#18 - Chris Pronger, Earned

All right, so the book that I read and I'm going to be teaching about today is a brand new book.

It is called Earned by Chris Pronger.

So this book is his memoir, so written in his own words, and just a bit of his background as a hockey player.

So he had a 19-year NHL career.

So that included 1,167 regular season games, as well as 173 playoff games over those 19 years.

So played a lot of hockey.

And during that time, he put together an impressive resume.

This includes a Hart Trophy as league MVP, Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman, and then won a Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks.

On the international stage, also represented Canada at four separate Winter Olympics, including winning two Olympic gold medals.

So that was 2002 and 2010, famously in Vancouver.

He's also a member of the Triple Gold Club.

So that is anyone who's won a Stanley Cup, Olympic gold and world championship gold.

Pretty select group of players that are in that club.

Finally was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.

He really builds this book around a central truth, which is that success is not talent alone.

It's earned daily through standards, adversity and ownership.

There's a quote from the forward of the book.

So Timu Solani, who's one of the most famous Finnish hockey players of all time, but also played with him on that Anaheim Ducks team.

And so he wrote the forward for the book.

And I thought this quote really captured who Chris Pronger is and really sets up kind of the rest of what we're going to talk about today.

So the quote is, and one thing I appreciate is that he's one of those guys who finds a way to win, whether it's in business or in life.

I've seen him sacrifice and set standards for himself and his teammates.

I've seen him use adversity to his advantage.

I've seen him prepare like a madman and commit to getting better every day.

No excuses.