PASSION AND COMMITMENT

Rudy Ruettiger, upon whose life the movie Rudy was based, observed, "If you really, really believe in your dream, you'll get there.  But you have to have passion and total commitment to make it happen.  When you have passion and commitment, you don't need a complex plan.  Your plan is your life is your dream."

From "Talent Is Never Enough" by John Maxwell

MONE ON WORK ETHIC, DEDICATION AND STEPH CURRY

I am obviously a huge Seimone Augustus fan -- was incredibly blessed to have coached her.  But there is a reason I'm a "fan" of Mone -- she gets it!  And she got it at an early age.  You can read here a blog post I wrote a few years ago about what made her one of the best to ever player the game.

Yesterday, in Instagram, I saw this post from Seimone and wanted to share it because I thought it was outstanding:

The most common questions I get asked as a professional basketball player is, ‘What drills do you do to get better? How many shots did you take a day? What all did you focus on to be a better player?  I HATE BEING ASKED THAT.  My answer is the same — I can’t count the number of shots I took, I can’t tell you what drills I did because I used everything from a lawn chair to a bowling ball glove to help with getting better, as well as watched a VHS tape of Pistol Pete until it didn’t work anymore.  An still when you reach what you think is your goal or dream, people will still DOUBT YOU and will be UNCERTAIN of your success at the next level.  HINT: Steph Curry in the photo below.  But all you can do is KEEP WORKING, BELIEVE in yourself, STAY FOCUSED and let the universe take you an amazing ride!

A TREMENDOUS HUNGER

When Kobe Bryant was asked what makes one guy a champion above the next guy he responded with this:

"It's drive.  It's the will,  There are certain people that have a tremendous hunger.  There are certain people that have a will,  determination and hunger that you need to be the best in the world.  Those people -- and those people alone -- become champions."

IT'S "WHAT CAN BE" THAT MEASURES WORTH

The following is a poem written by Dan Clark for Anthony Robles.  It comes from Roble's book "Unstoppable."  Want to learn more about Robles? Check out one of our previous blog posts: http://goo.gl/mwgVC.

Every soul who comes to earth
With a leg -- or two -- at birth
Must wrestle his opponents knowing
It's not what it is, it's what can be that measures worth.
Make it hard, just make it possible
And through pain I'll not complain,
My spirit is unconquerable
Fearless I will face each foe, for I know
I am capable, I don't care what's probable
Through blood, sweat and tears
I am unstoppable.

I TOLD MYSELF I WAS UNSTOPPABLE

A sold-out crowd of more than 17,000 watched from the risers of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on March 19, 2011 at Arizona State University senior Anthony Robles emerged from the locker room on crutches.  After handing them to ASU assistant coach Brian Stith, he hopped to the corner of the mat, crouched down on one knee, and waited for the whistle that would signal the start of his final wrestling match.

"I told myself I was unstoppable," says Robles of that moment.  "I had put way too much into it to go in there and not come out with a national title."

That day, Robles, who was born without a right leg and permanently traded in a prosthetic one for crutches at the age of 3, defeated defending national champ Matt McConough 7-1 to become the first disabled wrestler in history to win a national college title.

By Alison Miller of Spirit Magazine

HOW MJ BECAME THE "BEST TO EVER PLAY"

The following is conversation between Coach Roy Williams, then an assistant at the University of North Carolina and a young freshman named Michael Jordan:

When Michael Jordan first got to UNC, we were sitting at the track one day after conditioning. It was just the two of us. “Coach,” he said. “I want to be the best player to every play here.”

“You’ll have to work much harder than you did in high school,” Williams said.

“But, Coach. I worked as hard as everybody else.”

“Oh, excuse me. I thought you just said you wanted to be the best player to ever play here. Working as hard as everybody else is not even going to come close, son.”

That was the end of the conversation.

Two days later, after the next conditioning session, Michael comes up to me and we were sitting there alone again. He said, “Coach, I’ve been thinking about what you said. I’m going to show you. There will never be anyone who will outwork me.”

He did that. From that day on, Michael tried to kick everybody’s rear end in every drill.

From "Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court" by Roy Williams

ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?

DREAM BIG...WORK HARD!

POTENTIAL ABOUT MORE THAN PHYSICAL ABILITIES

"Players don’t reach that potential because of physical abilities alone.  They have to have that motivation, and they have to have, really, desire and commitment to the game...I could be the most talented basketball player in the country, but not really work hard, and so therefore I will never really reach my potential.  I always tell our coaches in recruiting, I don’t want to have to go out and use my imagination.  I want to go out and see what a player is willing to commit to do on the floor.  And then if we need to work on skills, that’s find.  But that heart and head is so important when you’re talking potential and development."

-Pat Summitt

DON'T LISTEN WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN'T DO

DREAMS

"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable and eventually inevitable."

-Christopher Reeves

ADVICE ON ACHIEVING YOUR DREAMS

If you could give a young person advice on how to achieve their dreams, what would it be?

Bill Cowher:
“Three things I’ve always said:
1. Never quit anything you start.
2. Work harder than the other person.
3. Never be intimidated by anyone or anything.”

Dusty Baker:
“To not be afraid to be different and separate yourself from the pack.”

Tony Dungy:
“You have to be determined to get there no matter which way the crowd is going. You can’t depend on the crowd to take you there. Sometimes you have to be a leader rather than a follower to be successful and to get to your goals.”

Bill Walsh:
“Look at the short term of improving. Watch other people; learn from other people. Listen to whoever’s coaching you. Try to improve every day that you practice and every game that you play. That is the key.”

Red Auerbach:
“There are no shortcuts. You gotta pay your dues, you gotta know your trade, and you’ve got to pay the price. If you want to go through all that and then do a little more, you’ve got a good shot.”

From: "How to Succeed in the Game of Life"
By Christian Klemash