NFL Legend Joe Theismann on ‘GMR’: Change is Opportunity

There’s a world of change right now, but Joe Theismann says it’s really a world of opportunity.

Appearing on “Good Morning RE/MAX,” the NFL legend and future BOC speaker joined RE/MAX Chief Customer Officer Nick Bailey to discuss the parallels between professional sports and professional entrepreneurship – and how to incorporate that same thinking into personal lives.

After winning the 1982 NFL title in Super Bowl XVII, Theismann says he was invited to attend a variety of corporate functions. There, he started hearing the same terms he heard in football.

“Everybody kept talking about how we have to set goals, we need goals, our attitude is very important to the way we approach things, how do we get motivated to do the things that we want to do. We really need to work together as a team, we need to seize these opportunities,” he said. “I started thinking, those are the same exact things that we talked about in the world of sports, but yet also things we have to recognize in our own personal lives.”

The author of the newly released “How to Be a Champion Every Day” realized that in sports and business, everyone writes down their goals. But outside of those settings, people fail to do so. That simple act makes a big difference.

“I think you’ll be shocked how your world starts to go in a particular direction because all of a sudden you’ve given it direction,” he said. “Writing down goals is one of the most important things someone can do.”

But as people begin examining what they want to do personally, professionally, spiritually and financially, they’ll also begin to encounter change. That change, Theismann says, is the opportunity.

“People are not afraid of change, they’re afraid of being changed,” he said. “I think this [time] is a great opportunity for every one of us to be able to study who we are, our relationships, our family unit.

“Don’t think of this as being a change in our lives. Think of it as being an opportunity to be able to evaluate where you are. You’ve had success and you’ve built the foundation. Now modify it, seize the opportunity that is there to be able to move forward from it.”