23d • Mindset
Dawg Mentality + Development
I talk a lot about development — not just skill, but mindset. And for me, that DAWG mentality didn’t show up early. It had to be built.
I was always the little guy.
Younger than everyone.
Graduated high school at 17.
Went away to college at 17.
And honestly… a lot of my development didn’t come until much later.
I didn’t grow up playing a ton of sports. I wasn’t this freak athlete. I wasn’t the toughest kid.
In fact — I was soft. Especially around 6th grade. Not because I was weak… but because I just hadn’t been in the fire yet. I didn’t understand contact. Competition. Grit. I was happy-go-lucky, smiling, floating through games.
And I’ll never forget this one weekend. Doubleheader. Home games. We went back to the house between games and I crawled into the back of the Suburban — not even bothered that we lost. Meanwhile my dad was watching all of this… and he was disappointed. Not in me as a person — but in my effort.
And my dad wasn’t just some guy yelling from the stands. He was a professional drummer. A black belt in Taekwondo. A guy who KNEW what discipline, effort, and mastery looked like.
And that day he told me straight:
“If I ever see effort like that again, I won’t come to another game.”
Not because he didn’t love me.But because he refused to support half-speed effort.
So I made it my mission the next game to play as hard as I possibly could. To be aggressive. To compete.
And right off the faceoff…
I got crushed.Laid out.
Flattened. Because I was still little.
But this time…I popped right back up.
Didn’t whine.
Didn’t stay down.
Didn’t feel sorry for myself.
And when I looked up I saw my dad with this look like:
“Yes. That. That’s it.”
It wasn’t about winning.
It was about refusing to stay down.
That’s DAWG Mentality.
Gritty.
Dogs don’t sit there overthinking. They don’t fear failure. They don’t care how they look. They live in the present moment and chase the ball, the squirrel, the opportunity with everything they have.
If they miss?They just chase again.
No story. No drama. No self-pity.
And I want that for my athletes.
I want that for my kids.
I want that for myself.
Because development isn’t always loud and flashy. A lot of times it’s slow. Late. Awkward. Uncomfortable. And that’s okay. I didn’t peak young. I didn’t dominate early. But I kept going — and I’m proud of how far that’s taken me.
So whatever your goal is — Pro. Junior A. Varsity. Club. Or just becoming the best version of you…
Be disciplined.
Be gritty.
Be a DAWG.And keep getting back up.
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Dawg Mentality + Development
skool.com/the-path-to-success-3489
Lacrosse training with a box focus. Step inside and see how real development is built.
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