You Cut Corners in Here, You'll Cut Corners in Life

You never know when something you say will stay with someone for life.

Sometimes it’s the smallest phrase — a truth repeated enough times that it takes root and grows long after you’re gone.

We all leave echoes. The question is what kind of echoes we’re creating.

The Coach Who Drew Straight Lines

I can still picture the scene.

8th grade basketball practice.

My best friend Alex making frequent visits to the trash can beside the court before quickly returning to the laps we were running.

Coach Fred Aceto would yell every so often:

We were just kids running laps, trying to survive practice.

I heard that line dozens of times, but I didn’t really hear it until years later.

A Decade Later

Ten years passed.

I was a platoon leader in Germany, standing in the cold on an especially snowy morning with my Soldiers during early-morning PT.

Every other platoon had chosen to stay inside.

Mine was outside because we were awesome. (Soldiers want to be Soldiers, which reminds me of a story for another time...)

We were running some sprints and getting muddy/wet in the process. The exercise involved sprinting down, touching a line, and coming back.

A few of the guys turned around before "touching the line" and the words came out of my own mouth before I even knew it:

It stopped me for a moment.

The echo had become mine.

The Ripple Effect

Coach Aceto probably never knew how deeply that phrase would shape me.

He was just doing his job — pushing kids to work hard and pay attention to the details.

But that’s the thing about influence: it’s rarely announced. It’s absorbed.

The people around us, especially kids, are always watching. They pick up what we repeat. They remember what we reinforce.

We all have that same power — to build habits, mindsets, and standards that ripple forward in ways we may never see.

How to Be Intentional About Your Echo

This is something I'm trying to improve in my own life as I strive to be a better Father. My best whack at what I should be doing is the following. 

1. Identify your “phrases.” What truths do you repeat — on purpose or by accident?

2. Be consistent. Lessons stick through repetition. Say it often, live it always.

3. Focus on core values. Model effort, integrity, and gratitude more than outcomes.

4. Say thank you. Reach back to the mentors and coaches who shaped you. Let them know their echo still rings.

The Bottom Line

Influence isn’t about fame or following.

It’s about the quiet, consistent messages we send through who we are and how we live.

Coach Aceto’s words became part of my leadership DNA — proof that what you pour into others never really disappears.

So here’s my question to you:

Who left that kind of mark on your life — and what did they say that stuck?

Repy and let me know- I'd love to hear your story. 

Don’t settle. Be relentless.

— Hunter