The Winning Playbook by Rob Welsh and Jonathan Scott
What's It About?
They call it “The 12 Ps” — “Piss-poor preparation promotes piss-poor production; piss-poor production promotes pain.”In other words, if you don’t prepare for the road ahead, you might as well brace for the worst.
That is one of the key messages in The Winning Playbook (Indigo River Publishing), co-authored by Rob Welsh and Jonathan Scott. Lack of preparation almost without fail ends in disappointment. “That’s a testament to life for a professional athlete. It’s also a testament for corporate America, for businesses, for entrepreneurship — you name it,” says Scott, a former professional football player who has made the transition from athlete to successful businessman but has watched some of his comrades suffer.
The impetus for the book, in part, was an observation made by Welsh, who saw some active National Football League players, who typically earn in the millions annually, having to work second jobs in the off-season because they had run out of money.
“How is that even possible,” Welsh asks. “Unfortunately, it’s extremely common.” It involves a lack of understanding about pay structure, taxes, finances in general and how best to protect earnings to set yourself up for a comfortable career afterlife.
While the book initially was written for professional athletes, the authors quickly realized their messages and ideas were valuable to “all players in the game of life.”
One of the key themes is wealth empowerment, rather wealth management, allowing readers to live the kind of life that their earnings have provided for, maximizing opportunities and understanding various financial tools to achieve that.
DEVELOPING A BUSINESS MINDSET
The book covers everything from paying lower taxes to making career changes to selecting an agent to building a financial and life support team. While it serves as a primer for basic financial instruments and strategies, it is as much a book to increase awareness so that readers can gather the proper support professionals to truly delve into these general concepts and create a strategic plan for success.
Some of the observations can be eye-opening. For example, just because an athlete plays for a team based in Texas, where there is no state income tax, if that athlete plays half of his or her team’s games out of state, then suddenly there are huge tax ramifications to consider.
A lot of the secret is developing a business mindset, rather than an employee mindset. A company uses an employee for its own earnings potential. But once the employee leaves an organization, he or she must be thinking of how to make his or her individual brand thrive. Things like vision and mission statements, SWOT analysis, execution and reflection become important factors.
The Winning Playbook takes a complicated topic and makes it simple to understand — if not necessarily simple to execute. The writing is clear, insightful, on point, easy to digest and uses real-world examples to illustrate its ideas. It is not designed as a magic formula for success but rather a wakeup call to the millions of people who stumble when it comes time to manage their earnings and assets, a common deficiency simply from never having the background, education or perhaps the need to know.
The book’s subtitle is “Strategies for Life On and Off the Field.” That hits the nail on the head. We strongly recommend that you check out this enlightening and valuable resource.
About Rob Welsh:
Rob Welsh is a former U.S. Marine and Minister with over 17 years of experience in the financial industry. Rob has trained and mentored thousands of people on leadership, business, and personal growth with a key emphasis on empowering and adding value to others. Rob lives in Dallas with his wife Miyuki of 35 years and his son Kenny.
About Jonathan Ray Scott:
Jonathan Ray Scott is from Dallas. A ten-year veteran of the National Football League as an offensive tackle, Jonathan was also a member of the 2005 National Champion Texas Longhorns football team. Jonathan’s life off the field has been as successful as his time on the field with experience in real estate, finance, education, coaching, executive leadership and the music industry. He recently became the co-owner of a private equity group.
