5 Lessons We Can All Learn From Tom Brady The New England Patriots quarterback isn't just an athlete -- he's also a great leader and determined worker.
By Jonathan Long •
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Super Bowl LI will undoubtedly go down as the best Super Bowl in NFL history. Tom Brady showed the world why he is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time), taking his team from a third-quarter, 25-point deficit to a shocking win in overtime.
Football skills aside, we can all learn something from Brady. Here are five lessons every entrepreneur can learn from the greatest to ever play the game.
1. Keep focused on your goal (even when extreme distractions are present).
This season was full of distractions for Brady. He served a four-game suspension to start the season for the Deflategate scandal after deciding against appealing to the Supreme Court. If that weren't enough, Brady was influenced not to pursue an appeal because his mother, Galynn Brady, has been sick for the past 18 months.
He had plenty of off-field distractions, but he never lost focus.
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When you have the burning desire to crush your goals, you can block out distractions, no matter how extreme they are. Brady's focus paid off when he captured his fifth Super Bowl ring and dedicated the win to his mother.
2. Always take the high road.
Brady could have easily told Roger Goodell to stick it where the sun doesn't shine during the trophy presentation. He could have absolutely dragged his name through the mud during every post-game interview. He didn't. He let his on-field performance do the talking.
As much as he probably would have loved to throw it in Goodell's face, he took the high road. Brady has always been a class act and a great role model for kids. As a parent, how could you not want your kids to look up to Brady? It's no wonder his jersey is one of the top-selling in 2016, even though he's been wearing number 12 for the Patriots for almost two decades.
3. Don't panic in difficult situations.
When you panic, you make irrational decisions that can lead to failure. Even when trailing Atlanta 28 to 3 in the third quarter, Brady never panicked. He remained calm, and that confidence and leadership trickled down to every other player on the team.
In business, everyone will end up in some tricky or difficult situations, but the people who can keep calm and focused always have a chance to figure out a solution.
4. Have complete confidence in your abilities.
The critics have been very vocal in the past regarding Brady, mostly centered around his age. At 39, Brady is much older than the league average, which was 26.6 in 2015. If Brady wasn't 100 percent confident in his abilities, his coaches and teammates would lose confidence in their leader.
In business, when your team believes in you, it elevates their self-believe, creating a much stronger company. Without confidence, you have nothing.
5. Never give up.
Brady never gave up, and we know what the outcome was -- victory. Ring number five. Going down in history as MVP of the greatest Super Bowl game.
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Entrepreneurs need similar resiliency. Most fail miserably and often before they experience success. Even those who appear to achieve overnight success might have been working, unnoticed, for a decade.
Simply never giving up can often lead to a successful outcome. If you give up, you will never know what could have been.
