Winology with NFL Legend Shawn Harper

MICHAEL J: Winning isn’t just a momentary triumph. It’s a mindset that transforms ordinary people into extraordinary achievers. And if there’s one person who embodies this ethos, it’s our guest speaker today, Shawn Harper. 

Shawn Harper is a seven-year former NFL offensive lineman who played with Rams, the Oilers, the Colts, and NFL Europe, and now owns and operates American Services and Protection, a multi-million-dollar security services firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. From battling in the trenches of the NFL to navigating the complexities of the corporate boardroom, Shawn has mastered the art of winning. With 25 years of experience Shawn has earned an excellent reputation as one of the nation’s leading corporate motivational speakers.

But, what makes his story even more compelling is his mission to help others find their inner champion, as a motivational coach, author, and CEO. He’s developed the philosophy he calls “Winology”, which we’re going to talk about today. It’s designed to unlock the winner within each of us. 

So, if you’ve ever wondered what it takes to win, not just once, but consistently in every aspect of life, then you’re in for a treat, ladies and gentlemen. I cannot wait to hear what Shawn has to say and how he’s going to teach us and lift us up.

MICHAEL J: You’ve had an incredible journey. I mean, not everybody in the world gets to go into the NFL or into the boardroom and then just keep going from there to being a motivational coach. Could you describe that journey, man? How did you go from the NFL to the boardroom to becoming a motivational coach?

SHAWN: You know what it is? It’s a really trippy scenario because most people think that if you play professional sports, or if you’re a business owner, everything has gone your way your entire life, like you were born with a silver spoon. But, nothing could be further from the truth. 

I was diagnosed with like four to five learning disabilities and was kicked out of a couple of schools for disciplinary issues. I left high school with a 1.6 cumulative GPA, not on my CT. I struggled my entire life; I couldn’t complete a sentence until college. I was even voted “Most Likely to Fail.” In sports, I wasn’t even an honorable mention in the all-conference team. I was the guy who received the dreaded participation trophy. This guy was all city, all state, intergalactic universe first team. And then, here’s Sean Harper, like, “Yeah, okay.” In fact, what’s so crazy is that I still have that participation trophy; I put it on my wall.

Basically, I was at the bottom of the barrel, a single parent setting with five brothers and sisters. Everything changed when I got a phone call from a junior college in Mason City, Iowa, wanting me to come play football. I hung up on the coach initially, saying, “Coach, I’m not coming up there.” But something deep within me began to speak, and it was my dream. As the saying goes, “A dream is like a seed; you can’t count the number of seasons in an orange, but you can never count the number of oranges in a seed.” So, boom, I called the coach back and said, “I will go to Iowa to play football.”

In my first year playing at the junior college in Mason City, Iowa, I didn’t even start; in fact, I sat on the bench, maybe for one or two plays the entire season, probably none. I didn’t play at all. But then, going into the second season, I had a conversation with myself. I said, “Actually, you know what, I can be successful.” 

I had all the excuses and reasons why I couldn’t be successful. I was in straight victim mode because they told me, “Sean, you have disabilities, you’re lazy, you’re dumb.” But then I said, “But I can win.” In that moment, I said, “I can win.” What happened is that my life, my outlook, my perspective, my energy, everything in me aligned with that word “win.”

It’s like those new sci-fi movies where you hit one switch, and a 200-million-square-foot warehouse all lights up like ‘doo doo doo doo.’ I said, “I can win, I can win this game called life. I’m here to win; I’m not here to lose.” I began to look at everything differently; I saw obstacles as opportunities. I went from sitting on the bench to the next year being voted into the Junior College Hall of Fame, First Team All-Region, and received a full scholarship to the university. 

I started the whole process all over again, but this time, my concept of who I was then and today is, “I’m a winner. I’m chosen to win.” I got that from the fact that I was reading in class one day and learned that there are millions and millions of sperm cells, but only one gets to fertilize the egg. I said, “You know what, I’m the winner.” And I can tie that to a particular factual event. If I have a navel, if I have a belly button, that means I’m a winner.

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I moved out of “creation” and into something much, much more powerful, which is “manifestation.” So, everything that I was weak at became my strength.

This is why we love sports, why we love gaming, why we love gambling, why we love competition because we are programmed, we are created from an early age to win. So, I was able to tap into that, and now it’s my self-concept. I moved out of “creation” and into something much, much more powerful, which is “manifestation.” 

So, everything that I was weak at became my strength. I was weak in football; I became a professional football player. I stuttered my entire life; I became a motivational speaker. I came from a broken family, but I’ve been married for 24 years. So, don’t write me off; I’ll come back and break your pencil because I am a winner, and so are you.

MICHAEL J: Man, I want to ask you two big questions. One is the concept of participation trophies. And two is, I want to talk about “winology.” So, what is your opinion? I see a lot of sports teams these days, especially for kids, and they get participation trophies. What’s your thought about giving everybody a trophy? And do you give them participation trophies? What’s your thought about that?

SHAWN: I will go with a participation trophy only if the victor’s trophy is set apart. There has to be a bigger, better trophy. Because what happens is that you are taking away the motivation to win. It’s like, “Okay, it doesn’t matter,” like, “Yay, everyone’s a winner,” which is true, but you’ve got to walk that out. It’s like you can break a kid’s desire for achievement that way. No way. It’s like, “No, no, no, no,” because what happens in life when they really come up against failure, when they really come up against that adversity, and there’s no participation trophy? They might crack.

MICHAEL J: Yep, I hear you. I love that idea. Give the trophy, but make the “net the winner” trophy. That’s it. Ten times bigger. Okay. Yes, all right. Let’s talk about “winology.” That’s yours. I love that word. Talk about “winology.” What is it for us?

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Winning, to me, is the fullest expression of who you are mentally, spiritually, socially, emotionally, and financially.

SHAWN: So I actually, and this kind of gets me in trouble a lot, but I draw a distinction between winning versus success. You know, we are probably around third or fourth grade when you learn that Santa Claus is not real. They teach you a new concept, and that concept is called success. 

So, success is about looking the part; winning is about being the part. Okay, so now it’s okay. You can drive a nice car because, you know, you have debt and credit and forms of bondage, and you’re living in subdivisions and houses where you can afford not to stress because you’re living from an image-based versus an identity-based perspective. 

Winning, to me, is the fullest expression of who you are mentally, spiritually, socially, emotionally, and financially. Yes. And my favorite is legacy, pushing yourself past you. The greatest competitor is not the people around you. The greatest competitor is you, getting what’s in you out of you, and you can aspire and push yourself to where you know you can be. And if you don’t measure up, it’s okay. But, what hurts is when you don’t push yourself and you allow people to judge what’s your best. And now they give you a pat on the back, and you’re satisfied with that. You didn’t win, and you know you didn’t win.

MICHAEL J: Gotcha. Let’s say you’ve been on big stages for sure. And you’ve got, let’s say, you’re on this virtual stage, and it’s a 100,000-seat audience, right? And you’ve got one microphone to yourself on stage; there are 100,000 people in the audience, and you’re talking to them. What is the one message that you want to get across to everybody in that stadium?

SHAWN: Outside of the fact that you are a winner, that you’re born to win? I mean, it does. I mean, it seems kind of clichéd. But I’d say, man, that really breaks down self-esteem, that breaks down self-hatred, that breaks down a lot of low self-actualization, it breaks it down. But, if there was something that you know, that is really extremely tangible, is that the only reason why winners are winners, or the main reason why is number one, they know who they are. 

Number two, they have persistence through resistance; is that when you get knocked down, if you get knocked down, but when you get knocked down, if you can look up, baby, you can get up. And if you study the lives of some of the most powerful and influential people of our time, almost every single one of them had a moment where they failed, they fell down, they hurt, and the difference is that they kept getting back up. 

In fact, the average millionaire, according to Google, and we all know Google’s right, has filed for bankruptcy 3.5 times. Imagine, imagine how they’d have quit after the first one. First.

About Our Guest

Shawn Harper is a seven-year former NFL offensive lineman who played with Rams, the Oilers, the Colts, and NFL Europe, and now owns and operates American Services and Protection, a multi-million-dollar security services firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. With 25 years of experience Shawn has earned an excellent reputation as one of the nation’s leading corporate motivational speakers. Find more about Shawn and read his full bio here.

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