LeBRON ON WHAT HE'S DOING THAT TRANSLATES INTO SUCCESS

A great interview with LeBron talking about how his work in practices and in the video room are key to his success on the court.

THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR FRIENDS

We constantly speak of the power of relationships.  As coach, I have always had my own "Circle of Influence" -- people who believe in me and are there to help me grow.  I think it is important for our student- athletes to also understand the importance of who they associate with and how it makes a tremendous difference in who they are and who they become.

The following comes from "Talent Is Never Enough" by John Maxwell:

1. Identify the Most Important People in Your Life
Who are the significant people in your life, the people you spend the most time with, the people whose opinions mean the most to you!  Those people are your greatest influences.  You need to identify who they are before you can access how they are influencing your talent.

2. Assess Whether They are Influencing You in the Right Direction
Once you have identified the people who are influencing you, you would be wise to discern how they are influencing you. Key questions include:

What does he think of me? Novelist Mark Twain advised "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambition."

How does he or she behave toward me in difficult times?  There's an old saying, "In prosperity our friends know us.  In adversity we know our friends."

What does he bring out of me? British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli observed, "The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but reveal to him his own."

3. If Your Friends Aren't Friends, Then Make New Friends
If the people close to you are dragging you down, then it may be time to make some changes.  Speaker Joe Larson remarked, "My friends didn't believe that I could be come a successful speaker.  So I did something about it.  I went out and found me some new friends."

WHAT DOES YOUR OPPONENT THINK OF YOU?

The following was tweeted by Boston Celtic assistant coach Kevin Eastman --

What if every opponent thought this:

"I do NOT want to play against

his effort & intensity for 40 minutes!

THE ATTITUDE OF GREATNESS

The following is a quote from Kevin Durant last year...imagine how good you could be if you had this humility and drive:

"I'm not nearly the player that I want to be."

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."

THE BATTLE WITHIN

An elderly native-American is telling his grandson about a fight that is going on inside of the young man -- he describes it as a "battle between two wolves."

One wolf is evil: lazy, angry, selfish, full of self-pity, resentment and excuses. He wants to stray from the pack.

One wolf is good: hard-working, joyous, filled with hope, humility, kindness. He wants to lead the pack.

After some thought, the grandson looks to his grandfather and ask, "Which wolf will win?"

To which the grandfather replies, "The one you feed."

YOU'LL NEVER FORGET YOUR TEAMMATES

"Even when you've played the game of your life, it's the feeling of teamwork that you'll remember.  You'll forget the plays, the shots, and the scores, but you'll never forget your teammates."

-Anonymous

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.

GREAT PLAYERS ARE GREAT LISTENERS

So you probably agree that listening is important. But what does it mean to listen? We heard a story about a high school music appreciation class that provides a meaningful answer to that question. The teacher of the class asked for a volunteer to explain the difference between listening and hearing. At first no one wanted to answer; but finally, a student raised his hand. When the teachers called on him, he said, “Listening is wanting to hear.” That answer is a great start. To become a good listener, you have to want to hear. But you also need some skills to help you.

To increase your understanding of others as you listen, follow these guidelines offered by Eric Allenbaugh:

1. Listen with a head-heart connection.

2. Listen with the intent of understanding.

3. Listen for the message and the message behind the message.

4. Listen for both content and feelings.

5. Listen with your eyes—your hearing will be improved.

6. Listen for others’ interest, not just their position.

7. Listen for what they are saying and not saying.

8. Listen with empathy and acceptance.

9. Listen for the areas where they are afraid and hurt.

10. Listen as you would like to be listened to.

From "Becoming a Person of Influence" by John Maxwell and Jim Dornan

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?

ASK WHY, NOT WHO

The following comes from "Go For Gold" by John Maxwell:

The next time you experience a failure, think about why you failed instead of who was at fault. Analyze any failure:


• What lessons have I learned?

• Am I grateful for this experience?

• How can I turn the failure into success?

• Practically speaking, where do I go from here?

• Who else has failed in this way before, and how can that person help me?

• How can my experience help others someday to keep from failing?

• Did I fail because of another person, because of my situation, or because of myself?

• Did I actually fail, or did I fall short of an unrealistically high standard?

• Where did I succeed as well as fail?

"Be the first to take responsibility for finding

answers when things go wrong for your team."

-John Maxwell-

 

JEROME BETTIS ON BECOMING A CHAMPION

"Passion, teamwork, and a belief that you can get it done -- those are the three big things for me.  First, you have to have a passion for what you do in life; that's the key to success in my eyes.  Second, you have to be a good teammate.  Working together alongside so many personalities, that's not always an easy thing.  Teamwork is totally necessary though in order for your team to be successful.  Lastly, you gotta believe.  If you believe that you can do it, whether it's in sports, business or life, that's when amazing things can happen.  You have to believe.  So, if you are able to put all of those things together, then the sky is the limit."

-Jerome Bettis
From "Raising Lombardi" by Ross Bernstein

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

How bad to you want it? Look closely and see how many NBA "stars" you recognize. Than take a moment to understand that all of these clips have them working out not with their team but with individual trainers they hire to grow their game. How bad do you want it? The "stars" of the game weren't born that way! They got there through tremendous hard work on a continuous basis. So ---- how bad do you want it?

THE POWER OF COURAGE, DETERMINATION AND THE LOVE FOR YOUR TEAMMATES AND COACH

WHAT IS YOUR PICK UP GAME MENTALITY

The following comes from Steve Hale who was one of Michael Jordan's teammates:

Hale noticed another thing about Jordan: Even in pickup games, he has become unusually purposeful. There was a tendency in games like this, when there were no coaches around, for players to resort to what they did best, to reinforce their strengths and avoid going to any part of their game that was essentially weak. But Jordan, Hale believed, was constantly working on the weaker part of his game, trying to bring it up. It was, Hale thought, one more sign of his desire to be the best.

From "Playing For Keeps" by David Halberstam