Happy New Year from STC!
As the year comes to an end, we wanted to highlight some of the things we are most proud of, share some of the best STC work from 2024, and give you a peak of what is coming in 2025.
If you are relatively new to the How To Flourish Newsletter, welcome! If you are a long time reader, thank you!
I pressed send on the very first newsletter on January 7, 2020 with no agenda other than to begin encouraging high performers to stay the course, when they felt like quitting.
When I sent the very first newsletter from northeast Georgia, I had no idea what was in store over the next five years. I hadn’t even met my collaborator, Marcus yet and was still in the thick of leading teams and coaching college baseball.
Now, five years later, we’ve sent over 250 editions and the How To Flourish newsletter is becoming the top source for nuanced wisdom and resources on how to live and lead in a flourishing state. This online community you are a part of is comprised of incredible leaders in college and professional sports, business, non-profit and education.
As you will see below, our best material from 2024 touches on an array of topics, but at the heart of everything is a quest to enrich your understanding of the role of your personal well-being in shaping the person and leader you are. We want to help you flourish in life and leadership. We exist to help you be at your best when it matters most.
If you missed any of these when they were first published, we highly recommend reading or listening to them over the remaining days of this holiday break.
Our 5 most widely read pieces from last year:
The Difference Between Training & Trying: The Story of Terry Brands: A deeper look into two different mindsets related to personal growth, why you should build a training mindset and the danger of drifting if you don’t.
Wanting it In The Worst Way: What the Yerkes-Dodson Law Can Teach Us About Performing When it Matters Most: A look into Sports Psychology 101, the ‘Inverted U Theory’ and how it can cloud our behaviors and actions in the important pursuits we undertake.
Winning Isn’t For Everyone - What The Nike Ad Reminds Us: A bit of a critique of a popular Nike advertisement that ran during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and a better take on winning that will enhance your soul rather than destroy it.
Extraordinary Uniqueness: Pete Carroll and Flourishing Leadership: A minute by minute breakdown of Pete Carroll’s retirement press conference and all the wisdom and gold gleaned from his 14 years leading the Seattle Seahawks.
Pressure Free High Performance - How A Mind Body Approach Can Completely Change Your Relationship to Pressure: A look into the practice of breathwork as a core strategy for overcoming pressure, managing stress and learning the art of self-regulation (especially when the tide is rising).
3 most-listened to podcast episodes:
Becoming Built To Last: The Role of Suffering in Our Development
Returning to Your Baseline: Wisdom from the Leadership of Miami Dolphin’s head coach Mike McDaniel.
Extraordinary Uniqueness: Pete Carroll and Flourishing Leadership
Looking ahead to the next year, a few things we are particularly excited for
Flourishing Leader Cohorts: For the last two years we have been delivering cohort learning experiences for athletes and coaches and for the first time we are going to open this transformative experience up to our online community of leaders who subscribe to How To Flourish! These cohorts will be comprised of 6-8 high performers per group and will meet virtually for a time of training, accountability, growth, and networking alongside other leaders through our How To Flourish Framework. If you would have interest in being added to a waiting list for our 1st quarter cohort, reply to this email and let us know.
Flourishing Leader Workshops: We’re hitting the road more than we have the past few years and would love to help develop your team. If you enjoy this newsletter and want to build flourishing individuals, flourishing teams, and flourishing environments in 2025 reach out and schedule an in person or virtual workshop.
We appreciate you being a part of the Stay The Course Community.
If you find this newsletter valuable and think other people in your life could benefit from it too, please forward it along! Though this edition is a 2024 recap, it’s a great entry point to the work we’re doing.
Happy New Year, Stay the Course, and we’ll see you in 2025!
