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Coaching Mind's Podcast: Perform at your best!
Coaching Mind's Podcast: Perform at your best!
#129 - Tommy Richardson - Excellence Over Success: Coaching the Total Athlete
What does it take to develop a champion—not just on the scoreboard, but in life? Coach Tommy Richardson brings 60+ years of wisdom to this question, revealing a framework that transforms athletes from the inside out.
At 88 years young, Richardson shares the journey that led him from high school football fields to corporate leadership positions at State Farm, and finally to his current work as a mental performance coach. His "three-dimensional approach" to coaching addresses not just physical skills (first dimension), but also mental training (second dimension) and heart development (third dimension). This comprehensive methodology turned losing programs into championship contenders and eventually led to a stadium being named in his honor.
Richardson draws a powerful distinction between success and excellence that challenges conventional thinking about winning. "Success is being number one," he explains, "but excellence is going as far as you can using all that you've got." This philosophy creates athletes who measure themselves against their own potential rather than just the scoreboard.
The conversation explores practical frameworks like the SCORE method (Self-discipline, Concentration, Optimistic mindset, Relaxation/Response, Enjoyment) that helps athletes reach peak performance states. Richardson also shares how implementing "After Action Reviews" following competitions transforms even losses into growth opportunities. "You only lose when you stop learning and growing," he emphasizes.
Whether you're a coach seeking to develop more complete athletes, a parent supporting a young competitor, or someone striving for personal excellence, Richardson's wisdom offers a roadmap to achievement that extends far beyond sports. His message reminds us that while athletic careers eventually end, the mental, emotional, and character foundations built through sport can last a lifetime.
Are you an ATHLETE looking to take your training to the next level? Check out our website to learn more about 1-on-1 training opportunities:
mentaltrainingplan.com/athletes
Are you a COACH looking for an affordable year-round mental performance training program? Check out the MTP Academy available through our website:
mentaltrainingplan.com/academy
Hey, welcome to the Coaching Minds podcast, the official podcast of Mental Training Plan, Joined today by someone who I met at the Indy Glacier Clinic, Tommy Richardson. Coach Tom has been in the business for a long time. Brings a wealth of experience. Tommy, thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for inviting me. This looks like it's going to be a great opportunity for both of us to learn more about you and what you're doing here with your work. And again, I was real pleased that the Glazer Clinic had an opportunity to visit and see you in action. You did a tremendous job.
Speaker 1:I appreciate it, thank you. To start off, could you give us just kind of a quick rundown of your story, just sort of where you started, back in the early days of your coaching career, and just kind of a quick run through of what brought you here today?
Speaker 2:Well, yes, it's hard to make it quick because next month I'll be 88 years old, so there's a lot of time in between there. But very quickly. I'm a Tennessean by birth, grew up in an area between Nashville and Memphis small town but really had a great family background and grew up there, went on to college, played football there and came out of the college ranks and went right into coaching. And came out of the college ranks and went right into coaching, coached in Tennessee about three or four years and then went to Florida. Spent four years in Florida coaching around the Orlando area, popka Florida, okohe, florida. From there I came back to Camden, tennessee, which was where my wife was from, and became head football coach there. I was head football coach for eight years. That was in the 70s, late 60s and 70s.
Speaker 2:Then I had an opportunity to go into the business world and I became a State Farm agent there, built an agency over in eight years, continued to volunteer, but not full with football.
Speaker 2:State Farm asked me to go into leadership roles, became sales manager, agency director, director of agency recruiting and vice president. And then about 27 years ago, I did an early retirement for my own company called Richardson Communication, partnered with a friend of mine to do workshops and seminars around the country and the name of that country was Synergy Training. Been doing that and since retirement, continuing my business, I still coach one-on-one workshop seminars and then at this point I'm doing a lot of workshop seminars working with athletes, still coaching football uh, zionsville high school been there a number of years, traders point since being here in indiana, and I I'm primarily a defensive coach, like to work with the defensive line and I do mental training, sports psychology. I got into that area back when I was in Florida and it just led to more and more study in that area, very involved in an organization called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and have been for a number of years and ranked us kind of up to date today and just glad to be able to be here and share some ideas.
Speaker 1:One of the things that really drew me to you when we started having conversations was just the wealth of real world experience that you've got from the athletic side, from the business side, the real world side. In your mind, what was the biggest maybe aha moment when you realized, like hey, training the mental side of of just not just athletes, of people, is incredibly important. Where, where did that maybe? Uh, where did that ignite?
Speaker 2:for you. Well, I think it really started early. My, my mother, was a basketball coach and I remember riding on the bus with her to games and I saw how she was going beyond just the physical technical skills shooting, all the things involved that you have to have, which I call the first dimension of coaching, and then how she really worked with the athlete and get into the depth of the athlete and actually got into what I call the three-dimensional approach to coaching and following that and working with coaches early, which the focus was primarily on what I call the first dimension. I'll explain that, but that's primarily what most of the coaches spend their time on. It's the physical, the weight room, the agility, the speed, the techniques, the skills which is so critical and important.
Speaker 2:But they never really moved into the two dimensions. That really was a turn point for me. The first one I began to notice the mental change and when I was in Florida, I was very blessed to be with a coach that had picked up this whole concept of three-dimensional coaching. What year was this? Just for clarity, okay, this must have been about, I would say, probably 60, about 60, 61, somewhere along in there.
Speaker 1:Would it be safe to say at this point, no one was really doing this, so you guys really got an edge.
Speaker 2:That really made a difference. Because I believe success leaves clues and I was able to pick up from that experience let's get beyond the first dimension, let's get into the mind, and we actually brought some sports psychologists in to our team back then. Everybody thought we were crazy, nobody knew anything about this kind of thing and I began immediately to see how the mindset of the athlete became so important. And then from that that I understood the importance of the next level is to get to what I call the heart of the athlete. So I think a total athlete has been my kind of focus Develop the total athlete, not just one dimension. The first dimension is physical, critical, but get to the mind and get to the heart. And the heart after it covers a number of different things, but it's like the purpose behind what the athlete is doing. It's the spirit, it's the willpower, it's the concept of significance of what they're doing.
Speaker 2:And that became the turning point for me when I came back out of that environment as a head football coach. I put all these things in. I started a fellowship Christian athlete organization in the high school. I built a new weight room. I brought in a lot of the mental training I started getting studying and getting certified in the mental performance end of it and we went from losing seasons to number one, undefeated seasons and now even in I say this not in bragging, but we were so successful there. The stadium in Camden, tennessee, is Tommy Richardson Stadium and the people were involved. Because I involved the parents, I involved the coaches, we built on the total person, not just the physical, which is very important to me, because I also stayed with the physical and was very involved in powerlifting, took two world titles by staying involved myself.
Speaker 1:And so you know, here we are what 60 years later, and you know, I would still say there's no doubt that there is complete buy-in across the nation. Let's stick specifically with high school football in that first dimension, right? If you don't have some sort of legitimate strength and conditioning program where you are year round trying to improve speed, strength, size, mobility, flexibility, agility, all of that, then you're not seriously competing for championships. But I would say still at the high school level. I don't know that everyone has completely bought in to that second and that third dimension. I feel like we're still maybe a generation or two behind. As you talk about some of the clues that you've seen, what are maybe some of the real big clues? Or maybe a year or a season that really stands out where you were able to accomplish something that there's no way could have been accomplished without those second and third dimensions.
Speaker 2:Well, there were a lot of instances in my coaching experience in which the coach, when I took over as the head football coach there, they had, I think, one barbell with a couple of weights and they had been working the head, but they were. So I found the athletes once they understood that as coaches we were trying to develop the total person, not just a big, strong guy, right or girl. We had to course weights for the women also. But once I started to introduce the concepts about mental training, starting with the basics, which is goal orientation, they say, yeah, I know what a goal is, but I don't know how to write it, I don't know how to achieve it, et cetera. So, building in that first aspect which led to and the mental thing for me was visualization and affirmation how to handle setbacks, how to handle adversities, what's my emotional part of my being as an individual? Can I do? Self-control and self-discipline they begin to see those kind of aspects. Actually, their game got better, we got better as a team and it just was a growing thing over a period of time that I look back on athletes that really bought into what I call excellence.
Speaker 2:I ended up writing a book called Building to Excellence, because I kind of built my program coach on the concept you can be successful, but you may not be excellent. Now here's the concept. You ask them I want to be successful, yes, we all do. But I think that if we will make our goal to be what I call excellent at what they do, to excel at what we do, then sometimes if I'm successful, I'm number one. But here's somebody down here that's gone from the bottom right up next to the top by being excel. And the difference is sometimes when I'm successful, I don't continue on. I got to the top, I'm all state Okay, that's it. Or I made first team, okay, that's it, you know. Or I made first team, okay, that's okay. But if you're excellent, the continual drive to become better and I use something in my book that I write about it's being all that you can be Okay.
Speaker 2:Excelling is going as far as you can, using all that you've got. Think about what's involved in that. Right, my potential is out there. I want to go as far as I can, but I got to use all I got to be able to do that.
Speaker 2:And selling that concept to athletes and I had a buy-in. I'm still doing some work with rugby mental training, and one of the things we're on right now is trying to get that group of young boys and girls to buy into this goal orientation young boys and girls to buy into this goal orientation. And I tell the story of one of the players that went on to play college ball for me my name is David Hubbs, so bought into this concept that he took his goals and printed them on a three by five and taped them inside his headgear, his helmet, and when we he was primarily a defense and when he was on the setting on the side he was going over his goat with his helmet on. So, buying into that mental and then how I visually see it and then how I affirm it with my self-talk, and all of those led to some great, great individuals I had the opportunity to work with that carried them on to higher levels, to be excellent, just successful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that was. I was really introduced to that concept in college, playing for Chris Creighton at Wabash. And you know, all of a sudden I come in my freshman year to a pretty solid football team that had some great players and you know we would. We would play some of the weaker teams in our conference. That you know. Everybody knew we should win this game by 40 points, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter.
Speaker 1:It was almost like coach Creighton was coaching us harder during those weeks and demanding a higher level of excellence and paying more attention to detail and executing at a higher level, because he didn't want to let off the gas. It wasn't just about winning, it was about how are we going to live up to this standard that we've got? And then even playing. You know Mount Union, who had eight guys on Ohio state's and then even playing. You know Mount Union, who had eight guys on Ohio State's roster the year before that you know, either weren't going to play or couldn't cut it academically, for whatever reason they were at Mount Union.
Speaker 1:I mean, they, they beat. I don't even remember how many points they beat us by, but you know there's. It doesn't matter whether the team you are playing is significantly better or significantly worse. That's not the win, and the loss at the end isn't really the goal. How did you get the kid when you showed up at a new school or started a new program or started working with a new sport? What were the first steps that you took to really get kids to buy into that concept?
Speaker 2:I think it really begins and for me it began there to how do I look at my losses, how do I look at anything that's adversarial? You know I miss goals. We all are not. We know success is all appeal and sometimes we don't make the appeal that we should. This is all appeal and sometimes we don't make the appeal that we should.
Speaker 2:But I think one of the major learning things with a, with an athlete and with an adult, is how do I handle setbacks, how do I handle failure? How do I handle not winning? And in this case, where I was starting out, they had only one or two wins in the last two to three years. How do I look at that? And then upcoming, knowing the first year out we're not going to win them all, how do I look and handle adversity, those things that will either take me down or bring me up? And the concept that I teach continually is that in every setback in life there can be, I use the thing. The obstacle is the way there can be. I use the thing. The obstacle is the way that. That obstacle, that failure, that lack of reaching, you know, the goal that I had for myself, that was a high goal. Then that can become the way for me to become better, and what I really focused on that is what have I learned and how do I grow in the future, and really putting the focus on the growth.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how to the obstacle is a great book, by the way, and I do. That's one of my favorites.
Speaker 1:We had. Becky Burley was on the show a couple of years ago and she was the women's soccer coach at University of Florida, and one of the things she talked about was videotaping the sidelines so that the coaches were on film so that you know as you're talking about. You know evaluating the loss which happens at the end of the game. There's still, you know, all these points along the way where there's little mini battles and there's little successes and failures and you give up touchdowns and you score touchdowns or, in their case, you give up goals and you score goals. So how did you go about getting your coaching staff to buy into this? What were some of the ways that you coached the coaches, so that this wasn't just your idea, but this was the culture that was being created and spread?
Speaker 2:Particularly when I came in and had that advantage as a head football coach, I learned from my experiences in coaching in Florida that our head coach there really spent a lot of time with the coaches and in my coaching experience today, I think maybe coaches need to be doing more of that, because I can share something as a defensive line coach, mentally and also certainly in the third dimension. They see them in practice and they have them at other times that they're not able to really actually take what we have shared and use it. And he made a real impression on me and we had our own coaches. We talked about how do I help an athlete have a strong and one of the big factors for me is a strong self-worth self-image. How do we do that? How, and as a coach, how do I help that athlete be able to do it? And then how does that athlete see himself even that his short shortcomings and failures is having self-worth. He's having a. You know that there's had been successes that he made.
Speaker 2:So we worked a lot with my coaches so that and then when I worked with the group because I had had that background, the coaches were always there. And here's what I run into. I've been. They are okay for me to do it, but they want to talk about something over here in the back of the group and they have things to do. I understand, but one of the things I started doing I said look, if this is important enough for me to spend 10 to 15 minutes with your players, it's. It's important enough for you to see what I'm spending and talking about so that you can go. And that's like watering the seed right, you're there to put the water on the seed and make it, make it make the harvest. So it's sometimes hard to get the coaches to see that because they're all focused on only got so much time. I got to get this done. I got to get this done.
Speaker 1:And I'm so glad that you brought up the time because I think, just you know, in what I'm doing right now and kind of going around talking about the MTP Academy, talking about you know how coaches can implement this with their team I would say the biggest hesitation is well, you know, I don't know if we can spend 15 minutes a week on something like this, which I'm sure I don't know. I wasn't alive for it. I'm sure at some point there was resistance on, like well, weightlifting, we can't spend all this time weightlifting. We've got to get out there and block and tackle and throw.
Speaker 1:And you know, I just I having having been in a state championship setting where our team was prepared, our team was good and they were talented and they had been trained the right way, and we got into this big moment and we crumbled, and so then it's like, from my perspective, I'm thinking you don't have 15 minutes, like you can't afford not to spend 15 minutes on this. To be honest, you should be spending way more than 15 minutes. How do you communicate that importance?
Speaker 2:You know, maybe nowadays, in 2025, where there are so many strict regulations on the amount of time that coaches can spend with a program, yeah, it's a real challenge and I think somewhere along the way that coaches got to say, okay, I've got to give you 15 minutes, okay, and I think it's really important. I see this, I don't go 16 minutes, I go 15 minutes, okay, and I think it's really important. I see this, I don't go 16 minutes, I go 15 minutes, yeah, because I want to walk my talk If I say you know you're going to give me 15 minutes, 14 minutes, whatever it is you're going to see over a period of time and that's what they. You're going to need to be patient with this. They're not going to walk out of this session today and run out there and their performance is going to improve.
Speaker 2:20. Yeah, it's a, it's the thing that takes, but it takes that continual, uh, over a period of time, uh, speaking to into them and having to get them to see the right kind of picture, to see themselves worthy, to see themselves able and the rest of the coaching staff being able to support that over a period of time. You, you will see a difference in your player. We may not be champions, but they're going to be better individuals and they'll be being closer to playing with excellent as good as they can be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know one of the tools that we talked about ahead of time was getting in the zone, helping athletes get to that spot where they are playing at their best, performing at their best. Tell us a little bit about how you get athletes prepared for that moment.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's a great study and I love it.
Speaker 2:I've taken several different courses on how do I get to the peak performance, the ideal performance, and it's all built around this concept of getting into the zone and getting into the position. A book that I use and a part of my teaching on it is called SCORE S-C-O-R-E. How do I get the athlete and I use it in the business world that individual, to the place that they are performing at the highest level but also enjoying it the most. And that's a peak performance. And there are certain steps that you have to take to get there. Okay, and the first step certainly is the preparation for it. I don't just walk out if I'm a golfer and shoot the best score I've ever seen, right, it takes preparation. And I use the concept of score the S stands for me, the self-discipline and that first step to prepare yourself. And that's when we get into the mindset. I prepare the total body and then I use the other concepts around mental training to be able to get to that peak performance. And basically it certainly is. As you think about it, it's that concentration and focus. That's the C, okay, that O stands for the optimistic mindset. And I have a chance to talk about the concept of limiting beliefs there, positive beliefs. How I feed my mind is the way that I operate. I get deeper into the subconscious and the conscious mind. That's the C. The O is the optimistic I mentioned.
Speaker 2:The R is very interesting for me and I've seen it in getting into my best performance. How am I able to handle my emotions and the words, relax and respond okay and to the correct way so that I don't beat myself up. I don't. I'm looking at the right place when I hit the ball. I have my pre-preparation and all of that and that's the. That's part of it. And then the last part, the E, is I got to enjoy it, s-c-o-r-e. I got to enjoy what I'm doing. How do I do that? And that's being the best that I could be. If I'm being the best that I be may not win it, but I'm still a winner because I've gone as far as I can, using all that I've got and selling that concept of enjoying what you're doing.
Speaker 2:So peak performance. It's a great thing. I follow a couple different other uh guys that I've been using that with and following trained with. Uh called score in the zone, used it with golf groups. Golf golfers love it. How do I get, how do I pre-approach and how I approach and how I am. Am I looking at the water or am I? Where am I looking? You know the distractions, all this. So that's the score and that's a part of the mental training guys in the preparation that, that self-discipline to do to get yourself in the right position to be as good as you can be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, then you use those other two I want to go, I want to go a little bit deeper into something you said right there the measuring success, not by that score element or the scoreboard, but by, you know, am I, am I achieving this level of excellence? Tell me about some coaches that have resisted that. Tell me about some coaches who have said we have to compete and we have to have this drive to win and we have to do whatever it takes to win, because there is a, there is an element of being a fierce competitor that we certainly, you know, don't want to get, don't want to get rid of. This isn't let's sit around and sing Kumbaya on everybody, just be happy with being mediocre. We're certainly not for that mediocre, we're certainly not for that. But at the same time, how do you balance and what's the resistance between? Yeah, we're not focusing on the outcome, but, at the end of the day, we're all doing this also so that we can win this game in this one moment? How do you address that Right?
Speaker 2:I never take away the concept that we want to be. We want to be winners. Okay, and for winning? For me it's like John Wooden's definition of success it's a peace of mind, knowing that you've done all you can to become all that you can be. As long as that athlete of mine can speak to the fact that, yes, I have given it the best shot I've got, he's a winner. Now on the scoreboard it may not show, but he has won because he's pushed himself to be excellent at what he's doing, going as far as he can, using all that he's got, he's a winner. Anything we're progressing toward and there's continual progression. We want to be a winner and over a period of time we can be a winner. But we want to make sure that we don't downgrade ourselves when we don't win and feel unworthy and go into the swamp that many athletes do when they're not winning. So to me, winning is simply progressing and becoming better. Yeah, Only consistent.
Speaker 2:I carry a band, and one of the things I do with my athletes and even my Bible study group I'll carry one of these, and it's simply a band that gives me the word of the year. I used to do this with my athletes as a team. They selected the word of a year and every one of them got this that they wore okay, they worked classroom, they had a chance to share it. But for me the word is kaizen, k-a-i-z-e-n, and and it's in the the scripture is found. Definitely, we look at it in scripture. Most of these are first thessalonians 4 10. It says excel still more except consistent and ever increasing performance. So if I could sell that and the athletes doing that it can share that, can see that in himself and we have coaches can see that he we're winners and over a period of time we will maybe be number one.
Speaker 2:But number one is not important. Have I become all that I can be at this point in my life, excelling still more? Yeah, so I plant those seeds of process goal rather than an outcome goal. That's a concept of the gold sunny price. Yeah, am I percent if I'm processing in all areas? This is the way that I approach it a different are you doing the same if you'recelling it's not just on the football field or the basketball court? I'm excelling in all areas of my life. How am I doing in the classroom? How am I doing at home, in my family? How am I doing in my community? How am I going to my church or my synagogue or places that I worship? Am I excelling there? If I am, I'm a winner. I'm winning. I may not be on top of the mountain, but I'm a winner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and tell me about when you lose. So let's, let's talk a little bit about we come up short on the scoreboard, we've we come up short. We don't win that football game. Because, you know, I would say I would would argue in 2016 if westfield didn't lose those two games early in the year by a combined three points and realize like hey, we thought we were watching enough film and we thought we were practicing hard enough and we thought we were getting enough sleep and hydration. If we didn't go back and and tweak all of those things and get one percent better in all those different areas, there's no way we win that state championship. Tell me, tell me when, when, a when, a team that you're coaching or a team that you're working with does come up short and let's say, maybe it's a particularly devastating loss or it's a. You know, we felt like we should have won this game. Maybe we're not as good as we thought we were. How do you, how do you deal with those emotions in those times.
Speaker 2:That's a very valuable time in the life of that young athlete. And one of the ways that I approach that comes from my background military background. I went through Marine, ocs and Quantico and I can remember back then and going through that three months of leadership, training and development, that one of the things that we would do it was called After Action Review AAR and we would go out. Then on we had missions at night. We'd meet together as the folks are going to their bunks and we'd get up with our squad and would go out and have an objective Okay, we had a goal that we had to accomplish. And then we had to come back and we had to. How'd we do? Okay, how'd we do so? We had a pre Okay, how am I preparing myself? Do I have a goal? Team knows what it is. Be very clear. First habit of high performance is seek clarity. We're very clear about that. And then, when we come back in, we had what we call an after action review. So basically it said did you reach your goal, yes or no? We always like to say yes, but we don't always been able to do. And well, if we said yes, that pre-action, why do you think you reach your goal when we win a game. Sometimes coaches miss that. It's why did we win? What did we do?
Speaker 2:We worked all week awful awful hard in this area. Did it pay off? Yeah, yeah, we go back to our successes, which is a confidence builder for the individual player as well as a team. And then the second thing I have I had to say no, that means I lost the game, that means we didn't get the win when we were out. And then the next thing, he said, okay, why not? So we said okay, we didn't work together, we were not clear.
Speaker 2:One guy took charge and the rest of us didn't do anything. So we had to come back with that loss and break it down into why it was not successful. Yeah, and we had to say, okay, guys, we played hard, we made advances. What thing here did we need to work on? Maybe harder next week to be prepared for our opponent coming up on Friday night. So we laid that out. This is our objectives to improve on that performance after action review and tomorrow, starting on Monday, then we're going to start to work on those things to make it stronger and tell me a little bit more about the culture that has to be built, so that in those moments it doesn't become finger pointing and blame.
Speaker 1:It becomes. We're just evaluating what needs to improve and we're going to come up with a plan together to improve that. Talk a little bit about that culture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that culture has to be built around. We're all in it together. We don't say the offensive line didn't do their job, defensive line, okay, we all are working at this together. And how can we support each other if it's the offensive line that broke down during the game? Okay, how can we, as a defensive line, support them this coming week? Can we make it a little tougher on them so that they have to work a little harder? And we tried to share that loss, not among one or two or three things. But how do we need to work harder in helping each other in our different areas, say football, for example? We'd say, okay, defensive line, we've got to help this offensive line really be better on pass protection this week. Let's work harder to make them harder and then, when they are successful, let's compliment them. Yeah, let's build current, let's build that confidence in them. Yeah, so it's bringing it together as a unit to help each other over that. Yeah, but then you, once you have done through the what I call the after action review, you got to start on the next practice, working on those things.
Speaker 2:And there's a thing I like to use in coaching. I use it and it's called and then some We'll have an, and then some, okay, we need to do this this week. And then some, what extra? Maybe it's staying after practice Ten minutes and let's work on this drill. Or let's work on this technique. Or let's work on this drill. Or let's work on this technique. Or let's work on our endurance. Or let's get it's been a little extra time in the weight room this next two weeks to get stronger. Yeah, that little extra. That if you could plant it into the mind of that young athlete, then there there's many times they're the first one out and the last one to leave. They're working on the extra and we would stop and say, okay, extra effort time, okay, extra effort. So they all break out and run five minutes over here on that sled. I'm going to work on something, punch pass, whatever it is we're working on, get my hands up, punching right. So they do that. A little bit extra doesn't have to be in another hour, but that little extra now in the in the coaching thing thing, and particularly with the rugby, I would say, okay, there are a lot of films on rugby between our next practice, get on that. What's the film? That's that little extra you can do.
Speaker 2:So that extra thing to overcome the shortcoming that we had in the, in the loss, and the thing I think to get across to an athlete and help them. There's no, there's no losing as long as you learn and grow. We didn't, we didn't come out here. We didn't come out on a winning go, your score is higher on your side of the scoreboard desires, but can we learn from that and can we grow in the future? Yeah, that's key. Yep, you only lose when you're learning and growing and if they can get that concept, that doesn't beat them down. So, okay, I can learn, I can grow, so I can be better. Yes, you can. Let's go to work.
Speaker 1:So I see you brought a few books with you. Tell me about, let's talk through maybe, some of these. Why'd you bring them? What do you get out of them? Why are they maybe worth checking out.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm going to start with this one I mentioned. This is my first introduction really into the mental concept, as well as the spiritual heart approach. The biblical approach to coaching the heart, mind and body approach. The biblical approach to coaching the heart, mind and body. I got enamored with that and I went through and there's a certification program. This was early in developing the three-dimensional athlete, so I brought that aspect and it doesn't have to be. People say okay, I understand, this is not religion. Okay, it's not a religion we're talking about. It's a spirit and I think anybody that accomplish coach anything of any worth. It also has to get beyond himself to a higher being, to a higher being and for some it's different than others, but there's something about it that brings in the acts of the heart, of the spirit. So this is where I start with a three-dimensional approach toward the coaching, another one that I use when I coach individuals one-on-one.
Speaker 2:I use this book right here. It's called the Mental Edge. It's maximizing your sports potential with the mind-body connection. It's written by Kenneth Baum. I have the athlete go through this with me and we break it down into different areas, similar to what we do with the three-dimension, but finding the middle age. Merging science and sports. You've got to excel on athlete coach too, on this one, the merging the science and sports together, how that they can see this. Neuroscience, neuroscience, how the mind is so critical, uh, perception stretchers, defining your desire, a picture of excellence this is what good visualization what that looked like, uh, so this is, uh, one of my favorites as I use with there.
Speaker 2:Here's one that I picked up and I still use this one a lot today. It's called the 12 Elements of an Elite Performance. This is written in Troy Bassam in his name. Actually, he was an Olympic raffle. Okay, he took Olympic and he took those concepts and built them into this, these 12 Ele with elite performance. Great concept starts, by the way, with passion. If you don't want to, we can't take the top of your head on. Poured in, you got to water, right, yeah, so that's that's one that I used there.
Speaker 2:And then, uh, another one that I love and this is where I use when I do my workshop called Score. Jim Fanning wrote this. It's not just as it says score for life five keys to an optimistic achievement. How do I break these down? Self-doubt, self-concentration, optimism, relaxation, enjoyment to make the best of what I do, and then the book that I wrote a building to excellent. My partner and I he, we still train together, we do workshops and seminars. Uh, and just put our heads together one time after we've been into the business world and they said there's so much in the athletic world that needs to be shared with the business world. So we took a guide to building authentic success and, uh, this is where we put our heads together and I take them through this one and, uh, building concept of self-conscience, self-esteem, self-image. It's just a how do I build success? Yeah, so those are the ones that I use uh, coach, coach, uh, to try to get to the, to the heart of what we're trying to get accomplished. I love that and our passion.
Speaker 1:I love that and I I heard somebody talking about one time, um, kind of my, my earlier days of getting into mental performance coaching, and he, uh he brought up the concept of. We don't really have competition Like we. You know, you and I both you and I both have a. If an athlete contacted us and said, hey, we want to work one-on-one with you, will you work with me? Both of us would answer yes, absolutely, but the. You know just the concept of the. There's not like this. There's not like this threatening competition. It's more of a. Every single person on earth needs this and there are not enough of us to teach it to everyone. How do we, how do we get the word out there to everybody that, hey, you know, there there's the, there's these tools that can help you achieve in these areas where you're coming up short In your mind, what's maybe some vision that you have for? What does the future look like? How do we continue to? How do we get this into every high school in America?
Speaker 2:Well, yes, that would be great, or just some more of them, right, but I think we've gotten the concept. It really comes from another one of the. For years I teach the concept of seven habits of highly effective individuals or teenagers, and when I'm working with athletes I use the book Teenagers. But it says one of the habits is number one seek first to understand Do I understand each other, what your deeds are, how I can help you, and then the concept. Also, one of those habits is seek win-win. If I can work with any individual and it can be winners for both. If I can work with any individual and it can be winners for both.
Speaker 2:We don't want a win-lose environment. We don't want a win-lose program, right, if I'm, as an athlete or as a coach, all about me, the self-concept, it's all self-earning, but I can learn how better I can be without wanting to help other people then we are not going to be able to survive as a company. So it's how can we work together? There's a great example and I'm always looking for things that I can share with the athletes. There's a book that's just been written by a guy by the name of Murphy. You may be very familiar with this one. It's called Inner Excellence and in the playoff, in the Kansas City playoff, when they were playing, sitting on the sideline there was a wide receiver with the name of Brown JB or JR Brown.
Speaker 1:AJ.
Speaker 2:Yes, and guess what? You know, the whole concept was he was sitting there reading while he was off the field. He was a wide receiver defensive and he was had that. He had the book underlined and then they interviewed him and he said this book made the difference in me because someone had shared this uh concept. I grabbed the book and I see the importance of the excellent starts on the inside and moves to the outside. And being excellent on the inside takes the right kind of mindset to be excellent. And he was pouring through. What an example of the importance. And if a coach can't see that at any level, why not? Why not pour into the mind and the heart of that athlete, as well as the physical aspect, to make them the best that they can be?
Speaker 1:So as we uh we get ready to wrap up here coach, one of the things I always love to ask my guests is knowing what you know. Now. If you could go back to that that first year, that you're ready to start this coaching career and you're ready to kick things off young and full of energy, what's the one piece of advice you would give a younger version of yourself?
Speaker 2:I would simply start with that and everybody involved in the program. We're all about developing the total athlete, the authentic person that can be authentic in the classroom, authentic in home, authentic in his community. And if we develop the total person, the athlete will not be able to be an athlete all of his life. He's only got so many years and he can play the game and go so many levels, but he's going to be a father. He's going to be an athlete all of his life. He's only got so many years and he can play the game and go so many level, but he's going to be a father, he's going to be a husband, he's going to be somebody that makes a difference in this world. And if I could sell the total concept the mind, okay, the body and the heart of that young person to grow in all of those three areas and the heart of that young person to grow in all of those three areas, then I think I have really reached what I need to do with that individual. And the parents got to help with that, the coaches got to help with that. No one person can do that, yeah, but we can sell that to those young athletes. Love that. I think we're on our way.
Speaker 2:You know, at my age, I know I don't have another 20 years. Yeah, I'm being very realistic. I'm doing everything that I can to keep my health wise. I work out three days a week. I continue to do that. I continue to work on my mind. Faith is a big part of my digging deep into my devotions and when I can do that Bible study, I want to impact in these few years that I've got left as many people as I can about developing the tone first, not just one dimension, not just being CEO of the company. But how am I becoming the best father, the best dad, the best leader that I could be? How can I do that?
Speaker 1:Well, coach, greatly appreciate you taking the time to stop by today. Share some of the lessons that you've learned, the wisdom that you've gathered along the way. If folks want to get in touch with you, what's the easiest way for them to reach out to you?
Speaker 2:They can reach me, certainly my email, tommybrichardson at gmailcom, all little. Certainly they can reach me on my phone text. Give me a text, give me a call. I volunteer to speak to different groups. I speak to seniors, I speak to youth, I speak to all ages and I give a lot away. Certainly I want to youth, I speak to all ages and I give a lot away. Certainly I want to provide value and if it provides value, then I'd like to know there's something coming back. But it's not the money. In my state it's not the important thing to me. It's how can I impact more people speaking to different groups, talking to groups working with people, mastermind groups, any way that I can be of help to someone else with some of the things that I've experienced and shared in my blessed years that I've had. Love that.
Speaker 1:All right, well, coach, thank you so much. Appreciate the time, appreciate you stopping by.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, coach, for inviting me. Look forward to staying in touch with you and maybe we work together in the future some things that we might be able to do together to make it a better world, right.
Speaker 1:I love it. Yeah, Until next time. Make your plan and put it to work.