So I was at a retreat in Mexico a few weeks ago…

I just finished leading a fire ceremony with members of Curiosity Island, and a handful of us ended up sitting on the beach afterward. AL-B, Meridith, Laura, Ryan, Annie, and me. There was no agenda - we were just talking. The fire ceremony had opened everybody up, so the conversation went places it probably wouldn't have gone on a normal night.

Someone started sharing a moment where something showed up in their life that they couldn't explain. It just felt handed to them. And then another person shared one, and another, and pretty soon we were all going back and forth with these stories.

I shared two stories that dropped jaws. My friend Ryan (who is the most enthusiastic person, like ever) exclaimed, "Dude! That's so craaaazzzyy!!"

Today (drumroll) I am going to share them with you :)

So this was October 23rd, 2024, my 55th birthday. I call it the double nickel.

A few weeks earlier, Arlene and I were on the first tee box at a golf course and she noticed a nickel laying on the cart path. We laughed about it. She picked it up and it was our little gesture to say to the universe, hey, we accept whatever abundance you have for us. Even if it's just five cents.

I put that nickel in my pocket and it ended up in my laptop bag, which was cool because it traveled with me to San Antonio. I was there for a conference. Arlene came with me, and after the conference we took a full week to golf. We were staying at a Hampton Inn in downtown San Antonio, just a block from the Alamo.

And I had this thought. Wouldn't it be fun if another nickel showed up today? Five five. Double nickels. And I was specific about it. I said, I want it to be at my feet so I can't miss it. I'm not going to be searching for this thing because I'm going to be golfing!

But I was a little greedy on my birthday, so I had a second thought. I said the other thing I would really love is a surprise. One that completely floors me, that's completely suited to me, that would come out of nowhere, and would be so obvious that I couldn't miss it.

Little nickel. Big gift. Let's see what shows up.

We went down early for breakfast because there was a group of about a hundred middle schoolers staying at the hotel and we figured the waffles and all the good stuff would be gone by 7:30.

So we go down early, and I see this guy sitting there in a Billy Joel Madison Square Garden t-shirt (Note - NOT a Billy Madison t-shirt). And if you know me at all, you know I love Billy Joel. My mom loved Billy Joel. My daughter loves Billy Joel. Part of the family soundtrack.

So I walk up and say, "Hey man, that's awesome. You went and saw Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden?"

And in the best New York accent, this guy tells me he's been to every Billy Joel show at Madison Square Garden. I said, “that's amazing, when are you seeing him next?”

He looked at me like I had a problem. He goes, "He's playing Saturday night."

I said, "Here?"

He said, "Yes. At the Alamodome." And he pointed over there. Four blocks away.

I went back to the table. I said, “hey Arlene, guess what? Billy Joel is playing here Saturday. Sting is his special guest.” We looked for tickets, found first balcony first row, the tickets were half price. Booked them on the spot.

Before 7:30 hit, I had my big surprise. And it was a great show to close out our trip.

How could the day get any better?

So we head to the golf course. It was a beautiful fall day in San Antonio, in the eighties.

I apologize for the images I am about to put into your mind, but it’s how it happened!!

So before the round, I go into the restroom. I go into a stall. I'm in a seated position (!!), and somebody comes right after me, goes in the stall next to me. And I hear a bunch of change drop on the tile floor. Ding, ding, ding, ding. And what comes rolling under the stall? A nickel. Falls right at my big toe on my right foot.

I looked down and went, oh my. I said, "Hey man, you dropped some change." He goes, "Keep the change."

I picked that nickel up. Yes, it's unsanitary, but it went in my pocket. I washed my hands, walked outside, and showed Arlene. I said, “the nickel just showed up.” It's before 9 AM on my birthday. I asked for a nickel at my feet that I couldn't miss, and a gift that would completely floor me and surprise me. Both delivered before the day even started.

That is magical, folks.

So I'm telling this story on the beach and the jaws are dropped. Ryan is losing his mind. And as I'm watching their faces, I thought to myself, you know what, these types of things happen to me all the time. And I've been ignoring most of them.

When I got home I said, I'm going to create a new type of scoreboard.

My scoreboards have always been restrictive. The basketball scoreboard on the wall. The P&L in business. Who's ahead, who's behind, how much time is left. Those scoreboards are information based. I wanted something different. I wanted to keep track of the magical things in my life.

I wrote "unexpected things" on my notepad and shared it with a few people. My friend Scott Chang said, no dude, they're expected. You're writing it down because you expect these things to happen. Magic happens to you. That was a big shift. Thank you, Scott, for that.

I had about eight or nine categories and I shared them with some people on the island. And of course my friend Brandon Fong figured out a way to turn it into an acronym that spells MAGIC.

It breaks down into five categories.

M is for Money. Anytime money or sales come in, any sort of gift, anything financial that shows up, it goes on the scorecard.

A is for Appreciation. Gifts and compliments.

G is for Gains. This one is about experiences. Really phenomenal things that happen.

I is for Introductions. Connections, intros, referrals.

C is for Chances. Invitations and opportunities.

The practice is simple. Every time something magical shows up in any of those categories, I document it right then. On my phone, in a note, whatever is closest. And at the beginning of each week, I read through the list and I get to celebrate again.

The first week I had about eight things. The next week I had twenty. And by the third week I was already over twenty-five and it was only Friday. I started seeing magic everywhere because I was finally paying attention to it.

It's like when you're in the market for a silver Chevy Tahoe and suddenly you start seeing silver Tahoes everywhere. That's the Reticular Activating System. And what I believe I've done for my conscious and my subconscious is that I am becoming more aware of magical things in my life and I am inviting more of them to show up.

I work with high performers. Entrepreneurs, founders, athletes, fellow coaches. And I keep seeing the same pattern. They're really good at tracking what went wrong.

It's really difficult as a coach to be positive after a loss. Coaches are so focused on how we can improve and what went wrong that we take very little time to celebrate. We review the losses, the misses, the gaps in performance. We have scorecards in business for revenue and goals and KPIs, and they tell us where we fell short.

But one thing I really did in my last years coaching basketball, and one thing I do now with my golf athletes, is I ask what showed up that we didn't have to grind for. What's been good in our performance? What's been great in our life? I have conversations with my athletes about what's going well and what's exciting them.

If your only conversation with your team is what went wrong and what's going on in your sport, it's a very one-dimensional relationship. Same goes in business. If the only thing you talk about is the business, it's just going to keep hammering your identity.

Expand. Life's about relationships, health, experiences. There's so much more to be involved in when you're in relationship with people. Don't just talk about the narrow thing you have in common. Expand out. Especially if you're in a position where you are working with, mentoring, or coaching somebody. Talk about what went right. Talk about what they're excited about.

I put together a one-page PDF of the Magical Scorecard. It sits by my desk. It has some really simple instructions. Download it here:

Download The Magical Scorecard PDF

Give this thing thirty days. Document what shows up, review it weekly. And I want to hear what magic has shown up for you. It's no good just celebrating with yourself. Celebrate with somebody. Celebrate with me.

I go deeper into the double nickel story, the Billy Joel concert, and the Mexico conversation in Episode 2 of the podcast.

Until next week,

-Coach Reg

P.S. If you do this for thirty days and something shifts, reply to this email. I read every one. Tell me what's going on. I want to know what magic is showing up and how this has affected you.

P.P.S. Some more magic…

Friday night, we went to see a favorite local group called Billy Elton. It’s a group made up mostly of high school teachers led by Reid Spears. They have been together playing the music of Elton John and Billy Joel for 18 years. All are tremendous musicians and always put on a show that honors the two piano men. I had been writing this issue and recording the podcast all day. So Billy was on my mind…

I also want to share this picture my daughter Anna drew. This is a snapshot of my mom (Ruth), Anna and me at the last Billy Joel concert we saw together. My mom was in a lot of pain, but we were able to get to a comfortable spot to watch the show together.

The final song before the encore is always, Piano Man. My mom stood the entire song with us and swayed to the ¾ beat as the chorus of 30,000 people sang along like we all were around the piano with Billy. A stranger saw this moment, snapped a photo, sent it to us…and Anna captured the moment in pencil and this image has sat on my desk since my mom passed in 2023.

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