The Power of Manning

<span class="cap">C</span>ut that meat! Hey Bill – You're my favorite accountant! Whoa Jim, throw some dirt on that! Nice arm! (As the paperboy flings the paper right through the window) Who would have thought that, we would be talking about Peyton Manning's younger maligned brother Eli? Look at Peyton Manning... commercial star, Super Bowl winner, and one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game. So how do Peyton and Eli Manning relate to dating? Have you ever gone out with a friend who is so good with women that you become intimidated even to open your mouth? Then when you do open your mouth you feel that what you're about to say could potentially be the wrong thing... so you say nothing. You don't say a word. When Eli Manning came out of college at Ole Miss, he was known only as 'Peyton Manning's little brother.' The pressure to succeed was unbelievable! Not only that, he was in New York City by virtue of being traded for extra draft picks. His first few years in the league, he was ridiculed. Every night on ESPN there was talk about how we would NEVER be as good as his brother. Every throw was broken down. Every interception was analyzed. Tiki Barber called Eli Manning out, saying that he would never be a winner and that the team would never win with him playing quarterback. His coach almost got fired... and had that occurred, Tom Coughlin would never have had the frostbite he had at the end of the Green Bay game. In light of all of this, what did Eli do? Did he quit? Did he let people get to him? No... he kept going. He learned to manage his game. Think about this for a second. A lot of guys think that meeting a woman is a game. There's even a book out there called “Rules Of The Game.” Here is what I say about “Rules Of The Game.” There are no rules... and there is no game! It's about being true to yourself and staying on course. Eli never quit . . . ever. He kept going and going and going. He decided that he was going to ignore all the critics, and that he would become the best quarterback he could be. He'll never be his brother, but when this Super Bowl is over two Mannings will have gone to the Super Bowl. Win or lose, not many quarterbacks can say they have played in a Super Bowl. So when you're going out to meet women, stop comparing yourself to the Peyton Mannings of the dating world. Keep practicing. If you throw an interception (which in the dating world would mean getting rejected), keep flirting and keep talking. I guarantee that if you work on your gamesmanship, you'll get to the Super Bowl of dating... fast! You may not be there today, but look at everyone who has perfected skills. They have been through lots of time invested, frustration, lots of hard work and self-criticism. Does any of this sound familiar in terms of how you feel when you approach women? Do you feel like Eli Manning at times? If so, then it's time to look to your own inner Eli Manning. Isn't it time you stayed on course, and kept working on your skills every day? Yes, this is another David Wygant / Vince Lombardi speech. Football season is almost over. I am not a basketball fan, as you can tell from yesterday's newsletter where I referenced passing up floor seats to be with a woman. Personally I would rather hang out with a woman than go to a basketball game. Baseball is very slow, and it doesn't fit the newsletter very well. Football is very “rah rah,” though, so I have at least one more Vince Lombardi / Newt Rockney speech in me. That speech will of course come out around Super Bowl time. In the meantime, you have two weeks before the Super Bowl to go out and tap into your inner Eli... and to enjoy the ride and the journey. http://www.davidwygant.com