![Adam Silver]()
Last Friday afternoon,
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke candidly about the mental health of many of his players at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. It was the first time I have ever heard a commissioner of the four big-time sports speak so openly about a tough subject. Everything he said was eye-opening, but it is on point.
Fans and the media only see the outside. These athletes make tons of money, have big houses, attend the fanciest of parties, and get all the girls. But all of them are hiding something. All of them are projecting an image. They only let you see what they want you to see. They never let you see the whole person.
Fame, fortune and the bright lights of the NBA isn't going to make you happy. If you were unhappy before all fame and limelight, you're not going to be any happier with it. Trust me.
I spent 13 months working at Harvard - yes, Harvard University, the oldest and most prestigious university in the nation. But anytime I told people I spent 13 months working at Harvard, I cringed. While it was something I was proud of, it also wasn't. I learned a ton of new things, and met many great new people all of whom I still keep in contact with today, but with the name Harvard comes a stigma. The stigma that you are better than every one else. And that is not something I want to portray.
Other than being Division I athletics and having highly selective admission standards, Harvard is truly no different than many other colleges or universities. It faces many of the same problems other affecting other colleges. The students are still 18-, 19-, 20-, 21- and 22-year-olds, who if any of you remember the way you acted at that age, these kids aren't much different.
The NBA and Harvard share a lot in common. They both are the pinnacle of their industries. If you make it there, you are perceived as successful. Everyone is envious. But they are on the outside looking and it's tough to see past the facade. For the Gen Z'ers reading this, it's analogous to taking 100 selfies on your phone, choosing the best one and spending 20 minutes on a clickbait-y description.
For me, I came to this realization last August. Our office was just renovated, they had taken down a wall, but you could see where the wall was because of the carpet outline on the floor. Well a few days later, Harvard had its carpet guy come in to take measurements for an estimate. To my surprise, the business Harvard uses for its carpet is run by a long-time family friend.
That's the definition of success.
All along I always thought, I have to get to the top. I have to go Division I, be at a big-time school, or top-notch professional organizations. But I've only come to find out that I was WRRR....ONGGG! There I said it. I was wrong!
I began to come to this realization over last summer, the summer of 2018. I was working 9-5 in the office at Harvard, then at night Monday through Thursday I was working a basketball league in either Watertown or Brighton. And I had a blast.
Earlier that May, I managed to let the commissioner let me produce weekly video highlights for the summer league. He said 'yes' and that began the best summer of my life. And it only got better. Later that September, he informed me if I wanted to do more video features for the other programs they'd love to have them. What? Was completely not expecting that, but hey a win's a win!
Getting back to what Adam Silver said about his current NBA players, money, fame and stardom doesn't bring happiness. How can you truly be happy when you're sitting isolated with your head down and music blaring through your headphones? Or when you don't come into contact with single soul from when you board plan to showing up in the locker room?
Human interaction is the whole concept of our society and if you're lacking that, it's sad.
The best part of my weekend was when I was working the Middle School Fun and Games night for the recreation department. One kid didn't want to do anything, but when I gave him my camera and said "hey go snap some photos." He was a little reluctant at first, but warmed up to it, even asking how some of the other functions on the camera work. And he took some great photos.
That's what success is. That is what life is all about. Bringing people together and making people aware of who they are and what they are good at.
And further proof fame, status and money doesn't bring happiness. Enjoyment of the process does.
From the Braungardt Family Podcast: "
Mom I Wanna Be A YouTuber."
The title of this book drew me too it. How could it it not? We've all see the phrase "Works Well With Others" on our report cards and progress reports throughout our grammar school years, so when I saw it on a book, it made me laugh. Actually come to think of it, there were a lot of "laugh out loud" moments throughout the entire book.
LOL Moment No. 5: Forgetting Embarrassing Moments 
Once again this is not really a "haha" laugh out loud moment, but more of a realization LOL moment. There are times in your life that you will feel less than adequate. There is always going to be someone better or someone that can do way cooler things than you, but that doesn't mean you should give up. When we have feelings of delusions of adequacy (great name for a band, by the way), it only forces us to do our best work. Prepare more, research the answer the answer to a problem that you wouldn't ordinarily do if you were confident going it, basically "FITFO" - figure it the f*ck out! It's really why I enjoyed my time at Harvard. I knew I was just as talented and could do the work that everyone else was doing, but that little feeling that "maybe I just wasn't good enough" or "I really sucked with that video," made me try harder the next time. Being surrounded by literal, experts in their fields can do that for you.
If not a business person or don't have a business mindset, then "What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School" probably is not going to be of much interest. But for me I've always had a passion for business. I like managing, people and operations, and I'm pretty good at it. I know how to make things run smoothly and get others to do things that they may or may not actually want to do.
One point that came up in both books was, if you're trying to sell someone on an idea or topic, then you have to make it seem like it is their idea. People will more likely agree to your thoughts if you present it to them like it was there idea - i.e. "how I won the summer of 2018" - and will most likely again win Summer 2019. LET'S DO IT!!!
