On Sunday, I brought up my DVR and saw that I had an episode of 60 Minutes Sports recorded. My wife and son were taking a nap and the 49ers were destroying the Cowboys, so I decided to watch it.

The first story was about Peyton and Eli Manning, who were both coached by the same coach. Every year, they go back to David Cutliffe, who is now the head coach at Duke University. Cutliffe was Peyton’s QB coach at Tennessee and the head coach of Old Miss when Eli was QB there.

Every year before the NFL camps start, Eli and Peyton travel to Duke for a private tune-up, as the brothers call it. Watching it, you would think that both brothers were just beginning their careers.

There are two things that stand out in my mind. First, the fundamentals should never be ignored. The fundamentals are the keys to success! I have struggled with remembering and executing on the fundamentals all my career. It’s fun and exciting to get on stage, sell books in the back of the room, and give interviews. In football terms, the roar of the crowd getting on ESPN, and so on.

What gets me on stage is focusing on my fundamentals, writing blog posts, communicating with my team, laying the strategy, etc. A quarterback has to focus on throwing mechanics, understanding the playbook communicating with the team, and being an on-field manager.

The second part is you are never too successful to have a coach. Someone who keeps reminding you about the fundamentals and at times someone to tell you that you are being a dumbass. On the 60 Minutes story, the Manning brothers said,  “Nobody but our dad watches us throw more than Coach Cutliffe.”

I have been fortunate that I received coaching by some of the top speakers in the country. Most of the time when I go to them with a wacky out of the box idea, they remind me of the fundamentals.

Let’s face it…the fundamentals are boring. Who wants to be in 90 degree heat throwing the same damn pass around for hours and hours? There are parts of my job I hate, but there are parts of my job that I just love. To put in a childlike terms, if I don’t eat my vegetables, I will get no dessert.