The San Francisco 49ers sucked at football.
They were so bad, not only did they have back-to-back 2-14, 2-14 seasons, in 1978 they were named the worst organization in all professional sports.
Not just football.
All sports.
The organization was garbage.
Piping-hot, New-York-summer’s-day, garbage.
…But that all changed…
2 years after being named the worst organization in sports, the team would be completely turned around winning the pinnacle of the profession – The Super Bowl.
And not only did they win the Super Bowl that year, but they also went on to become a Dynasty becoming one of the league’s most dominant franchises winning The Superbowl again in 1984 and 1988.
Now you might be wondering…
How the &&#$^# does something like that happen?
And how can this help me turn my life around?
Let me explain…
The reason the organization made a complete 180 was the hiring of a man that would eventually become a legend.
A man who built a philosophy that not only changed organizations but the individuals in those organizations forever.
A man named Bill Walsh.
Bill was hired by the 49ers after coaching Stanford to a couple bowl wins.
The organization had high hopes for Bill, but no one could have predicted it’d be one of the greatest hires in pro sports history.
What made Bill different?
He brought a unique philosophy that was unheard of in pro sports.
It was actually very strange at the time…
Bill totally rejected the goal/idea of winning a Super Bowl.
Basically, the only real metric NFL coaches are measured by, he rejected.
This was so shocking that members already in the organization wanted him fired immediately…
I mean, how does one with a Super Bowl without the goal of winning the Super Bowl?
Here’s how he did it…
When Bill showed up, he recognized something important.
He looked around and saw the weight room had rust everywhere, people had terrible attitudes, and worst of all – the organization felt like a bunch of losers.
Think I got staph infection just looking at this…
They were in a season of losing.
- They acted like losers
- They dressed like losers
- Losing had seeped into their blood and had become part of the 49er culture
He needed to break them out of this mindset they had entered.
To do this – he instituted a philosophy that would later be used by pretty much every organization in sports.
He called it:
The Standard of Performance.
And the idea is simple:
- A shitty assembly line can only produce shitty cars
- A great assembly line is the only thing than can produce great cars
- And winners act like winners before they’ve won
Instead of measuring his team by results he didn’t control (ie winning a Super Bowl), he focused all their energy on acting like champions.
Bill looked at the shitty weight room and the shitty food and everyone’s shitty attitudes and said, “no wonder you guys suck at football and life. This place is trash and yall are a bunch of mental weaklings.”
And THAT was what needed fixing.
From top down in the ENTIRE organization – Bill went through and demanded the highest standards or you can gtfo.
The Standards of Performance is a bunch of old school ideas rejected by modernity…
Basic things like:
- Dressing to your absolute best (no matter at practice or at a game)
- Treating everyone with dignity and respect
- Having a great attitude no matter how you feel
- Cleaning up after yourself
- Acting first class in every possible way, on and off the field
Everyone from the groundskeepers to the coaches, from the secretaries to managers were required to maintain a series of high standards.
He basically went full dad mode on the organization.
He was relentless about being the absolute best human you could possibly be – no matter what your role.
And what happened shocked sports world.
Inside the building, the organization started to feel like a different place.
In the locker room, the players started to feel differently about themselves
In the hearts and minds of everyone involved a forgotten emotion began to bubble up inside everyone…
That feeling?
PRIDE.
People became proud to be a part of the 49ers.
The players looked at themselves in the mirror proud of how damn good they looked.
And this pride spread like a goddamn virus to everyone in the culture.
Pride is one of the single most powerful forces on planet earth.
When the groundskeepers take pride in how the grass is cut and the cafeteria workers take pride in the food they are serving, the high tide raises all ships.
And they made the greatest comeback of all time – winning the Super Bowl in 2 years.
This where you come in.
Whether you’re building an online business, trying to become #1 in your sport, or just trying to get your head above the damn water in a season of losing you should be asking yourself:
What are the standards YOU are holding yourself to?
And how do your actions align with the highest version of the man or woman you desire to be?
- What did you wear today?
- Did you get a workout in?
- Did you do your absolute best?
“It’s the trivial things we do that shape our environment and who we are.” – Bill Walsh
If you want to make the greatest comeback of your life, start with the standards of your day-to-day life.
- How you dress
- How you act
- How you treat others
If you just start acting like the highest version of yourself, you will become them.
And when your actions begin to reflect the highest version of yourself – pride and self-esteem come as a result.
You begin to shine like a light to the world around you.
Your vibration in the world becomes potent and unmistakable.
And the results you seek take care of themselves.
I’ll finish with this…
Bill understood a fundamental principle of life:
WE DO NOT CONTROL THE OUTCOMES.
We don’t control how many sales we make or if we win the Super Bowl or not.
We don’t control if we get that job, land that client, or achieve the pinnacle of our sport.
We don’t control any of the results.
All we control is how well we execute on a day-to-day basis the man or woman we desire to become.
And today, in this moment, you can start acting like a winner before you’ve won.
You can start acting like the person you want to be here and now.
Take it step by step.
Treat yourself like the highest quality person you fucking are and watch the tides of how you feel about yourself and how others feel about you raise.
Watch the opinions and attitudes about yourself change.
Watch the opinions and attitudes others have toward you change.
And if you dare to hold yourself to your highest ideals – watch yourself make the greatest comeback of your life..
With Love,
Alex Nerney