The two words that change everything
We’ve all heard it before…
Excuses.
Excuses.
Excuses.
Back in my days at Culver Military Academy, if you messed up, there was only one thing you were allowed to say:
“No excuse, sir.”
That was it.
No explaining.
No justifying.
No story.
And I’ll be honest...
At first, I didn’t get it.
I remember thinking… what if I actually have a good reason?
Shouldn’t I be able to explain it?
Nope.
Didn’t matter.
No excuse, sir.
That lesson stuck with me for life.
Even now—years later—I still catch myself wanting to explain things.
Like when I forget to do the dishes and my wife calls me out…
I want to say:
“I was watching NHL highlights…”
“I had work to finish…”
“I was going to do them later…”
There’s always a reason.
Always.
But here’s the truth:
Nobody cares about your excuse.
What matters is this...
You know you messed up.
You own it.
You learn from it.
You get better.
So instead of explaining?
“I have no excuse. I’m sorry.”
And move on.
Now take that to the rink.
You come off after a bad shift.
Coach is on you.
What do most players do?
They explain.
They point.
They blame.
But the player who stands out?
The one who says:
“Yes coach. No excuse.”
That’s the player who grows.
That’s the player coaches trust.
Here’s the shift I want you to make this week:
Stop making excuses.
Take responsibility...for everything.
The good.
The bad.
All of it.
When I was 12, I had a Wisconsin Badgers hockey poster on my wall that said:
“60 minutes. No excuses. No regrets.”
That line never left me.
Because when you play like that...
People notice.
So go attack the rest of this week with that mindset.
Put in the work.
Lay it all on the line.
And when it’s all said and done?
No excuses.
No regrets.
That’s how you play hockey.
That’s how you live.
— Bobby Robins, NHL Alum, Writer for Wraparound
P.S. I was fortunate to have the “no excuses, no regrets” mindset drilled into me early and it changed everything.
That’s exactly what the Twig and Biscuit series is all about.
It is not just hockey skills.
It is how to think, how to compete, and how to carry yourself on and off the ice.
Book 2 just dropped!!!
If you have a young player in your life, this is how you start building them the right way with the mindset that leads to real success.
>>>Grab a copy and get them started.