Jalen Hurts, born August 7, 1998, in Houston, Texas, has given us some powerful self discipline quotes in his short career. And, as for his career, he has crafted a remarkable football journey characterized by resilience, adaptability, and leadership. His trajectory from college to the NFL exemplifies his dedication and skill development.
Passer Rating
One way to measure a quarterback’s effectiveness is through a metric called “quarterback passer rating”. This score can range between 0 and 158.3 and is based on a formula that takes several factors into consideration. The percentage of a quarterback’s passes that are caught by a teammate, the average number of yards for each completed pass, the number of successful touchdowns per attempt, and the number of interceptions per attempt are all baked into this formula. The average quarterback passer rating in the NFL in the 2024 season is 90.9. Hurts’ passer rating in last night’s Super Bowl victory was a whopping 119.7! You might assume that Hurts is a natural in his position … that is, until you see his passer rating over time.
He had to work for every point on his passer rating. The results didn’t come easy. And there were setbacks. Look at his 2023 passer rating slump. A season like that can take the wind out of a quarterback’s sail, giving the impression that he’s wasted a season and lost a “touch” he used to have. It can get into his head and affect his future performance. But notice below how Jalen summarizes his attitude toward failure.
“I know I’ve walked through the fire time and time again and in the end it’s always made me stronger.”
– Jalen Hurts
Quotes like this are a testament to Jalen Hurts’ self discipline. Like Michael Jordan, he views failure as a stepping stone to success. All successful people have this mindset. You can read about Michael Jordan’s perspective on failure here. This type of thinking is what builds resilience and leads to success and it is a type of thinking that we can all develop.
Strong Mindset & Vision
Hurts often speaks about having a “daily process” and trusting in long-term growth, which aligns well with goal-setting and habit-building themes. Notice in the graph above how it took Jalen 5 years to get his passer rating to the place where it resulted in a Super Bowl win. And notice where he started. His rating was below the league average for his first two years playing in the NFL. When we face prolonged challenges or trials, do we have the mental toughness to push on through like Hurts?
Rent is due every day
“Rent is due every day and when that rent is due, I don’t plan on missing a payment.”
– Jalen Hurts
Hurts’ motto, “Rent is due every day” reflects a mindset of consistent effort, not relying on past success. Furthermore, we see a commitment to process without an expectation of relief. Every day, I will do what I have to do to obtain the outcome I want, whether I get the outcome tomorrow, next month, next year, or 5-years down the road… Ask yourself, Do I have this mindset? Then, if the answer is no, this post is for you.
Focus
“I had a purpose before everybody had an opinion.”
– Jalen Hurts
To succeed at large, complex, or challenging tasks, we need to focus on our goals over extended periods of time. Jalen’s quote above shows his self discipline in this area. As an NFL quarterback, he is subjected to a barrage of opinions about his play, his attitude, his future prospects, and his value. Thousands of professional sports writers cover the NFL and it’s their job to pick his play apart line by line and analyze his strengths and weaknesses. Now, just try to imagine the level of anxiety Hurts would feel if he actually paid attention to all of this noise… Doubtless, he would be paralyzed.
Hence, his quote about having purpose before others had an opinion. Likewise, we need to have a similar attitude when working on an ambitious personal project. Many who finally succeed at some worthwhile endeavor keep their project secret until its ready for prime time. Having too many friends and relatives critiquing our undertaking can get into our heads and diminish our confidence. Some plans need to be incubated.
Work Ethic & Discipline
Coaches and teammates consistently praise Hurts’ dedication to training, studying film, and improving his skills—he’s known to arrive early and stay late. And, naturally, his steady improvement as an NFL quarterback is proof of his disciplined approach to growth. Success is the result of work. There’s no way around this. As you doom scroll social media, you probably get exposed to the promise of quick and easy cash or skills development. But the truth of the matter is that these things take time.
So many of us fail to accomplish our big goals because we have a resistance to performing hard work on something that doesn’t give us immediate results. In his book, “The Power of Discipline: How to Use Self Control and Mental Toughness to Achieve Your Goals“, by Daniel Walter, discusses how to make hard work exciting and how to keep going when your motivation runs out.
Your turn to win
Like other sports leagues, the NFL has a hundred success stories like Jalen’s. The process of bringing a project to excellence over time is a scientifically repeatable one. If you want to transform your life, don’t believe that this is out of reach for you. Don’t believe that you are somehow different and can’t reach your goals.
The path will be long and it will be hard. But if you know the outcome, then the journey is a lot easier to commit to. If you haven’t already done so, create a “future self blueprint”. Write down what you would like to achieve over the next year, the skills you would like to learn or improve, the habits you’d like to develop, the ones you’d like to break. Develop a clear vision of what you want to achieve in 12-months. Then write down a plan to achieve this outcome. Take this first step today. You owe it to yourself.
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