The BIGG Successs Show
As He Retires, Brett Favre Teaches Us A Lesson On Peak Performance
Use this lesson to prepare for your bigg success. Read the show summary at biggsuccess.com.
Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today, we'll discuss the lesson we can learn about peak performance from Brett Favre as he retired. The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. I am officially retiring from the NFL, and Green Bay Packers, and I've given everything I possibly can give this organization to the game of football, and I don't think I got anything left to give, and that's it. I know I can play, but I don't think I want to, and that's really what it comes down to. Well, and that's Brett Favre making his official announcement as he walked away from the game he loved, and Mary Lynn, what a legacy he leaves. Yes. You know, fantastic ballplayer loved watching him, even though I'm a Bears fan. We would even root for him when the Bears weren't playing. That's right. He's one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time without question. He holds NFL records for passing yards, completions, touchdown passes, consecutive starts, and career wins. He also holds the record for being the three-time most viable player in the league, which is just amazing. And he competed in two Super Bowls and was the winning quarterback in one Super Bowl. Brett Favre, truly, is a peak performer. And you know what? He can wear stubble really, really well. That's good as Don Johnson from Miami, Ice Ace. Oh, even better. But you know, going back to that press conference, Brett summarized his decision to leave best when he said, "I don't have the passion to practice and prepare." And that's the lesson that we can learn from Brett, and we're going to discuss that today. We talk about passion quite a bit here on The Big Success Show, but there's something that we don't always mention, and that is, it's not about the passion to play the game that matters, it's the passion to prepare for it. Yeah, as Brett mentioned in the press conference, there is more to it than just showing up for the game. Because if that's all there was to it, playing three hours every Sunday, more people would be in it and would stay longer. I'm not sure I could do it even then, Mary. Well, I know, especially when it's super cold. Well, the thing is, you have to have the passion to prepare, to keep yourself fit physically, mentally, and emotionally to play the game, and then to get ready for that game, you have to practice, practice, practice. And I think a lot of people miss out on this important distinction when we talk about passion. It's not passion for what you do, it's more about the passion for things you have to do to get to do what you want to do. Well, that's a big to-do list, Mary Lynn. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. Well, when we talk about discovering your passion, we ask the question, what would you do with your time and money if neither time nor money were an issue? And the point to that whole question really is to get you to envision how you spend your time. Basically playing the game is a small part of it. Most of it is getting ready to play, and so you have to enjoy that process. You have to enjoy preparing for it. And one of the things that Brett said was that it had become hard. On Saturday nights at 8 o'clock, he said he was watching tape. He'd get done with the game on Sunday and immediately start preparing for the next one. It seemed like within a few hours. Even if they had won. Yeah, and so he didn't enjoy the victory. He'd never done that before he said, so he wasn't relaxing and just enjoying it anymore. He was having to force it. And he was worried that because it was getting harder for him, it would affect his teammates and his family. The game was consuming him, he was obsessing over it all of the time. Well, and so the point is, if you can't perform at peak level and still maintain some balance, it's probably time to move on, and Brett showed us that. That's right, and coming up, how balance played into his decision. Today, we're discussing the lesson we can learn from Brett Favre about peak performance. And he taught us that you got to move on when you've lost your passion to prepare. And you have to be willing to invest the time and effort to prepare. We've been talking about with the full realization that all of that time you have to invest is going to take away from the other things in your life. He mentioned he can vividly remember every game down to individual plays as far back as high school. That's amazing. That's his professional life. I can't remember what I did yesterday. Well, an hour ago. Well, the thing is, he went on to say that there are things that have happened outside of football that he doesn't remember at all, and he's not willing to miss out on those things anymore. So we congratulate him on his decision to retire. We congratulate you, Brett, on a great career. We've definitely enjoyed watching you play, as we said before. We still just didn't like it when you beat the Bears. No, not Bears. We wish you big success as you move on. You can get a written summary of today's show on our blog at bigsuccess.com, and let's get our big quote for the day. Our big quote today is Brett Favre quoting Dina Favre quoting Bird Baggett. It's kind of like a lateral passing of quotes. It's the last second lateral passing, right? Here's the quote, "Look at life through the windshield, not the rear view mirror." Peak performers know how to drive toward their goal, a skill that can be transferred to any field. So find your next destination and the next thing you know, you'll pass everyone on the road. Next time, we'll answer a question from one of our listeners who has an idea for a business that he doesn't know what to do next. I'd say he does. He's coming to us. There you go. Until then, here's to your big success. [MUSIC PLAYING]