Appreciating Greatness

Being a sports fan, I love watching greatness. I have my favorite teams, but I can still applaud when someone on another team does something worth my appreciation. I can appreciate greatness even when it comes from an arch rival, or even when it means my team loses a championship game. If the better team wins, I can tip my cap. An example of this is my appreciation for a great former pitcher of the Boston Red Sox, Pedro Martinez. This past week, I was able to appreciate the end of a great player that has played for my favorite team for the past 18 years. You might have heard of him. His name is Mariano Rivera.

Mariano Rivera will be the last player to ever wear the number 42, retired by all of baseball as a tribute to the late Jackie Robinson. At the age of 43 when most players have long since retired, Rivera was still one of the best, if not the best, at his position. In my mind, Rivera is one of the best players ever to play the game. His dominance and longevity are unlike any other that I have seen.

One more thing that makes me appreciate a great player on any team is knowing that the player is also a great person. Rivera had declared this was going to be his final season before it began. During the year, he went out of his way to meet with fans from every city to which the team traveled. He would just sit in a room and talk to them. He treated everyone the same way, with respect.

I had my six year old son watch Rivera’s last game with me. He loves baseball and I thought he should be able to tell his friends that he saw the final pitch by the absolute best relief pitcher ever to play the game. It was wonderful to see the appreciation of all the fans demonstrated for such a wonderful human being. After collecting a parting gift from every team throughout the year, he received one last gift from the fans at Yankees stadium. They cheered until he left the field after the game.

Thanks for the greatness 42. A great player and a great person.

Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

picture credit: www.theshadowleague.com

Travel

I used to travel in my previous career. It was nice. Fly to California, drive the coastline, and enjoy the sunshine. Fly to Minnesota, work until dinnertime, eat in a new restaurant, and stay in a nice hotel. See new places. Meet new people. Drive new cars. This was especially nice when I was single. When I was single I didn’t really miss anyone from back home. I got to see and learn about different parts of the country and about different types of people and enjoy the time without a second thought about what was happening at home.

I am married now with kids. I was recently away from my home and family for a couple of nights, staying at a very nice resort in Vermont. It was a new place with nice food and people. It was not the same as it used to be though. Traveling, that is. I found myself enjoying the time to myself, but not to the extent that I remembered it. I was thinking about my wife and two little ones back home, and wondering what I was missing. Thinking about the little laughter, the bedtime stories, and goodnight hugs and kisses.

Then it occurred to me that there was a better way. You can’t have two things at once. So I needed to choose to be present where I was, or think about being somewhere else. While I can enjoy the precious thoughts I have of those back home, they should not lessen the enjoyment of my time away. I decided to enjoy the moment I was having in Vermont. Enjoy it for what it was and not get caught up in what it was not. It’s a much more pleasant way to be.

It may be more difficult for some than it is for others, but practice makes perfect. Just like anything else you want to be good at. I try to continually practice the power of my will. The will to choose to concentrate on the moment at hand over the moment occurring somewhere else. It is so much more enjoyable. You may miss people and think of them, but smile while you do it and then smile about where you are now. There is no moment more precious than the present.

Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

The Holstee Manifesto

In case you haven't seen or read this before, enjoy it now. If you have read it before, then why not refresh your memory? If you prefer the video, click here. 

Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

The Future Holds Limitless Possibility

I love commencement speeches. They inspire me to do more. Why are they given at the end of your college career though? They should be given at orientation for incoming freshman. That is when you have a group of young people who are likely at the stage of greatest uncertainty surrounding their future. Not that they need to know exactly what they want to be doing with their future. That sometimes takes more time and more experiences to determine, but it is the perfect time to stir one’s passion about their future and the limitless possibilities it contains. It is a time to get excited about learning; learning about economics, engineering, political science, or the many other educational degrees college has to offer. And most of all, it is a time to get excited to learn about yourself.

For those of you who share my enjoyment of inspirational speeches, here is an excerpt from one that I like. It can be addressed to anyone from high school seniors to middle aged men and women who can have a hard time figuring out what is right for them and their future. It doesn’t matter how old you are, your future begins today.

“Listen to both your heart and your head. Pursue your passions, but don’t confuse feelings with facts. Almost nothing is as good or as bad as it first appears, and all things change. By all means, set goals and go after your dreams, but know that your ultimate happiness will depend not on your plans but your ability to cope with unexpected turns and unavoidable ups and downs. You may not get what you thought you wanted, but if you’re willing to adapt, you can get something even better.” ~Michael Josephson

Have the courage to listen to your heart and wisdom to know when to listen to your head. And be sure to remember to always enjoy the journey.

Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

photo credit: wwww.whatwillmatter.com

3 Steps Towards Choosing Success

How can we succeed if we have never failed? Mistakes are simply a type of failure. Everybody makes them. Learning from our mistakes allows us the chance to succeed in the future. In fact, if we learn from our mistakes and turn them into experience, which leads towards success...then they truly aren’t mistakes. They are simply an experience.

Lets say you picked the wrong major and feel like wasted your college tuition on an education you won’t do anything with. Well, it certainly must be hard to spend all that time, money and effort on something you don’t want to do anything with anymore. You wouldn’t be the first person to do this though. In fact, some people go their entire lives in a career that does nothing to fulfill them. Other people never get a chance for an education because they need to support their family. So you chose the wrong major? Congratulations for figuring that out! You may have made a mistake with your initial selection, but you succeeded in figuring out one thing that is not right for you. It is up to you to take your experience and do something with it. It is only a mistake if you do nothing to learn from your experiences. Need help taking your mistake and turning it into a success? Try these steps:

No. 1: Admit you made a mistake. This is the most critical step and one that many people have a very hard time with. Why? We are all human. We all have these experiences. Be human. Be yourself. You may find out that it is freeing to be honest with yourself, and the byproduct is that people are attracted to honesty and vulnerability.

No. 2: In very fine detail, explain why it is a mistake. Don’t just say it was a mistake and move on. Why is it a mistake? Is it a mistake because of how it made you feel? Why does it make you feel that way? Or perhaps because of how you made someone else feel? This step helps you learn why you don’t want to make that same mistake again. Once you learn this...

No. 3: What can you do not to repeat the same mistake? You may make several mistakes before you succeed, but please don’t make the same mistakes. Insanity is doing something over and over again expecting a different result. Don’t be insane. Be creative. Come up with a plan. Take your experience and offer yourself different possible solutions to try so that you can eventually succeed.

Mistakes are an important part of our lives. You can do one of two things with them: you can do the easy thing -nothing- and frustrate yourself and/or others by repeating them; or, when you are to, you can follow these steps to make it an experience you learn from and lead you toward success. Be brave. Choose the more difficult way. Make experiences, not mistakes. It will reward you in the end.

Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

A Little Cottage in Maine

Every summer my family spends a few days in a little cottage located on a little island in Maine. The cottage has been in my wife’s family for five generations. We park at the club lot and boat the 100 yards across the harbor to the island. There is no television or internet. Apparently, water and electricity were fairly recent additions to the cottage. We are cut off from the outside world and get to spend our time and our thoughts on each other. It is a welcome holiday for me, void of all worldly distractions.

Imagine what this vacation might look like to those who do not appreciate the calmness? To those who rely on information from the outside world to make them feel connected. What does feeling connected mean anyway? I choose to turn my focus onto the beauty around me: the morning sun telling the world to wake up, my playful children, the sound of the waves, the collection of seashells and sea glass, the wind in my face as our boat skims over the water, my imagination, and I could probably go on and on. I imagine that it could take some reframing for some to learn to appreciate the “bareness” of a disconnected little cottage in Maine. It is worth it to come here though. It is a wonderful place.

I even enjoy when it rains in Maine. That is, as long as the rain doesn’t last for days. When it rains we are stuck inside the small living space. We play card games and board games, read books, and just talk more. If we choose to, we also get to spend time visiting our innermost selves. We get to revisit the memories of where we have been; we get to ask questions about where we are now; and we get to think about where we want to be in the future. We get to dive into the depths of what are the most important things in our life, what we value the most. It is here when I think of the importance of my discovery of coaching. I think of how coaching has filled a desire to have a passion for what I do in my life. My goal is to align what I do with who I am and what I am passionate about.

I am a father and a husband. I am a brother and a son. I am a friend. I am an athlete. I am a sports fan. I am an honest person. I am a truth seeker. I am a thought provoker. I am a coach.

Who are you? What would you list for yourself as the things that are the most important to you? What do you do, or want to do that stirs your passion? Discover it. Perhaps take a trip to a little cottage where you can disconnect. You may learn something new, or simply rediscover something you forgot.

Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

Spartan Race Completed

I finished the Spartan Race with a time of 57 minutes and change, my goal of completing it in under an hour accomplished. My friend, Rebecca, finished in 48 minutes and change. My second goal was not accomplished.

The SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable, Time oriented):

1. Finish the race in under an hour.

2. Finish alongside Rebecca.

I let go of my second goal less than a mile into the race when we were running up an incline and I could not keep pace. Rebecca turned out to be in much better shape than I suspected. She was beyond impressive really, finishing 30th overall and 1st among females. Amazing.

I was happy to reach my first goal. Imagine if I had just missed my goal and instead finished in, say 62 minutes? I would have a whole different perspective, even though my experience would essentially be the same. Instead of being happy with the results, I would be incredibly motivated to take on the course again next year. Why? It is just the type of person I am. I am the type of person who loves the challenge of success. I would need to race again to achieve that goal. This is why I like to set a second goal that is much more difficult to obtain so it creates my next challenge.

Setting goals are important, but more important is setting goals that are in line with the type of person you are. Set "reasonable" goals and if you are motivated by success, then you can build upon that success by setting new SMART goals. (See goal number 1). If you are the type of person who excels against adversity, then maybe you should have certain goals that are less "Attainable" - set just out of reach so that you never stop improving yourself in order to get there. (See goal number 2). I knew that I am a person who appreciates the extreme challenge which is why I set two goals instead of one. The first to reach and the second to keep me motivated beyond the race. I know if Rebecca wants to race again next year that I will be motivated to train harder and reach that second goal I had for myself this year.

My first goal was SMART. My second goal was smart, without the acronym. It may not have been very attainable, but it turns out to be very motivating.

If you are reading this Rebecca, do you think you could give me another chance to meet my second goal?

Set goals. Stay motivated. Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching