Appreciation | What Drives Winning

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The following excerpt comes from the book What Drives Winning by Brett Ledbetter.  Its a GREAT resource for character development.

The thing I talk about most is appreciation.  That is the number-one core value in our program.  I feel like appreciation is the foundation for anyone that is successful over a long period of time, on or off the court.

I believe in an appreciation-to-entitlement ratio.  Appreciation should be high.  Entitlement should be low.  If someone feels like when they take the floor they deserve something because of who they are or because of what they’ve done, they automatically are not going to be in the right frame of mind to make their team win at the highest level.

Entitlement = Think you deserve something based on who you are or what you’ve done.

Appreciation: To recognize the good in someone or something.

Teach and develop that character skill in your athletes.  Teach them to even express gratitude and show appreciation for setbacks.  Everything in life is balanced.  Even in really bad situations, there are great things that come out of them.

When you look at things from this prospective, you realize that every moment you encounter is a moment to make you better.  Appreciate the moment and how it contributes to the person that you want to become.

As said in the movie Fences, “You gotta take the crooked with the straights.”  Learn to appreciate the good and the bad in life.