Success Breeds Success

Success Breeds Success

I grew up with a tough mother. She taught me many lessons in life. One big one is that ‘you are who you hang out with’. I have watched talented people hang out with the wrong people only to be drug down by those less than talented individuals. I’ve also watched folks with little talent hang around some awesome groups, and I’ve watched those less than talented folks flourish simply because they were hanging out with individuals that brought out the best in them.

This one lesson in life is responsible for a significant portion of my personal success. Early on in life, I hung out with whom is now my best friend, Kevin Jones. I call him KJ nowadays, but no matter what you want to call him this guy brought out the absolute best in me. He believed in me, and I totally looked up to him. Heck I still look up to him. He’s just that guy. You know what I mean. He’s the guy that simply makes you feel like that you could climb Mt. Everest naked.

If you don’t know a guy like that, then you are one of two types of people.

1.  You are either that guy yourself,

2. Or you are hanging out with the wrong people.

This ability to bring out the best in people has catapulted this guy in the business world. He was the CEO of a company that was just acquired for over $42,000,000. That same company began as a $5,000,000 only 4 years ago. So how does a man build a company like that? Well, I can tell you. He surrounded himself with talented people. Then he used his ability to motivate individuals. Really, it’s not motivation. He’s able to look into their souls and find that unique talent or ability, and then he’s able to help them nourish that talent until they become better than anyone else at that one thing.

Think about it! After he’s been with a company for 2-5 years, he builds a team of unbeatable winners that would walk through fire for him. He did the same for me over thirty years ago. He taught me that ability, and now I am able to pass this on to my athletes.

Athletes don’t come to me to be average. There are several other places that athletes could go to just have fun or learn about lifting weights. In my town there are several great facilities to go just to have fun, and heck I would recommend them. However, when someone looks in the mirror and decides that they truly want to be great, well then our team becomes a good choice for that individual.

This year has been filled with wins for Mash Elite Performance. It’s becoming a habit. Let me give you a short list:

·      Nathan Clifton just placed 4^th in the world at the CrossFit Games and won two events.

·      Haley Adams just dominated the CrossFit Games not only winning but also winning every event but two. Now I only work with her in the offseason on her strength, but I have to mention her. Plus our team loves her.

·      We have the 4^th and 5^th best weightlifters in the entire country, Nathan Damron and Jordan Cantrell.

·      We have the Youth Pan American Gold Medalist, Morgan McCullough. He won that Gold Medal while he was only 14-years-old.

·      We had three Youth athletes on Team USA at the Pan American Championships: Ryan Grimsland, Morgan McCullough, and Jared Flaming.

·      We have three that are sitting on Team USA for the Youth World Championships: Hannah Dunn, Morgan, and Ryan.

·      We have 2-4 more athletes that could make an International team for Team USA this year or next.

·      Tommy Bohanon had a career best season as the starting fullback for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

·      I have to mention our two High School Freshmen, Cam and Tate, that are starting on the Varsity Football Team for one of the local high schools in our area, Davie High

This is a very abbreviated list, but I wanted to get your attention. Did I mention that our gym is in a small little town here in North Carolina, Lewisville? We are not in some metropolis like L.A. or Miami. I’d like to think that would be an even bigger hit, but there is something about having a dominating team in a small town that makes me smile every night before going to bed. I’m sure that it doesn’t make some of the coaches smile that are located throughout the country that hate getting beat by a team in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that’s why so many people like to make up silly rumors. I’m sure it’s hard to understand why this team is killing it, so I am going to shed some light.

I have extremely high expectations for my athletes. They will be the first to tell you. You can ask Hunter Elam or Derek Bryant, and they will tell you that my expectations can be quite overwhelming sometimes. That’s when I have to remind them that I love them no matter what, but dang it, they didn’t come to me to be mediocre. If I allow them to become mediocre, then I didn’t do my job. They are trusting me to maximize their potential, and both of them have unlimited potential. That immediately tells me that we have to set our sites on the Olympics.

Don’t come to be with this baby steps crap. I simply don’t have time for that nor do my athletes. Derek came to me with a 263kg total, and 10-weeks later he put up 300kg. This young man will be at 330kg minimum by next year. If you don’t believe my predictions, you should ask Morgan McCullough how dead on my predictions usually are.

Hunter is about to do something extraordinary that I am not at liberty to talk about, but I promise you will find out really soon. Now is this me bragging about my athletes? Maybe, I love my team, and I believe in them 100%. However, bragging isn’t my intention right now. I am trying to teach all of you what my team hears each and every day. Guys, if you can’t say it, you sure as heck can’t do it. You will never reach a goal that you don’t believe is possible.

It’s these expectations and it’s this culture that breeds my incredible athletes. If you want to be successful, you have to surround yourself with people like this. For example, if you want to win USAW Senior Nationals, you have to wonder if you are on the right team. Does your coach have the same goals for you? Does he or she believe that you can do it? Have others on your team already accomplished that feat? You better have answered at least 2 or 3 of these questions with a definite affirmative. I mean you might be the first person to win Nationals for your team. Someone has to be the first on a newer team to actually win. However if you are on a team that has been around for a longtime and no one has won in a very long time, you at least have to ask some hard questions. Heck maybe you are the person that needs to ignite the team to lift everyone else up. Whatever, but the culture has to fit your goals.

Now I want to make sure that you all know that I am not saying that a good club has to be one that always wins. I am not saying that. There are clubs like the one my friend Gabriel owns that helps people connect their mental health with working out. Some people want to own clubs that help people become active for the first time. There are a lot of great cultures out there that do a lot of good for a lot of people. What I am absolutely saying is that the culture has to match your goals and dreams.

I want to end with one story about one of our newer athletes, Kobe Thomas. His goal is to simply qualify for Senior Nationals. He doesn’t know it yet, but I am going to convince him to earn a spot in the A Session. This is an example of shifting a mindset. It’s a paradigm shift. It’s a reality shift. Kobe lacks confidence right now, but I see something special in this young man. I mean, he picked up everything and moved to North Carolina from Missouri. That tells me that he’s pretty darn brave. My job is to expose that bravery on the platform. I am going to. I have to.

He trusted me. His parents trusted me with their boy. I am not going to disappoint. No matter what happens, I am going to leave this boy with more confidence and a better mindset. I want him to one-day leave this sport with way less barriers in life. I want him to learn to identify a goal, make a plan, commit to that plan, and find a way to achieve it. I won’t rest until that happens, so Kobe you need to buckle up and get ready to get jacked.

I don’t know who will read this. As you can tell, I am in a great mood. My team is crushing it. However, most of you know that Coach Don McCauley is battling brain cancer and heart disease, so we need a lot of prayers. Our team needs your help as well. Lately, we’ve had a few of our sponsors that are struggling, so that in turn makes our team struggle. We are a 501c3 nonprofit team committed to helping our young men and women reach their Olympic Dreams. We are also committed to building up our local community with our at risk program. We need the funds to hire one full-time person for that purpose, and we need a van to bus in some at risk children. If you want to help, sponsor, or have suggestions, you can email me personally at masheliteperformance@gmail.com. If you want to donate, we have a few options to partner with our team at:

è https://www.mashelite.com/donate-to-the-team/

Teams like our team can’t survive without all of you. Whenever you support us, you are directly supporting our athletes and our efforts to impact our community. You do the same thing whenever you purchase anything from www.mashelite.com as our for profit business donates a percentage of all our sales. I just want to say thank you to all of you.

Sincerely,

Coach Travis Mash 

USA Weightlifting Senior International Coach

Head Coach Mash Mafia Weightlifting