Do this one thing daily…
I talk a lot about the traits of success because I’m genuinely interested in success in all aspects of life, not just hockey. What I’ve found is that the traits that make someone successful on the hockey rink often make them successful off the ice too, no matter what they are pursuing.
I spent my whole life chasing the NHL dream and got to experience every level of hockey. Back in high school, I was aware in certain ways, but I didn’t yet understand success. My superpower back then was relationship awareness. I always had a knack for connecting and communicating with teammates, even the guys who were very different from me and who I didn’t naturally click with.
You know the feeling. Sometimes you naturally connect with certain people and other times it feels awkward or forced. It’s one of those invisible things that everyone understands even if nobody talks about it.
I always made a point to connect with the teammates I felt awkward around. Looking back now, a lot of those players were probably just shy and guarded. But by going out of my way to have real conversations with them and genuinely trying to connect, I found that I could bring people out of their shell. Some of those teammates became great friends over time. I found the good in them, and I hope they found the good in me too.
As I moved into pro hockey, I became obsessed with studying successful players. I watched the veterans. I watched the good pros. I watched how they carried themselves on and off the ice. I noticed how they stayed after practice to put in extra work. I noticed how hard they trained in the gym. I noticed how they encouraged teammates and elevated everyone around them.
And I also realized something difficult about myself.
Early in my pro career, I was not a good pro.
I was chasing the party and the good times instead of fully chasing the NHL dream. I thought I had already made it because I signed an NHL contract with Ottawa. But I spent the entire season in the American League without getting a sniff of the NHL. Meanwhile, I watched other players get called up and it slowly started making sense to me why they were advancing and I wasn’t.
Doing the right things consistently every single day leads to success.
It sounds obvious. But sometimes the most obvious truths are the hardest ones to actually live out.
It took me years before I finally started applying those lessons to my own life. Around my seventh year of pro hockey, I finally morphed into what I would call a good pro. And I think the reason it finally happened was because I became hungry.
Hunger matters.
You can tell which players truly want it. They are the ones who never quit during battle drills in practice. The ones who compete on every rep. The ones with something burning behind their eyes.
If you can adopt any trait, adopt hunger. Decide that you are going to chase your dream with everything you’ve got and don’t let anyone take that fire from you.
But after seeing thousands of hockey players come and go throughout my career, there is one trait that stands above the rest.
Be a glue guy. Or a glue gal.
Be the glue on a team and you will always have value.
When I went to training camp with the Boston Bruins, Zdeno Chara sat down next to me after practice while we stretched. He asked me about my life. Asked me about my hockey journey. He poured into me and encouraged me even though he didn’t have to.
Think about that for a second.
He was the captain of the Boston Bruins and a future Hall of Famer. I was just a minor league grinder hanging onto a dream. But he took the time to connect with me and make me feel valued.
That’s leadership. That’s being glue.
Whether you are the captain, the star player, or the player hanging on at the bottom of the lineup, you can choose to become the glue that brings people together. And when a team becomes truly connected, magical things happen.
Championships are won.
Memories are made.
And your value rises in the eyes of coaches, scouts, and teammates because people want glue guys around.
That’s the beautiful part about this trait. Anybody can develop it.
You just have to get out of your comfort zone and make the effort every day to connect with people.
Do that.
Knuckles up,
Bobby Robins, savage motivator, NHL alum, writer for Wraparound