A Coach's Diary

It is said that the grandmother of Jackie Joyner Kersey named the child after First Lady Jackie Kennedy, “Because someday she is going to be the First Lady of something!” Jackie Joyner Kersee grew up in poverty and had to overcome asthma and being allergic to many things - including grass - to become one of the greatest athletes of all time as a dominant track and field star. She has been called by many, “The first lady of track and field,” living up to the meaning behind her name. She had God-given talent, but growing up in a house and environment of positive prophesy and high expectations surely helped. Author Laurie Beth Jones writes that a positive prophesy is a positive prediction that you share with someone, and research shows that this can lead to an increase of performance. She also wrote, “One if the most important things we can do for others - and for ourselves - is to create and maintain an atmosphere charged with positive prophesies.” Success stories are littered with peopl...

Many of my all-time, favorite athletes to coach weren't my best athletes. My favorite athletes are the athletes that had fun, brought positive energy and enthusiasm, and who loved to play. They also wanted to learn, they wanted to be coached hard, and they were always looking at ways to get better. My favorite athletes were encouragers and energizers. They make everyone feel better. My favorite athletes were positive, not negative. They weren't just positive in the good times. They brought positive energy, words, and enthusiasm to the gym when times got tough. Anybody can be positive. Just think positive thoughts. Anybody can be encouraging. Just think encouraging thoughts. It isn't always that easy. We all fall into negative funks where we can't find the rainbow through the rain and clouds. But remember that we are what we think. Think about the type of person you want to become. Think about the type of life you want to live. Think about the type of athlete and coach y...

In the book, The No Complaining Rule, by Jon Gordon, it talks about the importance of having purposeful, positive interactions with your team. Teams and people are more successful and effective when they are positive, but a lot of us don't have ingrained positive habits, positive actions, and positive thinking in our lives. A positive culture doesn't happen through osmosis. It happens by relentlessly focusing on curating a positive culture and weeding out negativity. The best way to deal with negativity is to create a positive culture where negativity can't breed and grow and survive. Otherwise, you will spend all of your time fighting negativity. Anytime there is a break in communication, leadership, or expectations, it creates a space where negativity can grow. We need intentional, positive leadership, we need positive interactions, and we need positive communication to fill the voids so that negativity can't breed. With my teams and with my family I try to remember ...