ahead.”
14. Speaking on what’s important
“When you’re young you don’t have perspective. You hit this point when you’re like ‘I’m not a kid anymore’. Then you have a little more perspective in your life. You know what’s important and what’s not important. I’m not putting energy and focus on things that I don’t deem are important. Even though other people might say, ‘Man, this is really important’. I’m like, ‘No it’s not. That’s not important at all.’ I’m going to determine what’s important for me.”
15. Tom House, Tom Brady’s throwing coach, speaking on old age
“Old age and treachery always overcome youth and exuberance.”
Trust you learnt a thing or two and I hope you're reevaluating what motivates you!!
Lots of Love, always!!
-Pookie!
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