Michael Strahan - Wake up happy : the dream big, win big guide to transforming your life

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I dedicate this book to all the people who have shaped me and continue to shape me to be the best that I can be.
None of us do it alone and the best of me is really a reflection of you. Thank you.

If you want to be successful, its just this simple.

Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing.

And believe what you are doing.

WILL ROGERS

N OT TOO LONG AGO , I sat anxiously in a dark theater as the MC began his introductions. I was a bag of nerves. The MC didnt speak for very long, but it seemed to take forever.

Come on, I wanted to jump up and say. Lets get on with it!

The longer he talked, the more nervous I got. At last, he began to wrap up his remarks.

Its going to be okay, I told myself. Its going to be okay.

Sure, it was a kids talent show in North Carolina. Yes, my daughters were the ones performing, not me, but that didnt make me any less fidgety. Finally, the MC stopped talking and the curtains opened. Then my youngest girls, Isabella and Sophia, came out and sang My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. I love that song. And even though I was such a wreck, the girls sung beautifully. On the outside, I may have come across as cool and collected, but inside I was a mess.

All my life, people have always told me, You look so comfortable, whether it was on the football field or hosting a television show or any of the other things Ive done in between. If they only knew. The truth is, Im a shy guy. I get nervous for myself and I get nervous when someone I love is out there on the line. But Ive known ever since I was young how to take that nervous energy and turn it into positive energy. My goal in this book is to share with you what Ive learned about developing a winning attitude and putting your most productive habits to work to craft the life of your dreams. Ive had more than a few jobs, challenges, and personal transformations to which Ive applied my philosophy, which I share with you in the pages that follow. Beyond my own experiences, throughout the book, I turn to other experts and people whove thought deeply and written about the power of positive thinking and transformation, from happiness expert Shawn Achor to Po Bronson, from Thor Muller and Lane Becker to Dr. Joseph Cardillo, an expert on energy management, to the figures whove meant so much in my life, from my dear friend Dr. Ian Smith to the late, great Giants coach Earl Leggett. In the second half of the book I talk specifically about how to use these principles not only to reach your goals but also to transform your attitude. In ways that may be counterintuitive, former professional athletes know a thing or two about transformation. Our career choices are, by definition, limited in duration. We can play only as long as our bodies, first and foremost, and our willpower allow us to. Then we have to reinvent ourselves.

Using stories from my own life and from those whose journeys have inspired me, I draw upon the power of positive thinking often. Take the time the producers of Good Morning America approached me about joining the team. I was scared to death. I was just getting my sea legs on LIVE with the talented Kelly Ripa and didnt think I could handle sitting at a news desk with esteemed journalists like George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts. Then I had to ask myself, Well, am I not trying it because Im afraid or is it because I think I cant do it? After some reflection, I admitted to myself that I was afraid of trying and failing, and that wasnt a good enough reason not to give myself a chance.

Thats a recent example of my working through my fear, but its something Ive been doing since I was a child, even when it comes to football. I dont remember the first time I ever held a football any more than I remember being handed my first bottle of milk. The youngest of six, with three older brothers and two sisters, I was surrounded by football enthusiasts. My brothers loved football. My parents loved football. Before I could walk or crawl properly, I could hold a football.

My brothers and I were always good at the game. It wasnt so much that we were innately talented as that we persevered. When I was seven years old, our family lived on an army base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where my father, Gene Strahan, served as a captain in the military. I still remember how excited I was to begin my first season on the Pee Wee Falcons team and the pride I felt in seeing that black-and-white uniform laid out on the bed. From the first time I donned a football uniform, Ive loved the ritual of putting on the game pants with the built-in pads and the eyelet front. Then the shoulder pads with elastic bands and metal clips that make a distinctive sound when theyre fastened.

I had watched my brothers do it a hundred times, but nothing had prepared me for the power and pride I felt the first time it was my turn. With my pads and my helmet on, I walked onto the field feeling like a gladiator, and an aerodynamic one at that. The sport may be brutal, but the design of the equipment is elegant, simple, and beautiful. Someday, if we ever get those flying suits that they used to talk about on cartoons like The Jetsons, Im sure theyll be calling some of the engineers who design football uniforms. My team had a special chant, which I took pride in every time I sung it and which still makes me smile when I think about it. What do Falcons do? Swoop, swoop, swoop. The fall I entered second grade, there was no day better than Saturday, when my mother laid out my uniform and I put on my equipment and I would swoop, swoop, swoop around the field.

One afternoon at a game, I made what I remember was the most amazing play of my Pee Wee career. An opposing player did a sweep around the opposite side and was headed for the goalpost. It was such an unexpected move that no one was even close to being able to stop him. He was twenty yards in front of me, but I ran him down and tackled him. The parents from our team went crazy, setting the bleachers afire, it seemed. My teammates were jumping up and down, screaming my nameall of which terrified me as I went crying back to the huddle. When I say crying, I dont mean that cinematic cry, just a few tears of happiness running down my cheek. I was doing an ugly cry: it was a bawling, snot-coming-out-of-my-nose, Wheres my mama? Cause I need her cry. Thank God I had a helmet; it not only protected my head but also managed to hide the tears.

I learned something huge about myself that day. I loved making the play, but I did not like the attention. In time, I learned something else about myself: fear of being in the spotlight didnt stop me from pursuing what produced the fear in the first place; I pursued football nonetheless. Do I still get anxious? Of course. Intimidated? More than you know. As they say, Show me the boy at seven and Ill show you the man. But Ive learned on the field that I can push through it. And Ive been pushing through it ever since. The protective gear I wear these days is more mental than material. Gone are the shoulder pads and helmets. Instead, I employ what you can think of as attitude adjustments that help me play through the fear. I truly believe theres more power in your attitude than in your bank account. Thats true for all of us, from the single mom struggling to build a brighter future for her kids to thought leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs.