From the Founder, Brian Mazza 8/3
How Big Is Your Frying Pan?
One of my favorite stories of all time comes from Nick Saban.
He was fishing with a friend who kept catching beautiful, oversized fish.
Every single time he caught one, he threw it back.
But he kept the smaller fish.
Finally, Saban asked him, “Why do you keep throwing the big ones back?”
The man looked at him and said…
“Because my frying pan is only nine inches.”
Read that again.
He wasn’t losing the big fish because he couldn’t catch them.
He was losing them because he didn’t have the capacity to keep them.
I think about this story all the time because it has nothing to do with fishing.
It has everything to do with life.
Most people say they want a bigger business.
A stronger marriage.
Health.
More money.
A championship team.
But when those opportunities show up, they throw them back because their “frying pan” is still too small.
Your current habits can’t hold the life you say you want.
Your discipline can’t support it.
Your standards can’t protect it.
Your routines can’t sustain it.
So instead of expanding your capacity, you shrink your goals until they fit your comfort zone.
The world tells you to dream bigger.
I think that’s backwards.
Build bigger.
Build the discipline.
Build the routines.
Build the relationships.
Build the resilience.
Build the character.
Because when your capacity grows, the opportunities that once felt impossible suddenly fit.
This weekend our 2017 soccer team played against older, bigger, faster players.
We didn’t score a goal.
We got beat.
But we also expanded our frying pan.
Our boys learned what the next level looks like.
They realized the gap isn’t impossible. It’s just bigger than where we are today.
That’s development.
That’s life.
Stop asking why the big fish keep getting away.
Start asking if your frying pan is big enough to hold them.
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
