What’s up, everyone! Thanks for checking out today’s newsletter!

The most recent guest of the podcast is Kyle Sammons, Sports Science Coordinator & Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Arizona Cardinals! It was exciting to record this episode right before Kyle made the move down to AZ and get started working in the NFL!

We connected over the phone a few months ago and finally lined up a time to have him jump on the podcast (Shoutout to Drake Berberet). I was fired up to learn from his experiences not only from the coaching side of things but also from what he learned from Chris Petersen and about becoming who we want to be in life. The first half is deep into performance coaching, Achilles tendon return to performance, and his 1080 sprint presentation that we will get into soon. In the 2nd half we dive into identity, the difference between internal-external scoreboards of life, and his love for coffee.

First, is an extra lesson that you can put into action right away. Kyle is a coffee connoisseur and his advice is when you go to a new city search “coffee roasters” on google maps. That trims that fat and leaves you with higher-quality coffee shops.

I just tried for the first time today, during my trip to Lake Tahoe. It worked, shout out Drink Coffee, Do Stuff in Incline Village.

Here are three things that I can’t stop thinking about from episode #29.

Internal & External Scoreboards.

The way we measure our lives can be categorized into internal or external scoreboards. Internal is up to us and is about our fulfillment compared to external scoreboards which include society's approval, chasing logos, status, and more.

Kyle and I connected over this topic when discussing his time working with the former University of Washington and Boise State head coach Chris Petersen. My curiosity was sparked about this topic after listening to an amazing interview with Coach Pete & Erik Korem.

Power of Storytelling & Listening

Kyle shared how powerful Chris Petersen was at the skill of storytelling and would bring in people like Yogi Roth to speak to the team. The way a story is told can make it stick with us forever or be easily forgotten. It is so true and something that I think about often. How you communicate, the clarity in your communication and the stickiness of what you are sharing can change lives. Change others through your impact and change your life by improving your ability to empower others.

This is a skill that I am obsessed with and actively working on improving within the podcast and my writing. It is an attribute that I greatly admire in Yogi Roth. Think of any great book, movie, newsletter, or a great story told by your best friend. They are all hard to describe why they’re so great but when you hear one it is captivating.

Creating Art. Sharing It With The World.

Kyle took a deep dive into tendon health and return to performance after two student-athletes suffered major injuries in the same week. Documenting the process of getting both back in 6 months (the typical return is 12 months) and then sharing it with the world via 1080 sprint presentation videos opened up opportunities. I loved hearing him share how he has created a niche. When you first look at his process, it is clean and makes sense. The dots connect so much more when you look back compared to moment-to-moment moving forward.

His life challenges, obstacles, previously tearing both of his patella tendons, his interest in nutrition, and his curiosity all played a role in taking action to create this niche. The most powerful thing for me was how different his situation could be if chose not to share his presentation and create it in public.

Sharing his work in public and creating art was a stage for him to show the world what he was about. For example, he has had coaches from around the world reach out to ask questions. The lesson here is to share no matter what kind of “art” you are creating it is important to share. To learn by doing, in public, and have the work be our stage.

Make sure you check out the full episode and let me know what you specifically loved about this one. It would mean a lot for you to share it or rate the podcast on whatever podcast platform you use the most!

Keep killin it. Big month ahead as we get into the first week of May.

Best day of the year, until tomorrow…

Ferate