The day after a win against the Texans 27-20, I sat down with Dee Murthy, CEO of the clothing brand Menlo House to chat about goals, family and the drive to win.

Goal Setting

When you’re playing at the professional level, setting goals is extremely important during the season as well as in the offseason. On the team, we have a leadership group. So essentially, all the offensive guys have their own group and so does every different segment of the team. On both an individual scale and a larger team scale, we are all dedicated to setting goals.

Once you know what you want to accomplish, staying motivated is half the battle. For me, I’ve always been an underdog, so my inner motivation comes from the fact that no one ever thought I would make it to this position. No matter how many times I got cut, I had a dream and a passion, all backed by goals, and they paid off.

Photo by: Adam Richins Photography

I never let anyone tell me that I couldn’t crush my goals and I have my family to thank for that.

Relationship Goals

I don’t just set goals for my own personal gain. Every season, I’m playing with a purpose. Right now, I step onto the field because I’m trying to succeed for my family and work towards building a better life.

When it comes to my wife Ashley and I, our competitiveness definitely helps us reach our goals. We both just have that innate drive to work as much as we possibly can. I like to think that we both push each other to keep building our dream careers.

While I’m working hard on and off the field, Ashley has been working towards achieving her goal of becoming a doctor. She’s gone through eleven years of school, 24 hour shifts and residencies; one of them when she was pregnant with the twins. Since day one when I met her, she told me that she wanted to be able to support a family on her own. So I always knew from the start that she was going to work as hard as she does.

 

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The day is finally here!!!! 11 years, 4 undergrad WEARE! 4 years of med school and 3 years of residency all done! Countless tests, long hours of studying, dinners at the hospitals during call, sleepless nights and my wife, DR. @ashleykayhogan, has crushed every step of the way. I am so unbelievably proud of this woman and all that she has accomplished. She tells me often that she wants to work just as hard as I do in my profession but I can assure you it is the exact opposite. I have seen Ashley work harder than I could ever imagine to achieve her goals of becoming a doctor and if I could replicate that I knew I could achieve mine as well. She did all this while handling our long distance relationship, carrying our twins during her second year of residency and planning a wedding!! This woman is amazing in ever way and I am so lucky to have her in my life and our children’s life. I love you Dr. Ashley Boccio, DPM. You are amazing and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you and your career!

A post shared by Chris Hogan (@chrishogan_15) on Jun 19, 2018 at 4:26am PDT

No relationship comes without its challenges, especially when you are apart from each other. In the first year, it was a lot easier. We didn’t have children or a dog to worry about, but even now, we couldn’t be happier about the life we’ve built.

Even with the distance, and the travel and the long hours, everything works out in the end because we support each other. It takes a lot to be at the top of your game and be the best at what you do. But with the right goals and the right support system, nothing is out of the realm of possibilities.