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Life is truly what you make of it, so dream big, steadfastly believe, labor with love, and create the life of your dreams; Dream, Believe, Love, Create. The Divine Elements.

Hockey Lessons from “Outliers”

The book, “Outliers; The Story of Success“ by Malcolm Gladwell, has inspired me for a number of years and, if you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to read it for the many success stories drawn from hockey and beyond. 

In Outliers, Gladwell asserts that birth month has a huge impact on success in hockey and other sports. Yet, he also makes it clear that there is nothing pre-ordained in the DNA of kids born in favorable birth months; it’s just that early success accumulates or “snowballs.” 

In hockey, kids with 6-9 months more ice time at the mite/squirt level – those born in January vs. November -- fair better at tryouts and make better teams. Better teams lead to even more ice time, better coaching, and higher expectations. Year after year, those best prepared from the previous year make better teams. Anyone else has to find a way to break the cycle.

In general, Gladwell asserts that success results when:

• Good fortune leads to the opportunity to work hard (Gladwells examples: Bill Gates, Bill Joy, The Beatles, Hockey players with birthdays near the “cut off” date)

• Expectations are high, high performance follows (Gladwells examples: Kipp school, The Beatles)

• Community/Parental Intervention is the rule, not the exception (Gladwells examples: Bill Gates, Gladwell’s own Mother)

Inclusiveness breeds success

For more kids to “snowball” with hockey success, rinks need only provide all the “snow” they want by allowing and promoting practice cross over. For instance, teams may have mandatory skills practice where all team members are expected to attend, but where those practices are open to others, magic happens. 

When A-level players attend the AA skills clinic, they directly benefit from the extra ice time (hard work) and higher skill levels (high expectations). Likewise, when AA-level players attend an A skills clinic they get additional practice and raise the skill level there.  

The key is to promote cross-over so that doesn't take an act of courage for those kids with drive and commitment to venture out of their own age group; it’s invited and expected. Not all will take advantage of the additional practice, but those who do will chip away at the 10,000 hours Gladwell suggests it takes for success. 

Yet, it’s not sufficient that our children just reach some magic number of hockey hours – they need to do it at the right level by the right age. If they are not ready to play AAA Midget by age 16, they fail to get that experience.... If they don’t make Juniors by an early age, they will hardly be scouted for college.... And if they fail to be recruited by a college team by age 21, they are barred from playing under NCAA rules. It is not a marathon, but a sprint to accumulate 10,000 hours of ice time (10k by 21).

Teams at the famed prep school, Shattuck St. Marys hold practice five to seven days a week and play 50-75 games a year. That's what it takes to produce championships and over 40 NHL draft picks, including LA Kings defenseman Jack Johnson and Penguins captain Sid Crosby.

Rinks need policies that promote and encourage rigorous play and practice – beyond the 2-3 hours of team practice per week -- to foster excellence in hockey at all levels. It’s not simply the “more the better.” It’s that more is better; sooner is better; and better (level) is better.

When all else fails... Intervene

Gladwell is with Bon Jovi on this one. The lyrics go "Luck ain't even lucky; gotta make your own breaks." When bad luck derails progress, parents and/or the community should feel compelled to intervene.

There's a great story in Outliers about a middle school computer lab that ran out of funds. It would have shut down, but the parents jumped into action and raised some cash. Not only did it remain open but, through a twist of fate, became one of the first labs ever to use real-time keyboard entry -- at a time (1960's) when university professors were still punching cards!

Maybe this intervention doesn't seem like a big deal, but we'll never know. It's just that this action, in this middle school, by these parents permitted the young Bill Gates to follow his passion for computers when, otherwise, his fire may have gone out.

Not every kid is going to make the best hockey team or play at Shattuck St. Marys, but the 10k-by-21 clock is still running. Intervention is a twist on Yogi Berra's line, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." When you find your player on the wrong path, don't just "take it;" take charge. There's alway a path to more ice time and higher level play, so keep the fires burning.

Make it a great day!

Why not just "have a nice day?"

It's lame.

If it were simply a matter of picking the day you want, of course, you would "have" the nice one. But, that's not an option. Rather, you either take command of your day or suffer the effects of whatever comes your way. My preference is always to "Make it a great day!" 

It All Starts with a Dream

Consider this.

Some say you should do "what you're good at." Others say you should do "what you love." Most say you should do something that represents both. Yet, if that was the whole truth, we'd all have jobs.

Who would dream of something new and think, "why not?" Who would follow their intuition into the unknown? Who would push themselves out of their comfort zone and attempt something never done before?

I say follow your dreams-- even if you're not good at it, the road ahead is hard, or you're ill prepared at this point in time. There is always a place for someone with destiny on their side. You'll find a way. Live it!

The Blessing of “C” students

When “A” students get great ideas -- one of the 20 or so they get each day -- they think, “Hey. Cool!” Yet, before they’ve had time to react, another idea comes in tune; then another. Jaded by such treasures, they begin to think “Ah, these trains come along every 15 minutes. I can always catch the next one.”

With so many amazing possibilities, they might go into “option shock” and do nothing. Or, if inclined to action, they might exhaust themselves like a plate spinner putting one idea after another into motion without reaching sustainability on any one endeavor-- my personal favorite.

In contrast, when “C” students get a great idea, they run with it. That’s all they think about. They don’t want to miss this train, knowing another may never come along again. Scarcity creates high value; commitment; full-focus tenacity. In effect, being born with a natural blindness to idea flow brings the blessing of action.

The rest of us don’t have a scarcity problem; we have a sorting problem, which makes discovery of our destiny so critical. Only an internal compass can guide us. For us, it’s like being in the midst of a carnival. The possibilities are endless and reach out in every direction. Yet, our time here is short and we need to be working on ideas that matter most.

In “Victorious in Life,” Yogananda says, “Do something in this world-- do something wonderful!”  In another passage, he says,  “Unless you actually accomplish, you are not successful. It is not enough just to think success or think ideas; they must be demonstrated.” He didn’t say to merely dream, believe, or love something wonderful; he said, “do.”

So discover your destiny and blind your passions to anything other than the legacy you are here to create. Then, be like the “C” student. Catch that train!