A Coach's Diary

“In everything you do, find something you can be thankful for.” - Joyce Meyer Does anxiety or fear of the unknown keep you from enjoying your journey? Kerri Walsh-Jennings is a 3-time Olympic gold medal beach volleyball player. She once said, “In this journey, the fear creeps in from time to time. The hint of that is there because there’s an unknown factor to everything. That’s true in everyone’s life. I don’t choose to live there; I let it spark me.” How do you manage that fear?  One of my favorite verses says, “The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy; I have come that may have life, to the full, till it overflows.” The thief can be a lot of things: fear, worry, anxiety, challenges, etc., but we don’t have to let any of them steal our joy and love for who we are and what we do. Some of the best athletes talk about enjoying the journey, and a major key to that is finding ways to enjoy everyday life. Some people wait for major moments to find joy, and others let joy power everyt...

“Keep the faith, always.” - Paige Bueckers There will be hard times. When they hit, what will you do? When she committed to the University of Connecticut, Paige Bueckers was the number 1 ranked high school player in the country. However, not everything came easy for Paige when she got to UConn. Paige had to face a lot of injuries and adversity throughout her career, but she had grit and kept going, and she finished her career by leading UConn to the National Championship. After the game, Paige was asked, “If you could go back and talk to your freshman self, what would you tell her about the process?” She said, “That it’s not always pretty and that there are a lot of ups and downs, and some days where you don’t want to do it anymore, some days where you want to quit, and through all of that, on the other side of a hard time is an extremely big blessing, and as long as you keep the faith and keep the work ethic, and you keep being a great teammate, keep being a great leader, things are a...

“No one ever loses at anything as long as you don’t quit.” - Kevin Sampson When you fall behind, what do you do? Do you quit or keep going? In a Final Four game against Duke, Houston had less than a 10% chance of winning the game with less than 5 minutes left. In this situation, a lot of people would just go through the motions until the final buzzer, but Houston didn’t. They never quit, and they ended up winning. When asked to describe the resiliency of his team down the stretch, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said, “No one ever loses at anything as long as you don’t quit.” But how? How do you keep going and pushing when it doesn’t look like you are going to win? Coach Sampson said it’s all about the work they put in and the trust they have with each other. He said, “They trust their work, and they trust their teammates.” If you put in the right work with the right people, you will always have a chance. Every day, you are either making deposits or withdrawals. Deposits are the w...

“Focus on the things you have control over, like what kind of competitor you are going to be.” Former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh says there are four types of competitors, and the four levels represent a mindset that we all have complete control over. The four types of competitors are: Survivors, Contenders, Competitors, and Commanders. Survivors are at the bottom. They are the athletes who do just enough to get by and love taking the easy way out. They are the ones who never go first, who never go as hard as they can go, and who cut corners every chance they get. The worst part about survivors is that they will do everything they can to pull other people down and back with them. Contenders are the athletes who do well and work hard when they think they can win or get something out of it. They are front runners who are motivated by external factors, but they won’t push past their comfort zone unless they are sure they can win. Competitors show up and compete to the best of ...

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” Do your habits match your goals? There are few things worse than seeing athletes with big-time goals and small-time habits. You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your habits and behaviors. Don Meyer was a legendary basketball coach who said there are three types of players based on 2 things: talent and mindset.  Talent is your natural ability that includes skill, size, and athleticism. Mindset is your attitude, how hard you work, how coachable you are, and how well you can learn and pay attention to detail. Talent is what you can do, and mindset is how you do it. Here are his three types of athletes: 1 - Players with A-Level Talent and A-Level Mindset: These are the best of the best. They are the best, most talented athletes in the gym who also have the best work ethic, are competitive, are coachable, and pay attention to detail. 2 - Players with A-Level Talent and a B-Level Mindset: They have al...

“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning."  - Pelé  Have you ever had a challenge you felt like you couldn’t overcome, a skill you couldn’t master, or an opponent you couldn’t beat? When I was growing up, there was one person in our city who was better than everybody, whom nobody could catch or beat. They made people quit because people couldn’t compete with them. Instead of climbing the mountain and trying to catch them, some people switched sports altogether. As a coach, I see this happen in other ways, like when learning new skills. I often see people who fail to go through the steps required to master something difficult and just quit instead. They think it’s supposed to be easy, and when it’s not, they want no part of it. Pelé is one of the best soccer players of all time and came from very humble beginnings. He first mastered his soccer skills by kicking a rolled-up sock stuffed with rags around the streets because his family didn’t have a lo...

"I’m fascinated with coaches that can perform in the storm without losing the big picture. It seems like the only way that happens is to have a game plan.” - Chris Petersen When the storms hit and the boat starts rocking, how do you stay on the boat? Storms are a key part of everyone’s life. They test your strengths and commitment, and they expose your weaknesses and gaps. When the storms hit and the boat starts rocking, you will see four types of people: People throwing themselves off. People throwing other people off. People settling down and waiting for the storm to pass. People saving people from being thrown off and helping bring people back in. Former college football coach Chris Petersen once said, “I’m fascinated with coaches that can perform in the storm without losing the big picture. It seems like the only way that happens is to have a game plan.” Having emotional stability is the foundation for that game plan. Emotional stability is the ability to maintain a balanced a...

“Average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached. Great players want to be told the truth.” - Doc Rivers Do you like being coached and receiving feedback, or do you run from it? Tony Robbins is one of the most successful motivational speakers in the world. He gets paid millions and millions of dollars to motivate people. I met a person who had a relationship with him, and he said one of the things that makes Tony great is that he DEMANDS feedback. He said some people want feedback, but the best of the best demand it. How? After every speech, Tony asks two questions: What is one thing I did well? What is one thing I could’ve done better or differently? NBA coach Doc Rivers once said, “Average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached. Great players want to be told the truth.” If you want to be the best you can be, you can’t just ask for feedback; you have to demand it. Every person needs to have a truth-teller in their life whom they can trust...

Steve Kerr has won a total of 9 championships as a player and a coach, so few people in basketball know more about winning and culture than Coach Kerr. In an interview with Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley, he was asked how to build an effective culture. Before he started coaching, Coach Kerr said he visited several coaches, and NFL coach Pete Carroll asked him, “How are you going to coach your team?” More important than Xs and Os are the kind of culture you want to build, the values you want to have, and how you want to make them come alive. Carroll asked him, “What is the most important thing in your life? What are the most important values in your life?” Coach Kerr said, “[Your athletes] have to feel the authenticity of you.” When you have genuine, real values and make them come alive, that is when the culture starts to form. Coach Kerr came up with four words that defined him and his approach to life the most: joy, competitiveness, mindfulness, and c...

“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” - Billie Jean King Someone once told me they have voices in their head constantly asking themselves, “What are you going to do?” When something bad happens, that voice asks, “What are you going to do?” When they lose, fail, or get called out, it asks, “What are you going to do?” I’ve noticed a lot of the people around me tend to ask the same question when they see me struggling, making mistakes, or being held accountable: “What are you going to do?” Do you know what champions do? The next right thing. They lean on the work and stay committed to the plans they have created for themselves. Billie Jean King is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, and she is famously known for her advocacy for women’s rights, including beating male tennis player Bobby Riggs in a match that was called “The Battle of the Sexes” that was watched by 90 million people worldwide. She knows a lot about overcoming adversity and obstacles. She once said, ...

“There’s no substitute for hard work. If you work hard and prepare yourself, you might get beat, but you’ll never lose.” Nancy Lieberman Nancy Lieberman is a basketball Hall of Famer and is one of the greatest figures in women’s basketball. But Lieberman had a rough upbringing and many tough obstacles she had to overcome. In a TEDx Talk, she said, “My life has been riddled with Nancy-can’t Moments. Nancy can’t do this, Nancy can’t do this, Nancy can’t do that.” She said you have to beat the Mind Monsters - the voices that tell you what you can’t do and shouldn’t do, but her mantra has been: You have to see it, say it, and be it. This is how she reinforced her confidence, self-esteem, and decision-making. This mantra helps overcome the Mind Monsters and live with confidence. She won championships in college in as a professional, and she became a head coach in the WNBA. Then, when the NBA created the D-League, the Dallas Mavericks named her the first female head coach in a men’s professi...

“Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is.” - Vince Lombardi You can’t always control whether you win or not. Sometimes, your opponent is too big, strong, experienced, and good to overcome. But that should never impact how you show up, do your job, add value, and compete. Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.” Coach Lombardi was known for his demanding coaching style and relentless pursuit of excellence. This quote says that the pursuit of greatness and excellence is just as important as the result. Your will is a strong intention or desire to do something. When your will is strong enough, you will wake up or show up early, you will do your job with integrity and excellence, and you will find ways to add value. My favorite athlete of all time is Michael Jordan. He was blessed with a lot of talent and world-class athleticism, but he was also blessed with an intense will to compete and get better. When Jor...

“Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently.” - Marie Forleo How do you stay consistent? Entrepreneur and author Marie Forleo says most of us struggle with consistency in some parts of our lives, and working on being more consistent is worth the effort.  In a YouTube video , she outlines 5 steps we can use to be more consistent: 1 - Keep Your Eye on Your Why: Know what you want to achieve, and more importantly, know why. Your why keeps you going when the going gets tough. 2 - Pick Your [1] Battle: Start with one thing and stick to that. We have limited capacity when it comes to willpower and discipline. If you try to do too many things at one time, you will fail at them all. 3 - Schedule It: Steven Covey said, “Don’t prioritize your schedule, schedule your priorities.” Build your life around what you are trying to be more consistent with instead of trying to fit it in. 4 - Ignore Your Feelings: When it comes to developing habits, igno...

  “Undisciplined people do dumb things. Disciplined people do smart things. Which are you?.” - Nick Saban Do you have the discipline it takes to accomplish what you want to accomplish? Championship football coach Nick Saban says to be successful, you have to have a good plan, preparation, a good system, and an ability to adjust based on the situation you are in, but he says the real key to winning is all about mindset. If you don’t think about and focus on what it takes to win, you will struggle. He says there are three steps to creating a championship mindset: 1 - Vision: What are we trying to accomplish? 2 - Plan: What are the systems and processes that are required to accomplish it? 3 - Discipline: You have to have the discipline to execute it every day. This is where most people fail. Coach Saban says most people define discipline as doing what you’re supposed to do, when you’re supposed to do it, the way you’re supposed to do it - right thing, right way, right time, all the ...