A Coach's Diary

“When you put in the work and you're the hardest worker - sometimes it's ugly, but you just have to stack the days. If you keep showing up and keep working hard, good things are going to happen.” - Sophie Cunningham How do you keep showing up when it’s ugly? Sophie Cunningham is a professional basketball player known for her toughness and hard work. She once said after a game, “When you put in the work and you're the hardest worker - sometimes it's ugly, but you just have to stack the days. If you keep showing up and keep working hard, good things are going to happen." How hard do you work? How hard do you warm up? How hard do you go in the simple drills? Your work ethic is either a competitive advantage or a lid. She then said, “Everyone is going to fail, and I think if you’re not trying or not failing, then you’re not picking yourself hard enough.” Don’t be afraid to fail because greatness is on the other side of failure. Question of the Day: How do you keep sh...

“The first step on the ladder of success is always failure. Prepare for failure. You are going to fail. We all fail. Figure it out. No one will feel sorry for you.” - Kelvin Sampson How well do you handle failure? Kelvin Sampson is an elite basketball coach who has taken multiple teams to Final Fours. He once said, “The first step on the ladder of success is always failure. Prepare for failure. You are going to fail. We all fail. Figure it out. No one will feel sorry for you.” Nobody wants to mess up or fail, but failing is a part of the process. You don’t become successful instead of failing — you become successful because you learn to fail, adjust, and keep going. Very few people start great. Growth begins when things don’t work. Failure isn’t unusual or personal. It’s normal and expected. The people who succeed aren’t the ones who avoid failure—they’re the ones who know how to respond to it. What matters isn't failure — it’s what you do next, and your response to failure is what...

“If someone says your name and it makes someone else smile, that's a good legacy to leave.” - Roy Williams How do you make the people around you feel? Roy Williams won multiple National Championships at The University of North Carolina after taking Kansas to multiple Final Fours. He once said, “If someone says your name and it makes someone else smile, that's a good legacy to leave.” Great teammates are great people, and you can make the team better by being a better person. When you ask a group of teammates what makes. A great teammate, it is often character skills, not performance skills, that get mentioned. Be someone who makes the energy in the locker room and huddle better when you walk in. Be someone people want to play with, want to coach, and want to be around. Question of the Day: How can you be someone who makes people smile?

“Enthusiasm is rare. Endurance is contagious.” - Angela Duckworth Do you have the stamina and endurance to keep going when the enthusiasm wears off? Angela Duckworth is a psychologist who studies what helps people persist when their path gets hard. She’s best known for her research on grit — the idea that passion and perseverance can help you do whatever you want to do. She once said, “Enthusiasm is rare. Endurance is contagious.” Nothing feels better than a rush of motivation except steady, consistent, discipline. Great things are achieved when you have a healthy combination of ambition and endurance that is fueled by big dreams and a commitment to showing up ready and doing your job with integrity and excellence. Enthusiasm gets you moving. Endurance keeps you moving. Have goals that get you going, and have the character to keep going. Question of the Day: How can you build the kind of endurance that keeps you going when the endurance fades away?

“It’s not what you're capable of doing—it’s what you're willing to do.” - Mack Brown What are you willing to do? Mack Brown won a national championship as the head football coach at the University of Texas. When talking to their swimming and diving team, he said, “If your habits do not lead to your dreams, change your habits. If I’m not doing the things I need to do out here, figure out why and do it. It’s not what you're capable of doing—it’s what you're willing to do.” He told the team, “You are all capable or you wouldn’t be here.” Their job is now to do the best they can so they can become the best they can be. That is all our job. Do the best we can to be the best we can. It starts with our goals, mindset, and habits. They all have to match. You can’t have big goals with a small mindset or work ethic. Question of the Day: What is something you can do today or what habit can you form—or stop doing—so that you can become the person you want to become?

What is one thing I've learned this week? The most effective way to get people to pay attention, according to Donald Miller, is by telling a good story that they feel a part of. Donald Miller is author, speaker, and business consultant best known for helping people and organizations clarify their message. In his TED Talk titled “How to clarify your message so people listen," Miller said the key to having an effective brand that engages people is to have a very clear message and turn it into a story. He said instead of just telling people your story, invite them to be a part of the story by making them the hero and you be the guide. You do this by identifying a problem — their problem — and helping them create a simple plan they can follow to solve the problem. Finally, tell them how following the plan will help them and how not following the plan will hurt them. He calls this protocol PEACE soundbites. P — Problem : What problem are you solving? E — Empathy : Show you u...