Stars on Sports Intro: It's time for Stars on Sports! A podcast-radio show dedicated to sharing stories about our athletic program at Lansing Community College. LCC athletics has a strong tradition. 25 national championship wins! Over 190 All-Americans! 19 MCCAA All Sports trophies! Stars on Sports will introduce you to individuals that have contributed to our program success and give you the backstory on what it takes to develop it. We'll also dive into and break down the topics and issues facing athletic departments across the nation and right here at LCC. This is Stars on Sports!

Hello and welcome to another episode of Stars on Sport. Today I'm joined as usual by our assistant AD Steven Cutter and our excellent producer, Daedalian Lowry. And gentlemen, we're going to be talking about motivation today. We're starting a new year and as I've talked before on this podcast, it's easy to get motivated and get excited for a new year. I was listening to one of my sports leadership podcasts, how they mentioned motivation determines success. And I know, you know, you disagree with that a little bit and so do I because of that second part of motivation. But having said again, you know, in researching how important motivation is to even starting something, one of my favorite quotes like, you know, I give presentations throughout the year to different groups and I always use a video or a quote or a short story. And one of the quotes I used a long time ago, you know, I give credit to Lou Holtz, but I don't know, there sure are other people, but his quote was ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do and attitude determines how well you do it. And it was weird, but I got a lot of compliments on that. I mean, people came up to me and said, oh, I love that quote. And this was, you know, 20 years ago, but and there are three things in there that are instrumental in athletic success. Ability, motivation and attitude. And I know you'd throw another one in there because of the motivation that first part, but action of doing it, the actual thing, some would argue. More important, I'd like to a little focus on because we have 180 student athletes starting up in the last couple weeks and they all bring a different motivation on why they're coming to LCC this year to participate in our athletic program. The same is true for us, our coaches, our staff, me, people here at LCC. There's something motivating them, some a lot stronger than others, to come back and have a great year at LCC. So what do you think of when you think of motivation?

Well, I think that motivation is definitely internal. That doesn't mean that you can't get motivation from external things. However, I believe it's pretty internal. So in a lot of ways it's pretty selfish. And when you speak about everybody's coming into a new season, they have motivations. Most of those motivations are pretty selfish. You know, they want to see themselves get better, they want to see themselves get playing time, they want to see their names in the Lansing State Journal, stuff like that. And there's nothing wrong with that. But motivation can also be very fleeting because it's challenging. It's a long season for student athletes, you know, and it's super exciting on day one. But day 35, it can get a little monotonous.

Daedalian wanna chime in yet or.

I agree with what Cut's saying. I think most of the time motivation is going to be self serving. However, I would also say that motivation wanes as the day to day goes. I guess you were kind of saying that too. It's the stacking bricks part that most of the time your motivation, trying to keep it up, trying to keep it going and trying to re spark it once you lose it.

There's that duality to it. It's like if you want to be an author, you often gravitate towards the part of where you're doing the book signings and the interviews and the stuff when the book's done. You also got to buy into all those lonely times of typing.

Yeah, and I'd also agree that I don't think motivation does equal success, but I do feel like it fuels success.

Man, you guys are on fire today. So man, a lot to dive into.

Just because we got the motivation.

Yeah, you guys prep for this one. But definitely motivation is different for each person. And I believe the great coaches and the great leaders handle that well because especially as you get through the season and as you alluded to, there is intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. And in sports it's pretty easy for the extrinsic because most people winning is that extrinsic motivation to both. Your point, on day 37, you're now you might not even have a game yet and you're not seeing the win. So stacking those bricks, finding other ways to celebrate success. But it's more that internal motivation that helps you, which is, you know, again, what we've talked a lot about on this podcast. That process, that routine, that struggle. And then to Daedalian's point, I have a Little quote here about motivation doesn't guarantee success, but without motivation, there is no success because it's that first step in that process. I mean, once you get started, you know, and I do that every day when I get on the treadmill, I don't look forward. I mean, getting on the treadmill isn't exciting. It's not. But when I get going after two minutes, you know, then I'm into it, you know, now I remember why I do it and I feel good. And it's like my wake up, get that first mile blues or something. Just getting that first mile under your belt and then it's smooth saving. But motivation is a big part of that first mile of actually even trying to do it. To your point of, we gravitate to a lot of things that we like. And 180 student athletes coming, Some are coming because their parents want them to come, some are coming because they love the sport, some coming because they're talented, some are coming because it's fun to them. And those are all important attributes. And those are all things we need to celebrate and identify and help them. Because in the end, you're right, motivation is the start. But we always talk about what's the finish, developing them to be better today than yesterday and stacking those bricks over time again. Another word that you've taught me that I like more is drive. Purpose. That's kind of synonymous with motivation, a little bit.

What would you say the difference is, though?

That's a great question.

That's why I asked it.

Well, I think trying to keep in the motivation frame, it's understanding that there's the cognitive insights of why, you know, why is this taking place. And so you can see people that are extremely motivated, extremely driven. And the wind, or in our sector I would call it playing time, is the wind and the wind blows out their fire. But if they have intensity, it's a blowtorch and it doesn't blow that out and it fuels them. It's the same thing. So the hardest part about the motivation is you can be as motivated as you want to be, but there's going to be some valleys that are going to happen, whether you're a student athlete or you're a human being. And a lot of times those valleys can blow out that drive, that motivation. And so it's the ability to keep stacking bricks, keep moving forward. As Brian King says, you know, it's that first mile, it's not going to be great, but if you can get through it, you're gonna feel A whole lot better about yourself in the direction you're heading.

So would you say the drive is the thing that keeps you going even when the motivation isn't there?

Yeah, because it's in that world. A lot of times it's not there. And it can't come from the phone or music or anything. It's gotta come from inside.

I think they're synonymous in a way, and I think you alluded to both parts of that drive and motivation are similar. But I look as drive as that next level, too. You know, that farther step that helps you keep the motivation going. It's like a higher level of motiv. And again, there's many variables for coaches and student athletes and people in general to develop that drive, because you got to have persistence, you got to have resiliency, you got to have determination. The drive kind of encompasses them with motivation. But then once the motivation weighs and it really comes down to your why, you know, what does motivate you, and that's your drive. When you look at in the past, you know, one of the things my coaches always said was, you know, I'll take a person that works hard over talent because a talented person that doesn't work hard, you will pass them. And that's having that drive, that motivation. But it's finding your why and inspiring. Because coaches have to inspire. Going to run a mile isn't fun. Or, you know, unless you listen to our Coach Robinson Podcast, running 33 miles. So it's that why. And we've talked about, you know, I'm a big believer in knowing your why and feel thankful that I feel like I have a why with what I do every day.

It's also the hard part for everybody else is understanding what is their why. That progression still goes back to a motivation internally of what do I want to do? What am I really adept at? That kind of stuff. And that helps you figure out what your why is. And maybe it's serving people, you know, maybe it's growing. And if it's growing, it's understanding that the growth never ends. There's not a finish line on it. It's just continuously trying to stack bricks.

Yeah. And again, it's a great question. Whenever my kids played sports, I always wanted to see them smiling out there. If they're having fun, I wanted them to keep doing it and going further with it. It's a question you ask yourself every day, why do I do it? Why do I do it? And if you can answer that honestly, I think, you know, you'll be Able to, again, the grind is tough. I mean, practices are hard. Games, there are adversity. But you know, if you start with your motivating, you doing something you want to do instead of what you're forced to do can go a long way. And that's a challenging thing in our business nowadays because of all the external factors such as trying to get that scholarship, getting your name in the paper instead of if you do all the things you're supposed to do, then that's the result that will happen.

It's challenging for college athletes just in general because a lot of times they're playing college sports because they're pretty solid at that said sport, but they're also playing for parents, they're playing for former coaches. And the pressure that, you know, they're supposed to be playing because they're pretty solid at it. Then you add in basically a full time job. You're putting in a ton of hours in a week and those weeks just keep stacking. It's not a four week season. It's, it's, you know, in the baseball terms, it starts in early August and finishes in late May or early June. That's a baseball season. That's how long it is. And most high school kids, I can't say all, but I would say pretty darn close. Most high school kids, they've never been a part of something that long, that consistent. And if you're doing it for other people, parents, coaches, you know, family members and not doing it for yourself, you start looking like, why am I doing this? You know, so there has to be some intensity, there has to be some passion, there has to be some love for what you're doing or on an athlete's version, some love for the sport.

And that's a great point in the sense of that's even greater than winning because we've seen coaches and players and high level coaches and to win Super Bowls or win regional championships and almost feel relieved or like, you know, this is it. I mean, you know, we haven't even talked about Gotti Scheffler on here under some, you know, criticism lately because he talked about winning a golf tournament isn't.

I don't, I don't buy it.

Yeah. And I, again, I think the point was that, you know, like I told you before and he talked about, I can handle that last. But on the Masters, because I'm Connie Scheffler whether I win the Masters or not. But obviously he's trying to win the Masters. And you know, there was another pro athlete that came out and said, no, it's you got to want this. But that's true for our student athletes too, is because motivation isn't always pretty or exciting. I mean, again, I talk about fun and happy and smiling, but it's not always pretty. Like waking up to go to practice every day. Sometimes you do it just because, you know you have to do it. So it's not always pretty. You know, it's part of the process that, you know, we see it a lot in the military training. Just don't quit, you know, quit tomorrow, you know, kind of a thing that keep you going because hopefully there is something at that end that is rewarding and joyous. But it doesn't start without motivation because again, motivation is intrinsic and it's in your mind that your body will follow you even that first mile. And then you gotta feed it. We talked about New Year's resolutions before on this podcast and how those don't last. I mean, now they've got science, like the third week in January, like quit Day, because everyone got their done with their resolutions by then because they've lost motivation. And one of my favorite things, and we've talked about it before, and we should probably just do a podcast on this in itself is having an accountability partner. And I am a big believer in an accountability partner and have been fortunate to have many good ones in my life. And you currently, even like, some days, I think I'm not going to do a podcast. Hey, see you in the studio on Wednesday. We're doing it and it's good, but you got to have one. And that's the nice thing about sports, is we're surrounded by them, you know, our team, our coaches, our accountability partners, and hopefully in a positive way, because I don't think you can do it without it, even with that motivation, you know, the days are up and down. So, you know, it starts with your why, then it goes with goal setting. Then it's routine, which I thought Coach Robinson did a nice job of talking about routine in his podcast for those that need to go back and listen to it, about how important routine is in running and performing on that day. And I think it's true in a lot of our things. You know, he talked about it as it makes you less nervous by it having routine, which we've talked about routine and confidence before, kind of at least the trust and such. So routine's a big part of helping with motivation. And then again, the people part, the team part, something I'm not sure we always do well, except for with the winning is celebrating our successes. And I mean, hearing Daedalian, you know, quote us before on stacking bricks and that. But I think that goes a long way as you find certain points through the season, especially as, you know, a lot of our teams have started this last week. New kids, new team, new routines, new stresses away from home that you probably gotta capitalize on those more right now of stacking those bricks and celebrating successes to keep them motivated. Because retention is an important factor for me and our teams and that like I asked you today, I asked our softball coach this morning, everyone come back after the first day of practice. You know, that's a big deal to me. You know, and both of you answered yes. And the first day of practice is hard for a lot of people because there's a lot of conditioning and getting them caught up. But it starts with helping them understand each kid's motivation and finding a way to celebrate those successes, because that's not easy. Do you guys celebrate more early in the season? I mean, you just celebrate regularly?

I mean, try to. It's definitely been difficult because, you know, I certainly was raised in a generation where you don't necessarily celebrate your successes.

Agree.

Our children have been raised in a different generation where celebration of your personal stuff is somewhat applauded.

Yeah.

So trying to find that happy line there. I've spoken before about in just our sport of baseball, which I think it applies in some other sports too. You know, we'd hear sayings, act like you've been there before.

Yeah, I agree, and I'm glad you brought that up. When I've had coaches, like evaluate me before, celebrating successes has probably been one of my lower end. I'm a very positive person, and I will build them up, encourage them, but I've always expect to win, you know, and I struggle with some of these highlight ratings because you expect to make that tackle or that that great throw.

That's the biggest word, is the expectations. And so the. When people have high expectations, they certainly expect this to happen. And so the winning is just. It's winning and you'll hear things. And I've said it as well. It's like, I hate losing more than I love winning.

Yep, me too.

And so that's just having high standards or high expectations. It's also not being a unicorn and thinking that life is going to be perfect, and you're just expecting to it to be perfect. But it still comes back to how you respond to the things that are happening. And how you respond still comes back to what you're talking about today, which is your internal motivation.

Yeah. I'm going to go off a side subject, and this is so stupid, but when you talk about I hate losing more than I like winning, I had a colleague that had that poster up in his classroom, and he attributed Yvonne Lindo. And I truly believe that's me. And I fight every day to be better than yesterday. And I stay in the present a lot, I believe. But you made a point within my last four years of working with me that now I fight every day is we all lose in the end, that we're gonna die. And I'm. I'm thinking, no, I never even thought of that. And I'm not gonna. I'm gonna fight that because I hate losing that much that I gotta figure out a way to be that one.

You know, you usually say that at the end of your podcast. Is that what you're always referring to? That's kind of what I figured.

Yeah. Yeah. It's more about.

How do you say it? You say it, we're all fighting a battle we can't win. Is that what it is?

So play it or do it to the utmost. And it's really just the understanding. It's not the grim kind of thing. But it's like, hey, be present some of this stuff that you're stressing about right now. Think about it a little bit. Think about it in that context. And does that really what you're stressing about right now? Is that really going to matter? No. You start to have a little bit different perspective on stuff and not put all this pressure on yourself, on things that really don't matter that much. And when you can look at things like that, the walls can become a little more blue and the sun is a little bit different.

And that's been a positive. Again, back to our way of thinking, of celebrating success. That has been one of the positive changes. Is, is it really going to matter a year from now if we lost to this game or this team and even failure, you know, because, you know, we're so worried about our kids failing that I'm not a big risk taker, as I've shared before. But when you look back in life, science is, you know, help study and prove that, that you're more regretful of the risk you didn't take than the failure that you did have. And, you know, we fail every day, but motivation is part of that. Again, tying it back into rebounding after a failure.

Yeah. Just showing up in the podcast studio, we're not experts at Any of this, and we just keep showing up.

Well, the dallian is. That's why we keep along.

I would argue that point, but I appreciate the love.

Well, we love it. And you're gonna love our last question today, too. So I'm running out of food questions, but I'm gonna keep going until we.

End nearing 100 episodes, and you've had a darn near 100 food questions.

By the time I actually get around to coming up with an intro for him, he'll be done with those stars on food.

Yeah. Yeah. So I like them and I listen to them. I think they're funny. This one we're gonna take piece out of it. But as we start the school year, school lunches are a big theme.

So the square pizza in school.

Yeah. So my question's twofold. What's your favorite school lunch currently or in the past? And what do you think of when you think of your school days? Of school lunch.

Wait, you said you were gonna take pizza out of this.

Well, I know because I'm sure his favorite school lunch is pizza. Yes, but take pizza out of it, I'm thinking.

I feel like the food was probably pretty average or bad.

It is. It is.

The highlight for when I think back was the ability to get two chocolate milks.

Wow, that is a good one. That's a good answer. Again, the square pizza or the rectangular pizza was popular, but another popular one in the school that I was was hamburger gravy. What? Yeah. Yeah.

That sounds awful on its own. And even worse at a school lunchroom.

It was good. It was mashed potatoes with hamburger gravy on it. It was really good, you know?

Are you trying to convince me?

No, I don't care. I'm not motivated to convince you. I'm just sharing you the answer to my question.

Since school, have you had that?

Yeah. Like, again, I've worked in school my whole life, so I would eat lunch. You know, the other one that was pretty safe and good with nachos, chips, and cheese. You know, school lunches haven't changed. College lunches have changed. I mean, their cafeterias are pretty n. Like, even here. When we had the cafeteria, like, our first couple years ago, there was, you know, a good quesadilla or a good burger that I would go to regular. Did you ever. I mean, you've been here a while, so you've experienced a lot of different food choices here. Do you have a favorite?

Well, I'm going to go ahead and go back to, you know, the elementary school days because actually, My favorite was. And what would happen would be the school would purchase pizza from whatever local place and almost everybody was going to be there at lunch because of that. Now, that having been said, since you want me to take pizza out of the equation.

Well, that's a good point. That's twofold. I remember the rectangular pizza, but yes, I do remember school getting a local one too. Hungry Howie day on a Friday once a month or something. So good clarification today, which.

My second favorite food, of course is subs. And they had a sub day, but it wasn't. Wasn't from a place, but they had like these little tiny subs. Submarine sandwiches.

That's funny. I do not remember a good memory of those sub being good.

They weren't. But they were better than everything else on the school lunch menu.

So no good side that I can remember either. But the two chocolate milks was a good one too. I bring my lunch in a lot because there isn't really, you know, we don't have hot food on campus, per se.

Yeah, typically I bring in a lunch if I bring something in, usually like a ham and cheese or I bring in a sub.

Oh, nice. Peanut butter and jelly.

PB and J.

Okay.

So RDK approved are healthier than more than the uncrustables. Okay. And peanut butter and jelly is a great sandwich for our student athlete that we would encourage our kids to make one for after school when the bell rang and then before practice to have a peanut butter sandwich. You know, in school lunches that become more healthy. I mean, when I first started, there was soft serve ice cream that I was the number one client for the soft serve ice cream. By the end though, we couldn't even have ice cream.

The food thing is a big thing. You know, I know we've seen in our program as we've tracked through inbodies and RDK 8 and stuff, extreme growth. And then once the season starts, you start seeing the slide and it's because there's more requirements on them. They're competing more consistently. They're also practicing and trying to figure out how to manage that piece of it and understand the insights that are involved with it.

And it's come a long way and it's. I call it a separator now. Nutrition is a separator for us because those that do it well are going to perform at their best. And it even made it to the high school setting. I mean, I remember our swim coach, because they burned so many calories, was really strict on their regimen throughout the Day. And our teams here at LCC use RDK or other nutritional resources she provided for us because it is so important to get optimum performance. Yet time too again, that a lot easier to go home and make one, which we know these kids don't have a lot of time or spend a lot of time.

Just briefly, just because you mentioned her name a couple times, elaborate a little bit just so people who understand who RDK is here at college.

You're probably better than me, but she's a consultant for us. We brought her in for our general student body presentation. She has a business where sports nutrition is her main focus and we've just really learned a lot. And the nicest thing about her presentations are there, tailored to high school and college kids, which is so important because of their schedule, their day, their money, their resources, being realistic of what they will and will not follow. As we've talked about drinking pop, they'll drink it. Just when is the optimum time to drink it? There are other resources out there. We've tried to use our college. They have some valuable resources on nutrition. The thing that RDK brings is her background in sports performance and nutrition. You know, our teams have utilized her consulting services and she deserved the plug here because it's important. Nutrition is so important because even back to motivation that waking up and being healthy and nutrition satisfied with vitamins and that. And it's amazing what these kids even know nowadays with all the supplements and that it helps, you know, motivate them to perform at the highest.

Right.

Right. So go to your school lunch in about an hour after we do this. But until next time, go stars.

Stars on Sports Outro: Stars on Sports is recorded live at the WLNZ studios. Engineering and production assistance are provided by Daedalian Lowry. You can listen to this episode and other episodes of Stars on Sports on demand at LCCconnect.org to find more information about our athletic program, visit LCCstars.com thanks for listening. Go Stars!