A Coach's Diary

If you want to be successful at anything, you have to be willing to TRY, and if you are willing to TRY something, you have to understand that there is a possibility that you will fail. Basketball coach, Kevin Eastman, wrote, “TRYING, taking in new challenges, facing the unknown, come down to these questions: - Is my TRY greater than my fear? - Is my TRY greater than my doubt? - Is my TRY greater than any embarrassment that U may suffer because I did not accomplish what I set out to do? Accomplishing anything, overcoming any challenge, requires a start, and starting something requires a willingness to try. So, TRY always precedes start. Coach Eastman defines TRY as a decision followed by an effort to accomplish something. Today, next week, forever - TRY. TRY something new. TRY to show up early. TRY to stay late. TRY talking to your coach about how you can get better. TRY, TRY, and TRY again. If you want to be successful at anything, the first step you have to take is to TRY! References:...

On the road to success, there are many roadblocks.  But, many of those roadblocks are in our minds.  They include doubt and fears and limitations that we put on ourselves.  To combat those internal feelings, Jon Gordon says that we should: "We need to talk to ourselves much more often than we listen to ourselves." We have to make sure that we have a 'growth mindset' that will help us overcome obstacles, real and mental, and that will help us deal with, learn from, and grow from mistakes. Kevin Eastman uses these 4 words to combat these roadblocks and to get to greatness: - Trust - Belief - Resolve - Preparation I think it all starts with the preparation.  The more prepared that you are going into a situation, the more you can trust yourself, the more you can believe in yourself, and the better prepared you are to bounce back from inevitable setbacks.  Prepare yourself the best you can going in, and you will have a different le...

'IF' you want to be successful, you have to have a plan, create goals, and then you have to work for your goals.  You have to have an action plan for your goals.  Creating a plan and having goals without action will just lead to disappointment and frustration. Using the word ‘IF’ when creating goals can create the action for you.   ‘IF’ is the work that is required to achieve your goals. -   If I want to make varsity, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________. - If I want to be all-district, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________. -   If I want to get a college scholarship, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________. - If I want to become a better coach, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________. - If I want to create better relationships with my students and/or players, I will have to _______________...

Know, accept and master your role.  That is the mark of a good teammate in any sport and in any field.  We all have been given certain gifts, and when we use those gifts, no matter how big or small, popular or unseen, we make the team better. -  If you are a shooter - shoot with confidence. -  If you are a defender - defend with heart and toughness. -  If you bring energy off the bench, cheer loud and proud for your teammates. The best teams have the best teammates - teammates who know, believe in, accept, and master their roles. "Being a teammate means you only have one agenda: the team.  There can be no personal agendas on a championship team.  A teammate is someone who is over themself and into the team.  Being a teammate is immersing ourselves into doing everything we can to help the team and our teammates succeed. "Know and understand your role.  In order for the team to win, it has to use the strengths that it has in ...

Where you are and where you are going are based mostly off of the choices that you make. The rest is based off how you react to those choices. Every choice that you make matters: Do I get to the gym early, or do I rest? Do I put up extra shots, or do I hang out with my teammates? Do I read this extra chapter today? Do I stay late in the office tonight? Do I spend extra time with my family this weekend? Everyday we are faced with hundreds of choices that we can make. Each choice has its consequence. Be intentional in how you make the choices that you make.

Success is smart – it will test you at many turns.  Its biggest test is failure.  Success wants to know if you will quit.  Remember that failure is a part of all successful team and individual journeys.   Don’t fear failure because it happens to the best of the best.  If you fear the consequence of failure, put equal fear to the consequence of never trying.  What would happen if you tried and it actually worked out?  At some point, it will!  Imagine if you knew you would succeed but you didn’t try.  How would you feel then? Try, and don’t quit.  Act, and don’t quit. Don’t define success by wins and losses.  Define success by starting, trying, acting and giving your best effort.  If you do those and ‘win,’ then great.  If you do those and ‘lose,’ its still great as long as you learned from your mistakes, got better, and didn’t quit.  Eventually you will win, and with the right attitude, you will proba...

Kevin Eastman - Coaching U Podcast You have to learn how to build and or strengthen relationships.   It’s not really about networking; networking is only and number. It’s not about how many people you know, it’s about how many relationships that you have. Having 15 players is great, but do you have a relationship with those 15 players?    Because the tougher the circumstance, the tougher the message, the tougher the truth – it can only be delivered, and received if there was a pre-existing, strong relationship that was built prior to those tough messages.   Those moments of truth in a game where you have to tell a hard truth to a player in the heat of the battle are made possible when you have worked over time to build the relationship. Its not about what makes a person tick, it matters what makes them talk.   If I can get them to talk, I can figure out what makes them tick.   From there and through the strength of the relationship, I can...