SUCCESS IS NEVER AN ACCIDENT

A short but powerful video and message from Alan Stein:

DURANT IN THE OFF-SEASON

I AM HABIT

I am your constant companion.  I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.  I will push you upward or drag you down to failure.  I am completely at your command.  Half of the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.  I am easily managed -- you must merely be firm with me.  Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great men, and alas, of all failures as well.  Those who are great, I have made great.  Those who are failures, I have made failures.  I am not a machine, although I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of man.  You may run me for profit or run me for ruin -- it makes no difference to me.  Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.  Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I?

I am HABIT


From "Thinking for a Change" by John Maxwell

WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?!

This photo was snapped a few days ago.  After practice, Kobe Bryant stuck around and worked on his individual ball handling drills. Which begs the question:

If one of the best players to have

ever played the game still finds

the need and time to work on

developing his game, why aren't you?

JIM BROWN AND THE ART OF BEING OBSESSED WITH DETAILS

“The nine years I was in pro ball, I never quit trying to make my mind an encyclopedia of every possible detail — about my teammates, about players on other teams, about the plays we used, and about both our and other teams’ collective and individual tendencies. Every play I ran, I had already run a thousand times in my mind. You get a jump on the game when you visualize beforehand not only the regular players you run, but also the 101 other things that might happen unexpectedly. So when you’re in the actual game, whatever happens, you’ve already seen it in your mind and plotted your countermoves — instantly and instinctively.”

-Jim Brown

BE COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE

"Be committed to excellence. You must be willing to work extremely hard and make whatever reasonable sacrifices are necessary to achieve the organizational goals that have been established for the team. At all times, the focus must be on doing things properly. In reality, the talent level of most NFL teams is relatively even. As such, one of the critical keys to success is execution. Players making plays is what wins football games. More often than not, the primary catalyst for the occurrence of such plays is an unwavering commitment to excellence."

-BILL WALSH