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ICYMI

We are hosting a live webinar for coaches and ADs inside our BETTER Community today at 12 PM EST, all on Mindset — why it’s important, how we’d teach it to your team, what you need to do about it as a leader, and how to build it into your team.

We created a free trial for our community, with no strings attached, so anyone could join the webinar today or watch it on replay over the weekend. Check the email we sent out yesterday morning if you want to catch it.

Rather not join but want it emailed to your inbox? Just let us know.

What’s in this newsletter?

• 📖 The Idea: Goals are about the daily work they inspire, not an outcome.

• 💡 Commitment vs. Contentment: Balancing intense drive (commitment) with adaptability and well-being (contentment) is key for leaders.

• 📝 Quick Self-Assessment: Evaluate your level of commitment and contentment to identify areas for growth.

• 🚀 Actionable Steps: A path you can follow to get this balance right.

The Idea: Balancing Commitment and Contentment

Like many this week we are reading Steve Magness’ new book "Win the Inside Game." He made a tweet thread this week highlighting one of the powerful ideas from the book.

He’s not saying that goals don’t matter. It’s essential to make goals. But, goals should focus on the work you must do each day to achieve them — not on the goals themselves.

This resonated deeply with us. It aligns closely with an idea we’ve use with our golfers called Commitment vs. Contentment — finding the balance between caring deeply and letting it go when it gets in the way of viewing your performance as an opportunity to grow.

So, this week, we wanted to take Commitment vs Contentment from just applying them to athletes and apply it to use as leaders.

When you’re able to do this — it creates a blueprint for building sustained success in our teams.

Set clear goals.
Outline a strategy with checkpoints (Year 1, Year 2, Year 3).
Build day-to-day disciplines that allow you to execute on that plan.
Don’t obsess over the goal. Obsess about being yourself and showing up.

This approach fosters both drive and adaptability—two crucial ingredients for long-term success.

💡 Commitment vs. Contentment

So, what does this idea look like for leaders?

Success in leadership, coaching, and athletics hinges on a delicate balance:

✅ Commitment – The fire that drives you to push harder, improve, and pursue excellence.
✅ Contentment – The ability to stay grounded, adapt, and maintain energy.

We must care just the right amount—deeply invested, yet able to let go when necessary. The best leaders and performers master this balance:

• They stay consistent in their approach while remaining flexible in execution.

• They exploit tried-and-true methods but continue to explore new ideas.

• They maintain intense drive while ensuring they have enough contentment to protect their well-being.

📝 Quick Self-Assessment

Take a moment and ask yourself:

👉 On a scale from 1-10, how high is your commitment right now? Then, write one thought or bullet as to why.

• Have you moved towards apathy as your sustained effort seems to have yielded little to no results?

• Are you doing a lot, but it’s mostly accidental and could be more intentional?

👉 On a scale from 1-10, how high is your contentment (peace) right now? Write one thought or bullet as to why.

• Are you low contentment because you’ve been too focused on goals and right now rather than where you are going?

• How would your contentment be if your team or program had been less “successful” than it is right now?

A high-performing coach or leader balances high commitment with high contentment. If you find yourself out of sync, it may be time to adjust your focus.

🚀 Putting it all together:

1. Revisit Your Process: Ensure you have a structured plan in place that prioritizes daily execution over results.

2. Check Your Balance: If your drive is high but peace is low, ask yourself: What can I release control of? If peace is high but drive is low, ask: What’s one small challenge I can take on this week?

3. Seek Feedback: Connect with a mentor or trusted peer to gain insight into whether you’re pushing too hard or not pushing enough.

4. Practice Adaptability: Be willing to tweak your approach when something isn’t working—without feeling like you’re giving up.

5. Prioritize Well-Being: Recognize that rest and recovery are not the enemy of progress—they’re part of it.

🎯 Closing Thought

To lead at your best, you need both commitment and contentment. Using this tool can help you identify why you might be out of balance — and where you should focus your attention so that you can maximize your performance.

BETTER’s Solution to Coach Development

As a part of our work, we lead cohorts of leaders. It’s just one meeting a month with a topic, some homework, and sharing about how it’s going. But it’s powerful. Many of the coaches and leaders in our cohort express the following sentiment:

“I wish every coach got to experience this on some level.”

So, we thought, why can’t they?

As a part of what’s next for BETTER.

We are launching a community around the Culture Playbook.

Until now, the Culture Playbook has been something you buy and then get. We wanted it to be so good and affordable that every coach in the country could access it.

From now on, leaders will receive the Culture Playbook as part of a guided community led by Kevin and Seth.

If you’ve enjoyed our newsletter, imagine a community where we will take you and others through a deeper level of how to install the systems for yourself, athletes, or other coaches. You can ask us questions directly. We can guide and share discussions, share ideas, and get feedback.

We will host monthly calls, and every coach will have direct access to us. We will lead guided discussions and encourage coaches and ADs to share best practices. We want it to become the absolute best resource for all things Culture Development, both at the program and department levels. Over time, we will continue to add content, resources, and offerings. You’ll get discounts on future products that the public won’t get. And no, the price is not changing.

We’re targeting a public launch in early January, offering newsletter readers early access and a 25% discount. Fill out the form using the link below, and we’ll send you a link to get started.