The Bull Don't Care

Coming Soon: The Video Vault

I’m excited to share an upcoming new segment of the newsletter: The Video Vault. 

Periodically, I’ll be curating and sending out some of my favorite short videos that coaches, leaders, and parents can use to spark conversations with their teams and athletes. Each clip will focus on topics like mindset, leadership, and culture, and come with a few quick notes from me on how you might share or apply it.

My goal for this new segment is simple: To give you ready-to-share lessons (without the endless scrolling or fighting algorithms) so you can spend less time searching and more time coaching and inspiring.

The Bull Don’t Care

Our team had a 5-hour flight delay last week on the way to our next city. As we waited for our plane to be fixed, I reminded myself of a mantra I’d shared with our group recently. It’s a story I first learned from my friend Taylor Bertolet, a former professional football kicker, and it comes from Bill Parcells’ book, “Finding A Way.”

Parcells tells the story of Tuff Hedeman, one of the best bull riders of all time. He’d just won his third world championship, which cemented him on the Mount Rushmore of professional bull riders. But instead of soaking in the spotlight with a victory tour, Hedeman shared that he’d be packing up his gear and heading back to Denver where the new season was starting on Monday.

When asked about it, he gave a line that’s relevant for all of us: “The bull won’t care what I did last week.”

His quote summarizes the nature of performance: The past (good or bad) is over, the next challenge is waiting, and you have to earn it all over again.

Tom Brady’s No Bullshit Mindset

Every sport has its version of the “bull don’t care” reality. Tom Brady shared his own version of a “No bullshit mentality” that mirrors Hedeman’s sentiment.

Brady shares that someone once told him: “The fish won’t just jump in the boat” (clip below).

The translation? Success doesn’t show up because you hope it does. Some days you’ll be tired, unmotivated, and things won’t go your way. The question is whether you can still find a way to win. That’s the same posture Hedeman took. The bull doesn’t care if you feel good, tired, confident, or doubtful.

• The bull don’t care that you went 3-for-4 yesterday. Today’s pitcher is still trying to get you out.

• The bull don’t care that you ran a personal best last week. Your next workout still demands focus.

• The bull don’t care that your last keynote speech was a hit. This audience will judge you by what you deliver now.

• The bull don’t care that you lost your patience with your kids yesterday. They’ll still need you to show up with presence today.

• The bull don’t care that you’ve been “too busy” for weeks. The project in front of you isn’t going to finish itself.

• The bull don’t care that you missed your sales quota last month. You still have calls to make today.

The list could go on, but the principle is the same: Don’t over-celebrate yesterday’s success and don’t over-dwell on yesterday’s failure. Neither one helps you today.

Your job is to take the bull by the horns and attack the next challenge in front of you with everything you’ve got.

Adopting a “Bull Don’t Care” Mindset

Here are three lessons worth carrying forward from the “Bull Don’t Care” mindset:

1. Success Has an Expiration Date — Yesterday’s success doesn’t guarantee anything. Wins don’t last forever. The second you think you’ve “arrived,” you stop doing the work that got you there. The rent for excellence is always due again.

   Coaching reminder: This means you can’t let a team cling to yesterday’s big win. The standard has to be re-established today in practice, in meetings, and in how players carry themselves. Reflection question: What routines or standards help you and your team re-earn success each day?

2. Failure Isn’t a Life Sentence — If the bull doesn’t care about your victories, it also doesn’t care about your mistakes. That means every day is a clean slate. You can fail, miss, or stumble, but you’re not doomed by it. Every athlete, every leader, every person gets another chance to get back in the chute and try again.

   Coaching reminder: You can model this by how they respond after losses. If you wear yesterday’s frustration into today, your team will too. If you reset and move forward, you give them permission to do the same. Reflection question: When my players fail, do I reinforce the idea that failure is final or do I help them see it as feedback and a fresh start?

3. The Bull is Neutral — The bull doesn’t care and neither does the ball. It has no memory of your past swing, your resume, or your reputation. Every moment starts clean. That can be humbling because you don’t get credit for what you’ve already done or how much effort you’ve already put in. But this can also be freeing. Each moment is an invitation: Not to live off what you’ve done, but to give your best in the here and now.

   Coaching reminder: This is where humility and hunger live. The ball doesn’t care how many years you’ve been coaching or how many championships you’ve won. Each game and each athlete still demands your full attention today. Reflection question: Am I treating this season, this practice, this conversation like it deserves my best—regardless of what I’ve achieved in the past?

Final Thoughts:

The past is a terrible place to try to live. Success doesn’t transfer forward and failure doesn’t chain you backward. Every day, every moment, every opportunity starts over at zero.

As leaders, you’re always helping your people understand that nothing is ever won once and for all. Excellence is always earned in real time because either way, the bull doesn’t care.

Inspiration for This Piece:

• Taylor Bertolet

• Parcells, B. & Coplon, J. (1995). Finding a way: The principles of leadership, teamwork, and motivation. Doubleday.

The Threshold Lab Podcast:

This week on The Threshold Lab, I chatted with NFCA Hall of Fame softball coach, Cindy Bristow. Cindy has made an indelible impact in the softball world with her unwavering commitment to growth and teaching. We had a great conversation discussing how to help players master struggle and develop a mindset that enables performance excellence.

If you're new to the podcast, you'll also find shorter, bite-sized solo episodes throughout the week exploring mindset and performance principles. If you enjoy my conversation with Coach Bristow (or any of my other episodes), it would mean a lot for you to rate and review the show on whatever platform you use.

You can listen to all past episodes here: The Threshold Lab Podcast.

With gratitude,

ZB