Blog
Read Blog Posts by Category:
Passion: Articles that deal with the inner drive that we all need to want to MOVE from where we currently are to where we dream to be.
Preparation: These posts reference articles, books, documentaries, speakers, quotes, and other inspirational and formative ideas that I have found that helped me and the people around me.
Practice: Articles in this category have a heavy sports and performance training lean.
Performance: These articles focus on how you go about your work. From networking to communications to finding a better way to do what you do.
Perseverance: Articles in this category speak to the mechanics that we go through both mentally and physically to stay on track and not get STUCK.
Resist the Tug
When I was young, my friends and I would go down to one of the three rivers that came together in Mason City, Iowa (aka “River City” from the Broadway show “The Music Man”) and catch “crawdads” or crayfish.
It wasn’t unusual to catch a bucket full in 5 – 10 minutes as we walked down the bank of the river. The one thing that I thought was interesting about these “rock lobsters” was that when one was working his way to the top of the bucket, to escape, one of his brethren would reach up and pull him back into the pile at the bottom of the bucket. I never really thought much about it until I got older and my professional career began to grow and flourish.
Finding Stillness
I remember riding my bike to East Park in my hometown. As I flew down the shaded park roads, I noticed people sitting on the park benches. I would silently wonder why. Why were they sitting quietly when there was so much life to live? Why weren’t they looking for next game? Why weren’t they exploring the old locomotive at the park entrance? Why weren’t they doing something with their life?
Then I got older. Life became more hectic. I was no longer hunting for things to do; I was now building my own world. There were very few opportunities to take a breath. From the time I woke up to the time I went to bed there was not a spare second. I actually needed more time on the clock. The 86,400 seconds sped away, just as I had done on my bike as a youth.
Stop Trying – Do It!
“No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.” - Yoda
I was talking to a group of athletes the other day and they used a “dirty” word. The athlete said they would, “try to work harder.” I stopped them right there. I asked them if being successful was important to them or if they just wanted to spend all their time and effort and get nothing out of it. Of course, they said, they “wanted” to be successful. Strike Two.
I looked at the coach and he shrugged and said, “That’s why you’re here.”
Thank goodness he reached out.
Move Beyond Easy
We all get caught up in our patterns of life. It’s easy to do. You find you rhythm of waking up, going to work, coming home and finishing your day. It’s easy!
It’s like pulling on that old sweatshirt. It just feels right. Everything fits. Your body, your mind, your partner, your kids, your dog or cat, your extended family, your friends, your work all find the same rhythm. It’s easy.
But is it right?
Failure Is Not Fatal
Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill
Before my career changing run in with a chicken house fan, my overall coaching record, in the first eleven years of my coaching career, was 33 Wins – 77 Loses and 1 Tie. I was averaging 3 wins a season. Not a great resume statistic.
The one thing that was constant in my life was my belief in myself and my ability to become a winning coach. You may have noticed that I didn’t say a “successful coach”. I knew I was doing some good stuff. I knew I had learned a lot in my first 11 years of my career. I just needed the right place to put it all together.
When it all came together my wins skyrocketed (251 wins) to a career average of 11 wins a season. Like Churchill says, “Failure is not fatal.” The only thing that is fatal is if we stop trying. I could have looked at my three wins a season and said, “I suck”, and left coaching and taken a job I wasn’t passionate about. At that time, I would have failed myself because I would have given up on my passion. When we give up on ourselves than we truly have failed.
Stop Procrastinating … NOW
The dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself. – Rita Emmett
Have you ever been around a person who says, “I’m great under pressure”? Did you do a follow-up question and ask them, “Why were you behind in the first place?”
It’s those people who think that they can keep putting things off until the end, and then finish the project with seconds remaining, which in the long run will have a negative impact on the overall success of your company.
Coaching Handbook: Lessons Learned
A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life. – John Wooden
Coaching is the most amazing profession in the world. You literally can change an individual’s life, for the better, in six months. There are books that can give you examples of how to coach, but until you are knee deep in the profession you will never understand truly what it takes to be a successful coach. The lessons come to you in two ways. First, your individual experiences with players, parents and the organizations that you are with. Second, and probably the most important teacher; the coaches that you are working with and around every day.
#50
For those who have been following me, thank you for your support, your comments and your success stories. I love to find my email box full of your success stories on where you were and how far you have come, because of the Move or Die message. For those who have just found me, welcome to the circus!
Success: Faith and Trust
Did you hear the story about the leader who took forty years to get his group to their optimal destination? We might think that this guy was tenacious. This guy had grit and determination. One who doesn’t know the meaning of quit … right?
What happens if I told you that he could have gotten his group to their destination in eleven days, instead of forty years?
Building a Presentation – Part IV
Movement is the only way you have of affecting the world around you. — Daniel Wolpert
As you near the end of construction, whether it is a structure or a presentation, you will begin to add the parts that will breathe life and endless possibilities into your project. A house or an office building will seem cold without the walls being painted, the rugs, the lighting, the art work and the furniture. Just like in a presentation, without the finishing touches your talk will seem drab and colorless. When you add these to your finished piece a normal looking structure, or talk, will become a million-dollar work of art.
Building a Presentation – Part III
Words build bridges into unexplored regions. – Robert Frost
Mr. Frost was spot-on. Great transitions, clear examples and a dynamite introduction will build the bridges that will entrance your audience as you pass along your message. These three ideas will lift an average presentation in to a life changing motivational oration. It only takes a little creativity to spice up your words and stories.
Building a Presentation – Part II
My style, as a motivational speaker, is to use stories to draw the listener towards a realization. The stories help to lift or challenge the audience. Once they are caught up I the message I call on the audience to take action.
Building a Presentation
Speaking to 600 Pre-K through 6th Grade students I could not take anything for granted. I could not assume they would have any name references, historical references, sports references, life-lesson references. I had to build my talks to reach each of the students at their level of understanding.
Finish… EVERYTHING
If you have watched any competition in life we understand one thing, “It ain’t over, till it’s over.” (Yogi Berra)
Whether it is a sporting event, and election, a movie, a song, or your life. Nothing is truly over until the last second has ticked off the clock, the last vote is counted (or not counted – dependent on how you fall on that issue), the last scene, the last note or your last breath. There can always be a dramatic turn around and someone can snatch a loss from the jaws of victory.
Getting UnStuck: Part 2
Welcome to MOVING FORWARD. This is the same feelings that the most success people in any category feel. Don’t get overwhelmed. All of these feeling are positive feelings. Remember, if you want to become different you need to think different. Your mind is thinking different, so you are becoming different. Keep moving forward.
Getting UnStuck
I’m a self-starter. I didn’t need any prompting to begin to write a program for an upcoming offseason program. No one needs to fire me up to write a blog.
When I left coaching, I was already writing my book. As I wrote Move or Die, I was setting up speaking outlines. As I finished Move or Die, I had already started putting together ideas for a second book, which is in research right now.
My point is that I have the type of personality that has no problem with starting and finishing ideas. I’m in the minority. Too many of us have great ideas. We have great plans and ambitious dreams. But that’s as far as it goes. These ideas, plans and dreams all die on the vine. I love Don Shula’s quote that defines this action, “It’s the start that stops most people.”
Get Up
“Success comes to those who have the will power to win over their snooze buttons.” – Unknown
I recently listened to a sleep specialist who said that when your alarm goes off in the morning and you push the snooze button you are starting in a deficit before your even put one foot on the ground.
Too many of us think that an extra ten minutes of sleep aren’t a big deal. But in reality, studies show, when your alarm goes off your body turns on. Even though you are still sleepy, and your bed may feel too cozy to get out of, your mind and body are ready to go. It’s a Pavlovian response. Alarm goes off you GET TO move forward.
The Game Within the Game
Scotty Conley taught me to stop watching the football during football games. He showed me that one can get too focused on the result rather than understanding the process that produced the result. If you watch the receiver catch the ball and run untouched into the endzone you only saw the tip of the iceberg. So, instead of watching the "show" we need to watch the “process" that made the “show” possible. The game within the game.
Be True to Who You Are
“One day’s life of a lion is preferable to hundred years of a jackal.” – Tipu Sultan
Do you know what a jackal is? In the wild it is a member of the canine family found mostly in southern Africa, the Middle East and India. To me the jackal represents that nagging feeling that is always biting at my heels when I’m not being true to myself.
Fighting Negativity
“Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.” – Albert Einstein
Negativity is the slayer of our dreams. When we are young, we have the ability to dream BIG. We dream big, until someone steps in and tells us the price. Instead of staying with the dream many will adjust their course. Then they dream big again, until someone steps in and tell them they’re not good enough. Some will listen to them. What’s worse is when they stop dreaming big because have stopped believing in themselves.