There Are Many Ways to Get to Eight

Hey team, so I got this quote or concept. I saw something on social media, and then I was talking to my boys a little bit about this—something about how we train and how we think—and it reminded me of our core values a little bit. Let me explain why.

The statement in the social media quote was something like: 4 + 4 is 8. But so is 5 + 3. There are many ways to get to the same solution, to the end goal. When I think of our core values, I think of having the humility to take thoughts from somebody else that might get us to the same goal and not overthink it. Or the resolve to not quit and to keep going, and to invest in each other to help build each other up to accomplish goals. A lot of different things, right?

Ultimately, as I was talking with my boys about this concept. Specifically, I was discussing with them that there are many ways to accomplish the same thing.

When Jonathan was younger, one of the things I was explaining to them is Jonathan one day locked the bathroom door to our bathroom. Where our shower is and stuff, it has a door lock on it. He locked it and closed the door. He wasn’t doing this as a mischievous thing; he was only like five years old at the time.

I used this as a teaching moment. I went and got a screwdriver and a credit card, and I went to unlock the door. And I did it four or five different times. First, I took the screwdriver and put it in the little hole and twisted it. It unlocked the handle and the device on the other side of the door, and the door opened.

Then I relocked it and closed it again. Then I took a credit card and a knife and showed him how you can open the door by pushing over the little latch on the side that locks in place. I kept showing him little different pieces and different ways and stuff. Then I showed him how you could take the screwdriver and a hammer, pop the pins out, and just remove the whole door. I put it all back together again.

I said, “Now, another way you could do this is just take a big hammer or something. You just break the door down.” Now that is much more destructive. So you want to think through the different aspects of the problem.

Recently, Jonathan was tasked with a mission. He was paid to water the lawns of a neighbor friend. We were driving home, and we noticed there was a whole bunch of water underneath his car and in the street. We went to the backyard and noticed that there was water leaking all over the place. It was coming from the hose.

When we found the hose, we realized we couldn’t get it undone. We couldn’t turn it off. It’s a weird setup—the owner had punched through his house. The turnoff valve was inside his locked, probably alarmed home. Short of breaking a window and bringing the cops to the place, I wasn’t going to get into the house to turn it off.

So I had to come up with some other solutions. Immediately, my brain started to think of five or six different ways to slow the flow of water and turn it off. My mind was thinking about kinking the hose, wrapping it really tight with some duct tape, and slowing the flow of water down to a trickle or nothing. I was thinking of all kinds of different things. I could go through them all with you, but again, my mind is pretty fast.

Then I noticed the little spigot had popped off. It had just come out. So I shoved it back inside after kinking the hose, and that did it. It was a super-easy solution. But I was looking for ways, and my brain was moving a million miles a minute to accomplish the thing.

There are many ways to get to eight. 1 + 7, 2 + 6, 3 + 5, and 4 + 4 all equal eight. No matter what your goal is, no matter how you’re trying to get there, there are many ways to get there.

Some of them are a little more destructive than others. So you might want to steer away from those being your first go-tos. Breaking down doors, breaking windows, and bringing the cops in are not always your best solution in every circumstance.

I imagine you run into many things in your life, and there are many ways to get to eight. So I want you to think about that. When you’re working with a team, there are many ways to get to eight. So don’t throw shade on somebody else’s 1 + 7 just because you’re a 3 + 5 kind of guy, or maybe you’re a 2 + 6 kind of gal. Don’t throw shade on somebody that’s a 5 + 3 or a 4 + 4.

Recognize that there are many ways to get to eight. So be humble and listen and work together, and come up with a really good solution that accomplishes the goal. 2 + 6, 1 + 7, or 4 + 4—it doesn’t matter as long as you get to eight.

All right. God bless you. Have a wonderful, exciting, and motivating day. I’ll see you guys next week. Be valuable. You know that nothing less will do.