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Episode 18

A CONVERSATION WITH 
JAY HILL

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube

COURAGE ON AND OFF THE FIELD | JAY HILL'S PATH TO SUCCESS

“You must succeed mentally before you can succeed physically.”

Listen to this wild story from Jay Hill, the defensive coordinator at BYU:

 

At the time, Jay was head coach at Weber State. And although he had put a ton of work into the team and they were started to see some success after a long line of losses, they still couldn’t seem to stay the course. They would have a win, but then get hit with a couple losses. At the same time, Jay’s wife found out she had cancer, which was a massive shock to their entire family and the team.

 

Confused, angry, and determined to find strength and determination, Jay decided to read a book titled “The Strangest Secret” by Earl Nightingale. This book challenged him to choose a goal, and then for one whole month take an hour everyday and write down 20 things he could do to achieve that goal.

 

With nothing to lose, Jay began this habit. He started to make many small changes in the way he coached. The next game, they won. And then the next. And the next. It was like magic. Then once the month ended and he stopped doing it, they lost again. So he decided to make this a lifelong habit. Jay then continued on to lead Weber into some incredible victories, and even achieved all the goals he had for the team. Plus, his wife is now completely healthy.

 

This story got me thinking about how important books are. You might be missing out on pivotal life successes if you don’t do the work to find out what you don’t know.

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FAVORITE INSIGHT FROM THIS EPISODE:

The most successful teams are the most energetic, motivated teams. But how do you get teams energetic and intrinsically motivated? 

 

According to Jay, in order to help your team be intrinsically motivated, you need 3 things:

 

  1. Competence. You and your team have to know what you’re doing, and why. If you don’t become an expert in your field, it’s easy to be discouraged.

  2. Unison. Your team must love and connect with each other. Often it is better to bring on someone with less skill, but is better at connecting with the team, than someone who may be more skilled, but harder to work with.

  3. Autonomy. Every team member, from coach to waterboy, must all feel that they have ownership and accountability in the team’s success.

 

Jay’s successful track record definitely proves that these principles work.

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