Monday Motivation Execution Strategy

Monday Motivation

Afterburner President Joel “Thor” Neeb shares his personal #MondayMotivation images and videos. Check back each week to see what’s motivating Thor!

It’s easy to find yourself in a slump or feeling like you’re not executing at your best. If you feel like your execution strategy needs an extra dose of inspiration, check out this compilation of motivational stories to give you the extra push you need.

29 January 2018 | SIMPLICITY beats COMPLEXITY

It’s Super Bowl week! One of my favorite jobs at Afterburner is supporting success for the fifteen different NFL teams that we’ve worked with over the years.

Last year I got a chance to sit down with the former NFC Defensive Player of the Year to find out how he was so successful in a world of elite athletes. His answer may surprise you, but it reinforces the fact that SIMPLICITY beats COMPLEXITY in business, combat, and football.

Read more about Success is Simple here.

15 January 2018 | “Keep Moving Forward”

11 December 2017 | Be Remarkable
“The opposite of remarkable is not bad or mediocre – the opposite of remarkable is very good.” – Seth Godin.

How will you serve others – your clients, your loved ones, your team – in a way that is memorable and not just adequate? Be remarkable. Afterburner #MotivationMonday

27 November 2017 | Visualize Success
“I always knew which ones would quit,” Christopher Gomez, former Navy SEAL trainer and current Afterburner teammate told me.

One of the most challenging events in SEAL qualification is the 50-meter underwater swim. The SEAL candidate has to start from a stationary position in the water and swim 50 meters on one breath.

“The ones that quit and came up for air would always glance up at the surface of the water first. The moment they took their eyes off of their objective they had already failed.”

Visualize success, decide what you’re willing to endure to succeed, and then obsessively drive towards your goal. #MotivationMonday

30 October 2017 | The Value of Hard Work

The comic below is printed out in our home as a reminder about the value of hard work.

Like everyone else, I’ve always been drawn to the recreational moments in life – watching movies, vegging out on the couch, sitting on the beach with a cold drink. But for me, those experiences don’t provide lasting satisfaction. I just end up bored and looking for things to do to occupy my restless mind.

At the same time, I dread particularly arduous work weeks but I’m always energized and in high spirits when the work is completed.

It’s an interesting paradox, but I believe the most satisfying moments in life come from those times we’ve been part of an exceptional team on an inspiring mission.

What difficult experiences in life ended up being your most cherished memories? Has hard work rewarded you more than any vacation could?

I’ll give my own answer in the comments here. #MotivationMonday

16 October 2017 | We Never Know

This is the sign posted in the waiting room at MD Anderson Cancer Hospital in Houston, Texas. Though I dread these trips to have my Stage IV Cancer semi-annual assessments done, it is a great blessing to have my priorities re-caged with each visit. For six months Life’s daily frustrations mount, and then I come here and ask myself, “Why did I ever worry about (fill in the blank)?! It didn’t matter.” While the people outside these walls are screaming in traffic and rushing through the mall, the patients in here are calmly facing down their biggest challenge. It never ceases to amaze me how FRIENDLY the patients are, in the midst of their struggle, because they choose to walk through what may be their last journey with their priorities finally in line. Their courage in the face of daunting odds rivals anything I’ve encountered in the military, and I’m humbled to have called myself one of them for awhile. #MotivationMonday

25 September 2017 | Perseverance. Effort. Glory.

#MotivationMonday If you haven’t seen Ray Lewis’s Ted Talk it’s a powerful story of perseverance through life’s struggles. This version is even better. “There are two sides to pain. One side is the suffering and the discomfort. But there’s another side. It’s called effort. Glory. If you can find a way to push through pain, there’s something greater on the other side.”

11 September 2017 | There are no Forks in the Road of Life, only Escalators

I couldn’t capture this week’s #MotivationMonday in just a few pithy sentences. Austin Hulbert’s powerful story of rising from horrific tragedy while still a teenager is gut-wrenching, compelling, and inspiring. He has incredible lessons to share about persevering through life’s biggest challenges. Read the full story here.

28 August 2017 | Don’t let your circumstances define you

Afterburner team member David “Finch” Guenthner was born with a degenerative hip disease that kept him in a hospital bed and in traction for six months as a child. He then wore leg braces for two years and was told that he would never run, never participate in sports, and would most likely be physically disabled in some fashion for the rest of his life. Instead, Finch became the captain of the high school football team and a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. Forest Gump, eat your heart out! Don’t let your circumstances define you – define new circumstances. #MotivationMonday

21 August 2017 | The simplest way to improve any team

When Afterburner team member Tracy LaTourrette graduated from the Air Force Academy, there had never been a U.S. female fighter pilot. She became one of the first pioneers to break through the gender glass ceiling within the high-stakes environment of aerial combat. Tracy (or “Jackie O” as we know her) helped to forge a trail of excellence for the generation of female warriors that would follow her. In the days after the attacks of 9/11, Jackie O was flying above us in an F-16 ensuring the safety of our country. The simplest way to improve any team is to add members with diverse core competencies and new problem-solving skills. Our world is safer because of the diverse teams that protect it. #MotivationMonday

31 July 2017 | Do you have contingency plans in place?

The picture below is of Afterburner team member Chris Stricklin as he ejected from his Thunderbird F-16 aircraft moments before it exploded on the ground. The entire flight lasted 25 seconds, but it was doomed just 13 seconds into the first maneuver. While completing the back side of a loop a few hundred feet above the runway, Elroy realized something was terribly wrong. Because he had trained for this type of emergency and mentally flown the entire mission before takeoff, he was prepared for this contingency. Experts say there was only a half second window that he could have ejected and survived. Elroy ejected milliseconds before the F-16 and thousands of pounds of fuel exploded on impact with the ground. Today he’s two inches shorter from the ejection and hard landing, but he is alive. Do you have contingency plans in place to recover if disaster strikes? #MotivationMonday

31 July 2017 | Will YOU be ready?

While waiting on the launchpad in space shuttle Endeavor, astronaut and Afterburner, Inc team member Bill Gregory didn’t believe he was going anywhere. “They told us there was no way we would launch that night – the weather was horrible.” His congressman didn’t show up, there was no crowd, and the astronauts were merely going through the formality of waiting for the launch to be cancelled and reset for some far off date. Then, at 1:37 AM the skies parted and the astronauts received notice that they would launch in 31 seconds. “All I had was 31 seconds to prepare – to remember all of my training, to execute the plan I had dreamed of since I was a kid.” As they lifted off, the black night sky gave way to sunlight because there is no nighttime in space. Bill Gregory and his team of astronauts would spend the next 17 days among the stars, setting a new mission duration record for space travel. Will you be ready when your opportunity arrives? #MondayMotivation

24 July 2017 | “Gift”

“What is the future tense of ‘I give’? It’s not ‘I will give’, but rather ‘I receive’.” – Robert Cialdini. Not seeing the results you want out of life? Try giving in new and unexpected ways – to your family, your co-workers, your team – and watch the returns flow in from your investment. True satisfaction only comes from one of three things: gratitude, growth and giving. The segment below is one of Inc Magazine’s picks for the top 5 motivational videos of all time. #MondayMotivation

10 July 2017 | Unbroken

This video has inspired me through an Ironman Triathlon, a professional transformation, and a Stage IV Cancer battle. It’s halftime in 2017. Get back in the game and finish the year magnificently. Watch it now – you won’t regret it. If you love it as much as I do share it with someone else that needs it. #MondayMotivation

03 July 2017 | “Leaders Eat Last”

On June 28, 2005, Afterburner team member Matthew Brady was sitting in a helicopter full of Navy SEALs, preparing to fly them into hostile territory to help save Americans who were under attack. Just prior to lifting off, Matt’s commander, Major Stephen Reich, ran up to the helicopter and directed Matt to stay behind. Major Reich would fly the mission instead because in his words, “the drop zone was too dangerous” and as the commander he needed to assume the risk himself. If you’ve seen the movie Lone Survivor, you know that the helicopter was shot down and Major Reich and all eight Navy SEALs died that day.

“Leaders Eat Last” is more than a figure of speech to Americans like Major Stephen Reich – it means servant leadership up to and including self-sacrifice. I’ve had the privilege of working with my heroes in two careers – first in the military and now at Afterburner. You won’t find these men and women taking sides in some silly Twitter war, but they will stand up and fight to preserve freedom for us all. Here’s to the soldiers of every country that cherish liberty and justice. Happy Independence Day. #MondayMotivation

12 June 2017 | End Laziness. Visualize Success.

“I always knew which ones would quit,” Christopher Gomez, former Navy SEAL trainer and current Afterburner teammate told me. Arguably, the toughest event in SEAL qualification is the 50-meter underwater swim. The SEAL candidate has to start from a stationary position in the water and swim 50 meters on one breath. “The ones that quit and came up for air would always glance up at the surface of the water first. The moment they took their eyes off of their objective they had already failed.” Visualize success, decide what you’re willing to endure to succeed, and then obsessively drive towards your goal. #MotivationMonday

5 June 2017 | Be Remarkable.

“The opposite of remarkable is not bad or mediocre – the opposite of remarkable is very good.” – Seth Godin. How will you serve others – your clients, your loved ones, your team – in a way that is memorable and not just adequate? Be remarkable. #MotivationMonday

17 April 2017 | Assess Your Path

“For the past 33 years I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?’ whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row I know I need to change something.” – Steve Jobs. In this season of rebirth, take the opportunity to assess the path you’re on. I watch Steve’s address once a year and I always get fresh insights from it. #MondayMotivation.

Monday Motivation to Inspire Your Execution Strategy: with Joel Thor Neeb

Monday Motivation

Afterburner President Joel “Thor” Neeb shares his personal #MondayMotivation images and videos. Check back each week to see what’s motivating Thor!

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