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5/25/2020 0 Comments Motivational MondayHappy Monday Everyone! What a day it is, despite that one song by The Boomtown Rats 'I Don't Like Monday's'. It is a great song but it seems like many people have this gloomy outlook and fear of the first working day of the week. Society pushed out the notion, people commented, made their own posts and bang, many more have this uneasy feel to begin their week. How upsetting is that!? It's no way to live. I felt it necessary to write about motivation this week and again tell stories both new and old in an attempt to have you as readers relate or even to help shift your mindset this week. This week was like the past few on lockdown, it started out with zoom calls with my youth soccer players. Each week I encourage the kids to get out and stay active both with and without the ball. I love chatting with the kids especially because I cannot coach them at this point in time. It helps them connect with one another and also allows me to see who is putting in the work. There was a trend amongst the players however. Many had gone outside during decent weather but very few had braved the elements on colder, darker, gloomier days. I cast my memory back to the days when I would be outside in the pissing wet rain and howling winds, juggling the ball and running. I was fortunate really and didn't ever hesitate as it was bred into me from a young age. I was pushed to work hard, encouraged to overcome failure and rejection and on days I did waver, no wasn't a good enough answer for my father. I became resilient and hungry to succeed. This week I posted a message in the U15 GroupMe App. I told the lads when I was in my mid teens, I would walk a couple miles with the ball to the park. Even on sunny days and during a hard running session, I would sometimes question myself. "Why am I doing this?" My mind was trying to cheat me and hold me back. Deep down I knew why. I had to play catch up and I knew what I was made of. There were other local lads getting recognition and ahead of me and it wasn't in my nature to quit the chase. It was these hours from a young age and a support system that wouldn't allow me to half ass it that set me on my way. I remember another event around about that time. My family and I would often go to a cottage in near Lands End in Cornwall for a week or two in the summer. This particular summer, I had invited my best friend. Vacation was incredible and in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I encourage you to research Sennen Cove, St. Ives and Porthcurno (see images above of the open air theatre and Porthcurno Beach). There was a lot of time to play and explore but summer was also off season and training was a part of the schedule. I would often run the beautiful roads and also get the ball out at the local park. This particular day, my mate and I were kicking the ball the ball around and towards the end I wanted to get some fitness in. For some reason, my mate thought it would be funny to run across me and get in the way. He was laughing and joking. I instantly snapped and got quite nasty, throwing him to the ground mid sprint. I took my training seriously and nothing was going to get in my way. Boys will be boys and later that day we were enjoying ice cream on the beach without a care in the world.  Let’s take a look at two types of motivation: Internal Motivation Can be defined as a feeling of desire, need or requirement. I was fortunate to have this installed at a young age. I did it to become better in my focus area (football/soccer). Hard work became a habit and has stuck with me to this very day. Today, I run to lose weight and get/stay in shape. This past week I got almost 30 miles in. I have an internal motivation to fuel habits in others and help change mindsets. It was fun posting to the Facebook page and engaging with others who wanted to share what they had been doing to stay active. Can I get others to follow my lead? Recently, I have a motivation to see the wildlife and listen to the birds whilst in my own little peaceful world. What are you passionate about and what motivates you to do what you do? External Motivation When something or someone on the outside motivates you. I am currently in a group chat with three other friends. Yesterday, I was feeling sore and tired from the week’s miles. Sunday could have been a day of rest. One of the guys in the group posted a 7-mile run that he did. I used this this as motivation to get out and get moving. I walked a mile to warm up, ran 4.5 miles and then walked two more at the end. I had the rest of the day to catch some sun and felt good about the exercise. This is the power of having good people around you, people that you can associate with, people that have the same goals – WINNERS! This external motivation can quickly turn into internal motivation or a combination of the two. This week we are competing to see who can rack up the most miles. This becomes competitive, fun and provides a different approach. I love to compete too! helping others in our summit up! communityIf you want to be featured in our helping others section, email summitup2020@gmail.com. It does not matter where in the world you are, Summit Up! will highlight you, your business or someone you know of in our weekly blog. Final Thoughts In closing, I encourage you all not to be 'bored in the house, and in the house bored' DO NOT allow this virus to creep into your mentality. YOU are better than average. Society has a tendancy to trick you into into becoming just another person cruising through life and wasting your Monday's away. You have the capacity to override any mediocrity thrown your way. Lean on others, lean on me here at Summit Up! Post, tag, comment and ask questions. Better still, I dare you to find that internal motivation. Until next week, Summit Up! You've got this. Facebook: Summit Up Instagram: summit_up2020 Twitter: @summitup3 Website: www.summituplive.com quote for the week"Never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time."
Charles Dickens
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5/18/2020 0 Comments The lonely road continued... Happy Monday to you all. This past weekend was similar to the last few - without soccer/football. I would typically be traveling the state of Michigan coaching 3-4 teams. The schedule would be packed. A two hour drive in some cases for a 10am kick off on the east side of the state, followed by another 2-3 hour drive to our home fields for a 3pm and 5pm kick off in some cases. Following up on last weeks blog and the talk on being alone or choosing to spend time alone, I still opt for this tactic. It became somewhat normal for me even beyond high school. I maintain that it was good for me growing up and that has not changed. Back then it allowed me to focus on playing and training. Nowadays it aids me in business endeavors, education, reading, writing, learning and provides a calm and positive environment when exercising. Somewhere in between then and now I made the decision to up and leave on a few occasions. I chose to leave my home at age 16, friends, teammates and a comfortable lifestyle behind. After a successful 2006 freshman year at West Texas A and M I had a decision to make. I could have stayed and done well for the next 3 years but was faced with the option of transferring to Buffalo, New York. I took a chance and was flown to Buffalo on a visit. I was impressed with the facilities and future that awaited. I will never know what the other path had in store for me but that door had closed and a new chapter would be written. In the summer of 2007 I trialed for Team Great Britain in Warwick, England and was included in the squad to compete in The World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. I remember getting the call up from manager Graeme Dell whilst at work. I had got a summer job stripping and making beds in a hotel in Exeter for the summer just to make a few dollars. I was filled with emotion and teared up after the call. We had a successful run. We faced Mexico, Japan and Kazakhstan in the group stages. I was able to bang in three goals and assist a couple, including the game winner in a 1-0 win over Kazakhstan in the final group game. This saw us advance to the quarter finals against Canada. We ended up losing the game but qualified for the 2009 games in Belgrade, Serbia. The summer in Thailand had prepared me for my first season in Buffalo. The 2007 year saw me lead the MAC in goals (8) and a painful double overtime loss in the conference final against powerhouse Akron. Looking back, I would not have experienced any of the above if I didn't make some tough decisions. When you come to a cross roads, all you can do is have belief in your ability and move forward. During this quarantine, I miss the long drives across the state but have come to the conclusion that taking time to be alone allows us to: Sacrifice - Perhaps one of the toughest things to do. Avoid that party or event with friends whether you are young or older. Get ahead of the crowd, be a shepherd, not a sheep. There is no better investment that investing in yourself. Find Clarity and Be Decisive - without distractions or outside judgement, it enables quicker decision making. You are able to trust your gut instinct and save time. Like the purest of running water, see through your clouded mind, cleanse your thoughts and find the purest and most effective outcome. Be Creative - some of the best dreams and ideas come about through visions and connecting with your mind. Senses are honed in and not distracted and this can be powerful. Adjust, Adapt and Pursue - Some things go wrong, including the decision making process. Some decisions backfire, leading to failure. Fear not! Gather yourself, assess the situation and find the solution. Once you have the answers or an alternative plan of attack, come back stronger, be persistent and execute! Find Peace/Therapy - You do not always have to be in business mode. Sometimes, putting on your favorite music and having a sing song brings joy and happiness. If not music then take in the sound of birds chirping, waves crashing and wind blowing. Use the gift of sight to take in stunning scenery and realize how blessed we are to be in the presence of such beauty. Using our senses to their fullest potential can be very therapeutic. I have not yet practiced mindfulness or meditation nor have I yet looked to understand what those things are but I sense being alone and recharging mentally is very similar. When coaching, I am constantly tuned in and educating players. Pre and post game I engage and chat with parents. The time before and after is precious and a time for preparation and/or reflection.  helping others in our summit up! community Kimberly Courtney - Scout and Cellar Kimberly Courtney from Portage, MI is a busy wife and mom to two young girls. She is also an avid wine lover. While researching many of her traditional favorite wines, she was shocked to learned that lurking in traditional mass-produced wine were hundreds of synthetic pesticides, dozens of chemical additives and sweeteners as well as high levels of sulfites. Looking for a better solution she partnered with Scout & Cellar Clean-Crafted™ wine in 2018 to become an Independent Wine Distributor. Scout & Cellar partners with the small growers and family-owned farms and wineries to produce Clean-Crafted organic wines that are free from added sugar and chemical additives, grown naturally without pesticides and vinified by hand in small batches. For a wine to be considered Clean-Crafted, it goes through two rounds of independent lab testing to guarantee that it's free of yucky stuff and has fewer than 100ppm of total sulfites. Farming and production practices are also evaluated to confirm that they are, in fact, Clean-Crafted. Kimberly loves sharing her passion for Clean-Crafted wine with fellow wine lovers. For more information, contact her at cleanwinebykc@gmail.com or visit her website at https://scoutandcellar.com/?u=cleanwinebykc. If you want to be featured in our helping others section, email summitup2020@gmail.com. It does not matter where in the world you are, Summit Up! will highlight you, your business or someone you know of in our weekly blog.  Final ThoughtsI hope this weeks blog gives you a better insight into the path I chose for myself. It wasnt always the easiest or most popular choice but set me up with a strong foundation. Choosing to be alone built a strength of mind, allowed me to dedicate, allowed me to critique myself and above all, NEVER afforded me the opportunity to become comfortable. This week, I encorage you to step outside of your comfort zone and become your biggest critic. Until next week, Summit Up! you've got this. Facebook: Summit Up Instagram: summit_up2020 Twitter: @summitup3 Website: www.summituplive.com  quote for the week“Once the decision is made, do not look back, do not second guess your decisions.”
Muhammad Ali 5/11/2020 0 Comments The Lonely Road Happy Monday All! I am getting straight to the point this week. If you want to be successful, you must sacrifice many things in order to get ahead. This weeks blog has the ability to reach a whole range of age groups. For the youth, I hope the story I am about to tell will give you food for thought. For adults, you may be looking at a lifestyle change or engaging challenges preventing yourself from being the best form of yourself. There is something special about being alone. We are created and exist in a womb for around 9 months on our own. During that time we grow, with help and care from our mothers and those around her. When born into the big wide world, we rely on help from others to continue in our physical and mental development. We lay alone at night when we are young and it is in that state of mind where dreams are created. Our mind is a powerful tool, even at such a young age. I remember as a young boy, my father would tuck me in on new years eve and would comment on the year ahead, what it might bring and the endless possibilities that lie ahead. It was subtle, yet powerful. As I drifted off to sleep, I would imagine all the great things the year could bring. They were mainly aspirations and visions of being SUCCESSFUL in football/soccer. I was being wired to endure the challenges that life would throw at me. My father was a police officer and that meant moving around a fair bit when I was in school. In a sense, it didn’t allow me to become stagnant. The down side to this was not having any real long term friends. In fact, most of the time from a young age of around 9-10 and through high school I was bullied. I remember rocking up to new schools as a half decent soccer player and showing up the top dog. As a family, we relocated a handful of times and playing soccer was a way for me to fit in and gain respect with people I knew little about. I was not popular and consequently had to stick up for myself when I was picked on and pushed. Thankfully, I had a father that always told me, if someone hits you, hit them back twice as hard. Now I realize that was the 90’s into 2000’s back home in England. There is a difference in culture compared to nowadays and in the U.S perhaps, depending on where you live. I never started a fight in my life, but I always finished one. In England, we start high school at age 12 and attend for 4 years. Compared to my middle school environment, things were no different. New school, same target on my back and same challenges. I remember the school bully kicking the younger kids ball away at lunchtime. I knew how this felt and decided to say something. The lad though it funny to tell me to shut up and threw a lazy punch that barely connected. I told him to stop and to leave the youngers alone. He threw a second effort but this time with more intent. I warned him one final time before he went for me. I evaded his third and final attempt, jab, jab, right hook and down he went, unable to get up swiftly. That was the end of the school bully. I wouldn’t say I was proud but the story got around and the best part was the entire event had been caught on camera. The bully was off to hospital and faced a suspension from the school for poor behavior. I have no doubt that I was hardened throughout these experiences. I was brought up to be polite, use my please and thank you’s and treat others with respect. The school bully was unfortunate. I had been boxing for two years and had kept it to myself. It kept me in great shape for soccer and disciplined me. Please note, I am not condoning aggressive behavior, but simply relating my story to the challenges I face to this very day and to encourage you all to stand up for yourselves, fight for what you believe in and be resilient on your journey to the top. For many years I had been alone. I didn’t have video games, I didn’t hang out with friends. I had team mates but seldom spent time with them outside of training and games. As I grew older and into my high school years there would be party’s, get togethers and drinking on the park bench. I was different, I was alone, I had a plan. I spent hours under my fathers encouragement, running, sprinting, and most importantly, spending time with the ball. I would work outside my house on the red road, under the street light in all types of weather. Rain, snow, hot and cold, it did not matter. I juggled, practiced skills and tricks, all the while some of the lads that had been selected to be in professional youth academies from ages 11-15 were living it up. They thought they had made it. I knew for a fact that I was a rare breed and would get my opportunity IF I continued to put the work in. I sit here today and I look back on the opportunities I was afforded for many years of sacrifice and many hours alone. I don’t look back with regret. I still face the same challenges today, I always have and I always will. Perhaps I can touch on these next week and follow up on this powerful notion of being alone and also the importance of having the right people around you.  Happy belated mothers day! Hoping all the mothers out there felt the love and felt special yesterday! helping others in our summit up! communityQ3 Technologies LLC Power and Technology Solutions for Industry Q3 Technologies is an industry leader providing electrical, low voltage, data network and communications infrastructure as well as fiber optic outside plant design, engineering and construction. Q3 Technologies also offers maintenance, testing, validation and consulting services for these products. Target markets are industrial, commercial and healthcare. Whether it’s inside your facility or connecting your campus, Q3 Technologies is a trusted and valued partner to many of the leading businesses in Southwest Michigan and other states as well. Founded on and committed to strong core beliefs in safety, quality, and a positive culture, we believe you will find a partnership with Q3 Technologies rewarding f or your business while providing excellent value to your bottom line. www.q3-tech.com (269) 388-6330  If you want to be featured in our helping others section, email summitup2020@gmail.com. It does not matter where in the world you are, Summit Up! will highlight you, your business or someone you know of in our weekly blog. final thoughtsI encourage you all to look forward to a positive week ahead. Stay engaged and commit to yourselves. Very few will fight your battles for you, nobody else can put the work in on your behalf. Make your own luck and have fun doing it. Until next week, Summit Up! You've got this. Facebook: Summit Up Instagram: summit_up2020 Twitter: @summitup3 Website: www.summituplive.com  Quote for the week"Without great solitude no serious work is possible."
Pablo Picasso 5/4/2020 0 Comments never give up continued... A happy Monday to you all. As the grass begins to grow and flowers start to bloom here in Michigan, it serves as a reminder of the beauty that surrounds us. As we part with the cold weather and learn to live in our seemingly new normal under Covid-19 restrictions, we must continue to believe that what lies ahead of us is a prosperous future. For those that are struggling in isolation, this mindset will help you overcome. Building off of last weeks blog, I wanted to elaborate more on society’s fear of failure. The more I think about it, the more I liken the word failure to the capping of ones potential. It is a threat or a way for society to tell you to stay in your comfort zone. Nonsense, you just will not get better if you don’t fall down every once in a while and learn to pick yourself back up. It hardens you and makes you more resilient. I have been fortunate to have learned many lessons so far on my journey through sports. As you might recall from last week, I was finally awarded a place at a professional youth academy at the age of 16. This was after years of effort, blood, sweat and tears. I had faced rejection and told I wasn’t good enough. I just didn’t want to take no for an answer. After two fantastic years at Yeovil Town and winning a national county championship with Somerset Schools I had signed for Plymouth Argyle. This was the club I had supported all my life. I had two amazing years at Plymouth playing alongside some top players in the youth and reserve teams and often being called up to train with the first team. The atmosphere at the club was incredible after being promoted twice in three years and finding ourselves in the championship (one league below the Premier League). I came close to a first team appearance after a successful spell in the reserves but it wasn’t to be and at the end of my two years, my contract had expired and got called into the office and was told I was “surplus to requirements” by Bobby Williamson. I was devastated. Not too long after, the club had arranged for me to fly out to Sweden and play for a small team called Ytterhogdahl. I remained focused and didn’t have time to dwell. Following a two month spell, I returned home and continued my search for a contract back home. I spent a week on trial at Grimsby, a trial at Motherwell under the guidance of Terry Butcher, England legend and another spell at Yeovil town. All three were unsuccessful. After short spells at Margate and Kettering in the Conference it was time to consider an alternative path. That path led me to the USA. The meaning of the above? Looking back now and as disappointed as I was, I never once thought about quitting. My years of training had programmed me to be mentally tough. I kept coming back and remained persistent in my search for betterment. To this very day, that has not changed and for those of you considering this message, it is not too late to accomplish that task, not too late to dream, nor too late to improve yourself. Get yourself out for a walk this week, seek inspiration, find time to read good books, learn more about what you are passionate about and encourage others to do the same. If you fail a little along the way, do not get discouraged, it’s okay to feel uncomfortable. Pick yourself up and go again! In closing and chatting with a fellow coach this past week we touched upon Michael Jordan and what a brilliant athlete he was, I was forwarded this quote: "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” helping others in our summit up! community If you would like to see your business highlighted in this section or know of anyone else who could benefit, please email summitup2020@gmail.com Its always good to lend a hand and help others grow. Final thoughts Thanks for reading and may this blog serve as a reminder that it's what you do in the face of adversity that defines you. When one door closes another door will open. Have faith and be brave in your decision making. Summit Up! You've got this. Your comments on this page are very much encouraged and remember, sharing is caring! Give us a share on your social media page and like the following: Facebook: Summit Up Instagram: summit_up2020 Twitter: @summitup3 Website: www.summituplive.com Quote for the week"Success is the ability to move from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm"
Winston Churchill |
AuthorDan Bulley has dedicated his life to youth development through his own experiences and living in football/soccer. Having played at professional clubs in England and been on 4 continents, Dan has settled in the U.S and is currently the owner of DBSS (Dan Bulley Soccer School). He carries a bachelors degree in sociology and a masters degree in coaching sports performance. Dan created Summit Up! to motivate and inspire both youth and adults to maximize their potential and to spark a strength of mind when the going gets tough. "The journey to your summit has only just began." Summit Up! Archives
July 2020
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