New Year's Wisdom from Philadelphia.
I am not sure if Benjamin Franklin would have been a better Defensemen or Forward, or if he would have even wanted to play hockey or for the Flyers, but he talked so much about "stopping" certain actions that I think he would have made a great Goalie!
Ben Franklin was a successful player during his lifetime, and has since become a wise coach to many of us. Although he died on April 17, 1790, at the age of 84 in Philadelphia PA, Ben Franklin's pristine language and wily, wise wordsmithing still catches our attention. If we will listen, he will give us a time-tested game plan to increase our success over the next 365 days.
You will find four key questions below, coinciding with the four parts of the game that we will be playing out in 2025. As you absorb Ben Franklin's ideas and wisdom, ask yourself this additional question: Where, when, and how will I apply this change to my life?
1- How's my Warmup? Increase my Learning - Growth - Wisdom - Knowledge
My wife Jenni and I are in the leadership development business. We believe that people can and must change. Positive cultural change starts with positive personal change. We, the people, must grow. To play the game better, we must become better at the elements of the game. Ben Franklin believed this also.
If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it from him.
A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.
Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
Contentment makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
Fear not death, for the sooner we die, the longer we shall be immortal.
When you are finished changing, you're finished.
2- How's my Inner Game? Control my Thinking - Influence my Mindset
The mindset that we choose determines our wins and losses. We can choose to live out of a blessing (I will score goals) or a curse (I will never score again). As we increase our journalling in 2025, we will better understand our current thinking in order to be more intentional with our Future-Positive Focus. Awareness can be scary, but it is the first step in turning our Inner Game curses into blessings.
Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it is.
I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.
Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of the mind than on outward circumstances.
Many people die at 25 and aren't buried until they are 75.
Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle.
Life's biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.
One today is worth two tomorrows.
Rather go to bed without dinner than rise in debt.
At 20 years of age, the will reigns; at 30, the wit; and at 40, the judgment.
Never leave till tomorrow that which you can do today.
3- How's my Team Game? - Fix My Relationships
People are people, independent of the game they play or the century they live in. Ben Franklin paid a ton of attention to what works in connecting people. Through his amazing wit comes crazy-practical advice. We must pay attention to the energy of our relationships, or risk losing life’s vibrancy.
Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterward.
We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.
Work as if you were to live a thousand years; play as if you were to die tomorrow.
Where there is marriage without love, there will be love without marriage.
Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.
He that lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.
He that displays too often his wife and his wallet is in danger of having both of them borrowed.
Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.
To find out a girl's faults, praise her to her girlfriends.
The heart of a fool is in his mouth; the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.
A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.
Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, enemy to none.
Speak ill of no man but speak all the good you know of everybody.
4- How's my Outer Game? - Take Action
The game of hockey has great language. “Great shift boys!” encourages the goal scorer, but also the passer, the back-checker, and the goalie's great save. It encompasses everything and every player (and plays a big part in our soon to be released next book, Breakout! Sign up here to receive more info).
Another of my favourite colloquialisms in our game is “He/She comes to play.” If you said this about me over my 15-season NHL career… that was all I needed. In Pro-Hockey terms it says everything. He comes to play points to getting our best game on the ice during playoffs, when the real game is on the line. This saying talks about delivering consistent positive energy towards our team, combined with consistent intensity towards our opponent. Players hope their opponents say, "He comes to play," about them. Life is about learning and about relationships, but at the end of the day, we must play the game. We must take action!
Well done is better than well said.
Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.
Fatigue is the best pillow.
Those things that hurt instruct.
Time is money.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Never confuse motion with action.
Early to bed and early to rise to make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
You will find the key to success under the alarm clock.
Thank you, coach Franklin! For the next 365 games...
Will we say, "Benjamin Franklin's words were great," and take no action?
Or, will we place specific strategies/actions in our calendar that we will implement to improve our Warmup, our Inner Game, and our Team Game? (Read more about this in our book HUNGRY!)
Ben Franklin summed it up this way: Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better man.
From the hockey player's perspective, I might sum it up like this: “Over the next 365 days will we play TO NOT LOSE or play TO WIN?”
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