BEHIND THE MIKE

The late James Wyman Ingram of Lexington, known by his peers and athletes as “Coach” or “Whiney,” loved to say: “Every play is designed to go for a touchdown.” It raises the question… are you on target to score?

Life should be designed the same way. Every venture we approach should be attacked with the same design… to score. The obvious question is “Why doesn’t every play end up in a touchdown?” It boils down to execution.

Most of us have desires and then we have goals. It might be our desire to score a touchdown on every play. That desire is muted by our execution.

I first met New England Coach Bill Belichick through my attorney, the late Craig S. Kelly of Columbia. Craig was Belichick’s agent. Belichick’s favorite saying till this day is “Do your job!”

For every play to end in a touchdown, each man has to do his job. Therein lay the problem. All it takes is a busted blocking assignment, a wayward pass, a flinch at the line of scrimmage or dozens of other tiny little things to bring a play crashing to the earth.

A tiny drop of machine oil can contaminate a ship’s entire water system. That is why it is so important for crew members to do their job. Sounds simple, but it is truly the way life is. If we do our jobs, fate will take care of us.

As often as not, a man’s character determines his fate, but it takes actions for the seeds of fate to take root. Fate has nothing to do with your goals. Fate could care less what they might be. Life’s paths often lead to unexpected turns and unintended consequences. One has no choice but to make a decision and move on.

We often meet our fate on a road we did not intend to take. It happened to me when I went overtime in the most important speech in my life at the Toastmasters International World Championship of Public Speaking in 1978 in Toronto in Canada. I went overtime and was disqualified.

I did not intend to take that path. It was humiliating because I lost to me. I actually met my destiny on a road I took to avoid it. It was in losing that I learned the real value of victory and defeat. I had no one to blame but myself.

Could it be that our mistakes are what make our fate in life? We all like to think we are the masters of our fate, the captains of our soul. If you cannot change your fate, at least you can change your attitude.

You do not find love in life; love generally finds you. It has something to do with purpose, fortune and destiny. It has something to do with what is in your heart. I am convinced that a determined soul is as important a part of the formula as any other are of life.

Speaking for myself, falling in love with my bride of nearly a half century was totally out of my control. Staying in love for that long was the result of two imperfect people refusing to give up on each other.

Could it be that we determine our destiny by the actions we take today? Destiny and fate are not a matter of chance or choice, but rather are about the decisions we make.

Life precedes death. Strength precedes weakness. And journey will always precede destination. Enjoy the journey because rarely can we choose our destiny.

We do not score a touchdown on every play even though we clearly have designed the play to end in a touchdown. The difficulties we face along the way are little obstacles that must be overcome.

Belichick would say “Do your job.” Block and tackle and good will follow. Difficulties prepare ordinary people for extraordinary destinations.

That is how Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have navigated their destiny. If it is true that the gate of history turns on small hinges, that may best explain the success of those who find a way to get the job done.

Michael Aun, was awarded the George Morrissey Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 by the National Speakers Association.