MJ Mondays | Be Willing to be Coached and Pushed

To be great at anything, you need to be willing to learn and willing to receive feedback. You have to allow yourself to be coached and corrected so that you can learn and grow. And you have to allow yourself to be pushed. Michael Jordan told his college coach, Roy Williams, that he was going to be the best player to ever play at North Carolina. Michael Jordan said, "I'm going to show you. Nobody will ever work as hard as I'll work." Coach Williams said that Michael Jordan was the only play that could ever turn it on and off, and he never turned it off. He said, "When I think of Michael Jordan, I think of 3 years of watching that youngster get BETTER and BETTER and Better."

While scrimmaging in practice, I heard that Michael's coaches would have him play on the team with the guys coming off the bench to make it tougher on him. If his team was winning, his coaches would have him switch to the losing team and he would have to lead them back. This is an example of Michael Jordan allowing his coaches to push him.

When your coaches push you, do you pout, put your head down, and sulk, or are you grateful that they care enough to push you? Do you feel sorry for yourself because you are being pushed, or are you thankful and work harder?

Roy Williams recently said, "To this day, he still treats me like he did 30 years ago, or 40 years ago I guess it almost is now. Just an incredible person with, incredible work ethic. A will to win better than anybody I've ever seen. A focus better than any basketball player I've ever seen. The only person that's ever compared to him basketball-wise in how he focused was Tyler Hansborough.

Be willing to learn, be open to receive feedback, and be willing to be coached and pushed by your coaches.