4th and 1 Mindset with Coach Mikki:
Start Strong - Finish Strong! Dominate Everything In Between! (TM)
http://www.4thand1mindset.com
The mindset needed when everything is on the line. On the field, in business, in life and, whatever goal you are going after!
4th and 1 Mindset with Coach Mikki is your playbook for mastering life’s toughest moments.
Coach Mikki, a seasoned football coach with 17 years of experience coaching from Pop Warner to College Athletes.
She is an international speaker sharing the 4th and 1 Mindset to fortune 500 companies, Mastermind groups, college campus, Women's Groups and on the field located all over the globe.
Coach Mikki dives into the mindset needed to succeed when everything is on the line. Just like in football’s pivotal 4th and 1, the difference between winning and losing comes down to focus, grit, and execution.
She shares strategies to help you convert life’s critical moments in your personal journey into opportunities for victory.
From the stage to virtual streaming learn how to develop a mindset that pushes past obstacles and drives you to achieve greatness on and off the field.
4th and 1 Mindset with Coach Mikki:
When Emotions Test Us - S2E6
A single game can transform an entire team philosophy. When one of my star players took a dangerous late hit – with the opposing player deliberately stepping on his helmet our team's reaction changed everything. Instead of waiting for referee calls or retaliating with aggression, they instantly surrounded their fallen brother with unwavering support. "We've got you," they reassured him, demonstrating that true strength flows from unity, not talent alone.
This moment crystallized what became the 4thin1 Mindset. The scoreboard became secondary to our brotherhood. We didn't match dirty play with complaints or aggression; we responded with superior execution and disciplined performance. That night we became unshakable – not because we were the most talented team, but because our bond became unbreakable.
This principle extends beyond sports. I learned its personal application during a confrontation with a defensive coordinator who consistently undermined me, culminating in a sideline altercation where emotions nearly overwhelmed us both. That failure in emotional control became a powerful teaching moment about taking responsibility for our actions when tensions flare.
Whether on the field or in life, emotional regulation represents true strength. When reaching your boiling point, remember you cannot control others' actions only your response. Surround yourself with people who create an unbreakable support system rather than dwelling on those who generate turmoil. The most meaningful victories come not from dominating others, but from mastering yourself in moments of intense pressure. Don't settle for surface-level relationships; seek the championship bonds that elevate everyone involved.
Start Strong - Finish Strong! - Let's Go!
@4thand1Mindset
4th and 1 Mindset with Coach Mikki
Okay, bring it in. Bring it in, listen up, listen up. Hey, I'm Coach Mickey. You're here on 4thin1 Mindset.
Speaker 1:I've coached a lot of games over the years, but I do have quite a few that stick out in my mind and that is what brought me to the 4thin1 Mindset. So there was this one particular game that I'll never forget. I had a player who was a leader on our team and this kid was amazing. Unfortunately, his mom had shared with me, prior to me having him on my team, that other teams he had been on he was treated very poorly, he was treated very badly, and it was really unfortunate that he was treated this way because he was an incredible and an extraordinary player.
Speaker 1:And I think sometimes as coaches we get players and unless you're at the NFL level and even I should say even at the NFL level you're going to still have to do drills and keep fine tuning your skills, otherwise you wouldn't be great and you wouldn't be there and you wouldn't stay there. Obviously you wouldn't be there and you wouldn't stay there, obviously. But when you get players at, I would say, the youth level and I'm talking about the eighth graders going up into freshmen and then into high school and then into college, they're always fine-tuning their skills and you really never know what kind of a player you're going to have unless you help them fine tune those skills and you have the patience and the time and the energy to do that. So this one particular game he took a late hit. We were playing against a team and they weren't exactly having calls played by the referees, and that's okay. I don't judge my games on what the referees are going to call. I judge my games on what we're capable of Anyway.
Speaker 1:So this kid took a late hit and it wasn't so bad that he took a late hit. But also, as the kid stepped off the field that hit him, he proceeded to step on his helmet and hit his head again on the ground and he didn't move right away, which scared the hell out of me and everybody else, and the whole field went silent. And as I'm watching this and I'm getting ready to run out, as I wait for the refs, they go out there. His teammates didn't wait, they were already out there. They didn't look at me, they just ran straight to him. None of them retaliated, but they surrounded him and they picked him up and they said we've got you, we've got you. And as they brought him off the field and I watched two of my players and he was a big guy as they brought him off the field, my other ones ran in there and then my substitute, who was going to take his place, and he goes I got you, I got you, man, I got you.
Speaker 1:And that's when everything changed. It wasn't about that scoreboard anymore, it was about the brotherhood. And that night we didn't just win the game, we actually became unshakable. Not because we were the most talented team, not because we had the most skilled guys. It's because we became unbreakable with our bond and that every person was going to strive to get back and win. They wanted to win. They wanted to prove that other team that you couldn't pull that crap on us and we weren't going to retaliate. But we did it with our pads, we did it with winning, we did it with our skill. We didn't do it with abrasive words or getting out of control or calling penalties. We did it by going in and doing our job.
Speaker 1:And that's not an easy thing to do it really isn't because it takes a lot of courage and a lot of strength to go in and take responsibility for what you need to do and not do something that you allow your emotions to get the best of you. And I've done that before and I totally get it. It is not an easy thing to do. There's times where we have these things happen in our lives that just set us off. We get frustrated, we get annoyed, we get to the point where we just can't take it anymore and it's like what are we supposed to do with it? How are we supposed to deal with that inner anger that is just frustrating and pissing us off, when you know sometimes there's nothing you can do? Well, the only thing you can do is be responsible for your own actions. The only thing you can do is be responsible for your own actions. So I'll tell you something that happened with me.
Speaker 1:It was my second year coaching at the high school level and another coach came in and he was defensive coordinator. Now, all my other coaches I got along with great, a lot of them I didn't even work with, because when you're working as a special teams coordinator, some you work with, some you don't You're just going out there doing your job. I mean, we, we talked and collaborated when we were supposed to, such, when it was a kickoff and you know, with my offensive coordinator and you know, but defensive coordinator made it difficult and the reason I say this is he would belittle me in front of my guys. He would tell me I was wrong. There was even one point where I had suggested to run a double vice against a team I knew was going to be difficult. And if you're not familiar with a double vices on punt return, it's when you bring the two outside line backers to join the corners so they can both kind of double team the gunners going downfield and then also their job is to also watch if anything comes around, if it's a fake. So they kind of do two jobs. But it's pretty difficult to do and you've got to have some strong guys that know and can read the line and read the backfield.
Speaker 1:Well, he proceeded to tell me during oh, she doesn't know what she's talking about. That's stupid. I, you know, I've never heard of that. What is it? So I was prepared and I had brought in and what gave me the idea was I saw it on, uh, an NFL game that Sunday prior and I thought that's brilliant. I know I'm going to do that and I got the guys that can do it and that's an easy thing to do. So I had screenshot that play and then I showed him. I said this and I went to the head coach. I said, coach, this is what a double vice looks like. I'm going to bring the two outside linebackers up. And he's like, okay, yeah, if you think you can do it, go for it. So he believed in me. I didn't have a problem.
Speaker 1:But we also, during that game, we had a kid that we were playing against who was a superstar, and we did not want to kick to him on kickoff ever because he was just. He was just that player. That was amazing. And when we got to one area of our game where we had to go back to kickoff and we were getting our hats handed to us, I mean, this team was good and they had good players and they knew their stuff and they were very tight knit. They were very tight knit and I think that was the difference between them and us. It's going to be difficult to beat because they're dialed in, because they want it really bad.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I had told my kicker to please don't kick it to the left. I said I don't want to go into that player. Squib, kick it to the right and try to get to somebody else. Well, he kicked it straight to the kid that I didn't want him to kick it to, and that's of course. He ran it in for a touchdown.
Speaker 1:Well, my defensive coordinator came at me full blaze. Not only was he screaming obscenities to me, but he was also here. I can't believe you did that. You're stupid, you shouldn't be here. You're a mistake. This is during a game by the way, on the sideline. You know you shouldn't be here. And I said game by the way, on the sideline, you know you shouldn't be here.
Speaker 1:And I said I was so annoyed and so pissed off. I threw down my clipboard and I'm like okay, you want to do this, let's do this now. Come on, let's go. And I started going towards him. He was coming towards me. Right about then my long snapper and two of my other guys got in front of me and then I watched two other guys on the other sideline pull him off and pull him back and go. We got you, coach, we got you coach. And I was like, okay, I'm good, I'm cool, I'm good.
Speaker 1:And I knew right then and there, that was such a stupid move, because I should have never allowed my emotions to get the best of me. Well, when we were at halftime, the head coach chewed my ass out, and rightfully so. He's like come on, we're losing this game, you know. We're getting our hats handed to us. And now I've got both my coordinators going after each other. I guess what the hell's wrong with you guys? And I'm like you're right, you're right, I shouldn't have let my emotions get the best of me. I said it was unacceptable. I I said it was unacceptable. I know we've talked about this. This is something we address off the field and I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:And at that point in time I extended my hand out to the defensive coordinator and he wouldn't even acknowledge me. He wouldn't shake my hand because I said truce. I said can we just get through the game? And he wouldn't acknowledge me. I thought, fine, that's fine. And I walked away.
Speaker 1:And I thought to myself you know, I just did everything I'm supposed to do, which is acknowledge what happened, own it. Own it because it was my fault, and step up and be above that and when you have got a way of digging down deep to be the better person and what I mean by that is not allowing your emotions to get to the best of you, where it takes on something ugly, that's really the win, and I've seen it so many times on the field. I've seen it all the way up to the NFL, where emotions just get the best of them and then they start with fighting or they pull penalties, or it gets really ugly. And what's the win in that? You're going to look back on it and go man, I was just so mad that I allowed my emotions to get the best of me, to create this turmoil, and then something that just not affects you, but it affects your whole team.
Speaker 1:So next time you have something that's happening whether it be at work, at school, with family, with wherever it may be and it just pushes you to the point where you've at the boiling point, where you feel like you want to explode. I know it's not easy I'm not going to tell you it is, but it's also the best thing for you, because the only thing you're in control of is your actions. So take a deep breath, realize that you're not going to be able to change these people that are doing what they're doing, saying what they're saying, thinking what they're thinking, and that you are the better and bigger person when it comes to dealing with this stuff. Go out there and become unshakable and surround yourself with those that have the unbreakable bond with you, that have always got your back and they're going to lift you up and help build you up, because those are the ones you need to focus on, not the ones that are causing the turmoil.
Speaker 1:Don't settle for a surface level relationship. Go after the ones that are going to be solid and bring you the championship outcome that you're looking for. All right, bring it in. Bring it in On me and on three. Start strong and finish strong and dominate everything in between. I'm Coach Mickey, let's go.