Creating the Perfect Tomorrow

Before going to bed, ask yourself: What will tomorrow look like?

Would you take a test before reviewing your notes? Coach a game without scouting the opponent? Then why would we start a day without thinking ahead of what we want to get out of it?

Step One: Review your personal and professional long-term goals (big picture)

Step Two: Envision success in working towards those goals (small picture).

Step Three: Start with the small tasks (action steps) that can be done TOMORROW to work towards your goals.

Step Four: Do the uncomfortable...that's how we grow.  

Step Five:  Focus and follow through. Set notes/reminders. Email the plan and print it to yourself. Putting ideas into actions is the HARDEST PART!      

Contribute or Contaminate

Easy enough: you're either contributing or your contaminating the practice court. Great video.

You don't "have to"; you "get to".

Here is a link to a great post written by Michael Hyatt entitled "How a Shift in Your Vocabulary Can Instantly Change Your Attitude"- click here.

Here's to the crazy ones...

Be the best YOU that you can be

Bob Starkey, Assistant Coach at UCF, runs a tremendous blog and I find myself borrowing some of his quotes and stories from time to time. Here's a passage written by Steve Goodier that Bob posted on his blog recently:

Pablo Piccasso, the great Spanish painter and sculptor, once said this about his ability: 'My mother said to me, if you become a soldier, you'll be a general; if you become a monk, you'll end up as Pope. Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.' No lack of confidence here!

But he would have agreed with Abraham Lincoln. 'Whatever you are,' said Lincoln, 'be a good one.' He demonstrated the wisdom of that advice with his own life. And in this present age, which often seems to be contented with mediocrity, his words summon a yearning for improvement and growth.

I think it helps to remember that excellence is not a place at which we arrive so much as a way of traveling. To do and be our best is a habit among those who hear and understand Lincoln's admonition. Viennese-born composer Frederick Loewe, whom we remember from his musical scores that include - My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot, was not always famous.

He studied piano with the great masters of Europe and achieved huge success as a musician and composer in his early years. But when he immigrated to the United States, he failed as a piano virtuoso. For a while he tried other types of work including prospecting for gold and boxing. But he never gave up his dream and continued to play piano and write music.

During those lean years, he could not always afford to make payments on his piano. One day, bent over the keyboard, he heard nothing but the music that he played with such rare inspiration. When he finished and looked up, he was startled to find that he had an audience - three moving men who were seated on the floor.

They said nothing and made no movement toward the piano. Instead, they dug into their pockets, pooled together enough money for the payment, placed it on the piano and walked out, empty handed. Moved by the beauty of his music, these men recognized excellence and responded to it.

Whatever you are, be a good one. If what you do is worth doing, if you believe that who you are is of value, then you can't afford to be content with mediocrity. When you choose the path of excellence through this life, you will bring to it your best and receive the best it can offer in return. And you will know what it is to be satisfied.

"They'll Walk If You Let 'Em"

Thanks to Bob Walsh for the assist on this post:

I was recently reminded of an article about the San Diego Chargers from a few years back.  This is the first paragraph:

Philip Rivers drives a Ford pickup truck with a custom-made bumper sticker on the back window that reads, THEY'LL WALK IF YOU LET 'EM. It was a message that former Chargers linebacker Carlos Polk used to shout at the end of long practices on hot summer afternoons when he knew that some players might be tempted to loll through the final special teams drills. Rivers became so taken with the saying that he logged on to makestickers.com early this season and had it printed up. Standing in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot last Saturday night after the Chargers' 23--17 wild-card defeat of the Colts in overtime, Rivers said, "That bumper sticker has meant different things to me at different times. But right now it makes me think about when we were 4--8, and we could have walked the rest of the way. We didn't let each other walk."

It's a great phrase to remember when thinking about your team.  Most teams and players will give you what you demand.  But if you leave it up to them, they won't give you maximum effort.  They'll walk if you let 'em.

Get in the "Zone" Part V

Part 5 of a 7 part series helping athletes and coaches focus, achieve flow and "get in the zone".

Enjoy the game

Focusing on enjoying your sport will increase the chances of entering the zone. 

Feeling good causes the release of a set of chemicals into the body known as endorphins.

Endorphins are naturally occurring hormones that are secreted within the brain in order to carry information around the body. Endorphin secretion is associated with an increased sense of well-being and heightened receptiveness, improving the body’s functioning on a physical and a mental level. During zone-like states athletes often report heightened feelings of well-being and pleasure, much like the states associated with an endorphin release. 

Therefore it is advisable that you get yourself feeling good before you perform, because there is a strong likelihood that being in the zone could well be a by-product of generating an increased amount of endorphins. Common ways to do this may include listening to music, using visualisation techniques, and using deep breathing exercises.

Quote of the Day:

"Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable." -Lord Chesterfield

Quote of the Day:

A bad attitude is a cancer on any team. One player's attitude will usually influence the attitudes of other players. A "winning attitude" has to exist prior to having a "winning team". Positive winning attitudes are the foundation of winning basketball. - George P. Burdell