Finding Your Motivation Can Lead to Lifelong Success

Today's Kick Butt Tip of the Day is from retired NFL star Tom Brady.  "When I was making a $185,000, money did not motivate me. Fame did not motivate me. I had been in all this competition at Michigan.  I had Brian Griese ahead of me who led us to a national championship.  I had one of the top recruits in the country Drew Henson and I was staring those guys down every day.  Here, I come to the New England Patriots and I get drafted and I am fourth on the depth chart.  I finally see Drew Bledsoe because he signed a 10 year $100 million dollar contract with the New England Patriots.  I looked at him and I go, I could throw the ball better than that." Those are really powerful words from one of pro football's greatest players Tom Brady.

Now, let me ask.  What gets you motivated?  Is it possible that Tom Brady's words, focus, motivation and purpose can inspire you?

To further help, let me toss a few more motivational gems at you.

The author of Harry Potter J.K. Rowling was turned away by a number of book publishers. She never gave up though and kept working on her Harry Potter library. As we both know, this collection
will go down as one of the most successful book and movie series ever.

Even though the legendary Dolly Parton suffered a very challenging childhood, she allowed those experiences to inspire her to help the less fortunate. Dolly personally started her own Dollywood Foundation where through education, she helps underprivileged kids along with those that dropped out of high school. The foundation also developed the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Kids from birth to age 5 can receive one free book a month. By the time they turn five, these kids will have a library of 60 free books. Dolly's Imagination Library mails out over one million books to kids every month.

To sign your child up for the Dolly Parton Imaginary Library, just click here.

Parents outside of Cumberland County, just click here to sign your child up.

So, let me ask again.  What motivates or inspires you?

Go get 'em tiger! God don't make no junk. You, yes you are awesome! Now go be awesome!

- Don Chase's Kick Butt Tip of the Day is a daily motivational feature designed to give you the inspiration you need to power through your day. Check out all the Kick Butt Tips here.

We're into March, and it's official championship time in the 2024 men's college basketball season. Right now, games are being played that will help determine which teams will make it into the much-coveted NCAA tournament and March Madness. So, which teams should top your bracket?

The No. 1 seeds are no surprise, for the most part. There's no way any other teams will be able to top Purdue, Houston and Connecticut. But, the rest is up for grabs.

Before we get into the rankings, let's learn some fun facts about the NCAA Tournament. The very first March Madness started on March 17, 1939, according to BleacherNation.com. They also note that the first tournament in college basketball history had only eight teams. Oregon won the NCAA Division I Championship that year, with a 46-33 win over Ohio State. As for huge upsets, and I remember this one, during the 2018 NCAA Tournament, UMBC beat No. 1 seed Virginia 74-54. That marked the first time in NCAA history a No. 16 seed beat a number 1.

What are the odds of you getting a perfect bracket? Not good. Not good at all. According to the NCAA, you have a 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (9 quintillion) chance to make a perfect bracket. If you really know nothing about college basketball knowledge, your odds become 1 in 120.2 billion. So, don't bet the house or first born on your bracket. That's so crazy. For years, I was really good at doing brackets and even won in some bracket pools with coworkers and friends. But, then I stopped doing brackets for a few years, because I wanted to enjoy the game. Now, I'm back and ready to do a bracket again this year. My team, the Michigan State Spartans, have not been doing well lately. But, there's time, and hopefully they can turn things around. Fingers crossed.

Let's get into our March Madness 2024 power rankings.

Marquette has performed consistently well all season, and they have been falling around the No. 10 mark when ranked against the other NCAA teams. When their defense is weak, their offense is strong, and you can flip that, too. Now, if they can get both going at once, we'll have something extra special.

I remember the Coach K era of the Duke Blue Devils, so it's definitely not the same watching Duke without him in action. But, they're still a solid team with legacy. They're especially strong this year.

The Creighton Bluejays have some star players in Trey Alexander, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Baylor Scheierman. What's even better is that these players seem to be getting better as the season progresses. That's especially true of the latter.

The Iowa State Cyclones have been strong all season, and they're not letting up now. They also have a star player in Demarion Watson, who kind of broke out of nowhere later in the season.

While the North Carolina Tar Heels aren't quite at the level of Purdue, UConn and Houston, meaning they aren't a No. 1 seed, they're close. They have great stats and when they shine, they really shine. They could surprise everyone in the tourney.

The Tennessee Volunteers are having a great season, and star player Jonas Aidoo is largely to thank. But, Aidoo has fallen a bit short lately. Hopefully he's just resting up for a big tourney season.

The Arizona Wildcats are one of the big teams to beat in 2024. They've been dominating both in offense and defense. There's no question that the Cats should be contenders for the Final Four.

The Houston Cougars will be a No. 1 seed, and they've earned it. They have an incredible record and are very difficult to trip up. Will they go all the way? Time will tell. But, their most recent wins were all close, so there's that.

The UConn Huskies have a solid coach in Dan Hurley, and he's really helped shape this team into champions. The Huskies have a legacy, and he's carrying that forward. They could absolutely go all the way this year.

Okay, so Purdue has some weaknesses. But, I follow the Big Ten closely (since Michigan State is in there), and they just always seem to pull off a win. The Boilermakers could really make this their year. Fletcher Loyer and Zach Edey are some of their stars.