Category: Action - Coach to Expect Success

"Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do." - Oprah Winfrey

10/18/2018

I've pointed at this quote many times this week to my students and to remind myself too on how important it really is to put the work in now and make things easier later. It's funny that the lessons I share with students, many times I need those same lessons - and even more than my students do sometimes. Take today for example - Friday, Oct. 19, 2018 - as I write these thoughts down, I'm tired!! I know I need to stop at the gym today after work and I also know I won't feel like it at all! But I know I have to do it, for my health, for feeling better today, and even for sleeping better tonight.

I was listening to a podcast this morning from my buddy Sam Crowley - he was talking about making decisions which lead to action. Listen to his podcast episode HERE. He brought up so many great points of information that I needed to hear. One of the biggest was that inaction, not doing something is also a decision. That type of decision doesn't lead to much else other than regret, pain, the fact that the thing you didn't do is still there to be done, it causes worry and more stress too. So as I was listening to that this morning, I knew that one of my big battles today was going to be this decision that I know I need to do. You will find out about if I'm successful at this, later today when I will do a Facebook Live - catch it on my FB page HERE. If you read this after today - look for the video from 10-19-18.

What decision or choice should you make today?

Our Last Day

5/19/2017

“On your last day on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.” — Anonymous

This quote really jumped out to me last week as I was thinking about Les Brown’s message that we watched in my Leadership classes awhile back. He talked about a story of a guy’s last day and he had his family and some friends around his bed side, something we all hope to have on our last day for sure. Les also described that there were other figures around this guy’s bedside and he noticed that they all had angry and disappointed looks on their faces – especially in their eyes. He asked the one closest to him who are you?   The figure answered that we are all the dreams and ideas that you never acted upon. You never even tried to do anything with us and now we are going to die with you. You were the only one that could have given us life and now that will never happen.

Now I’ve heard Les tell this story many times watching his videos and to be honest, it always makes me tear up thinking about how I don’t want to be that guy. This year, same thing but it was different. The tears were still there and I’m not exactly sure why, but it is different than before.   I guess I’m more in touch with the fact that many things are changing in my life. I’m older (51 when I write this), my parents & in-laws are older too of course and there are the health issues with them that are on my mind too. Now I know these things are natural in life.
They do happen, heck they are supposed to happen. I look at my 2 kids and how they too (of course) are getting older. We are approaching another graduation here at Lake Shore High School, my 24th. So maybe that might be part of it too?

Thinking about this a little bit more – I think back to those people that have been an important part of my life and I am really zeroing in on the fact that they have had a direct affect on me getting to where I am today. Some of them are no longer alive, some have moved away and I’ve lost touch with others still. One of my missions is to continue to try and make a difference with as many people as possible as a way to payback all the people throughout my lifetime that invested in me and helped me get to where I am today.

But the fact remains that I have another strong force starting to push me. I DO NOT want to be like that guy that Les Brown is talking about. There are many things I’d like to do, many ideas, many goals and dreams that I’ve had for awhile – and I don’t want to not act on trying to make them happen. I’ve said this before in my life that it’s time to start getting into action. I’ve done it a little here and there of course. Now, it’s time to raise my standards BIG TIME!   Wanting the person I know I can become be the same person when I finish my race that is something that will be great to make happen.

What about you? How are you doing in going after your dreams and goals? Have you ever thought what it might be like to meet that person you could have become on your last day? The younger you are the more of a say you have in how your last day can be. It’s the same with me of course, but I just have less time than others.   I tell you what though, it’s going to be something that I’m working on more and more. Raising your standards is not easy. Getting better is not easy. It’s all worth it though.

Procrastinators - It's Time!

4/16/2017

"Don't wait. The time will never be just right." — Napoleon Hill

As I sat down outside, with our dog on Easter morning, I had some great quiet time to do some thinking. This thought from Napoleon Hill has been echoed inside my head for a while along with being echoed from so many other people too.

The sun was coming up over the house behind us, there was a nice little breeze along with the birds chirping and wind chimes nearby making a very majestic sound for the morning. Great reflection time too on this special morning with a great cup of coffee.

I needed this and I have figured out I need to do it more. This overwhelming feeling came over me – moving me to tears – that not only do I need to do this more, but I need to put into action what I’m thinking about doing. This blog is part of it along with my podcasting, writing my first book, doing some interviews, creating videos and speaking too. All of these items connected to helping others, making a difference with them and adding value to their lives too. The time must be now – it’s all I got. Heck… it’s all any of us have when you think about it.

Of course, this has been on my mind more since I’m getting older. Sitting at 51 is a unique perspective I think on life – but it’s also a view that does not have to be saved for this age. One of the things I see that there are people that have these thoughts and ideas sooner in life and they act upon them sooner too. Sooner for me is now. For someone else, it’s the time they are at now in their life.

I am totally amazed at those people that for years have been sharing this idea along with others, about self-improvement. Napoleon Hill was one of many doing this a long time ago. He has helped to change so many lives in the past, present and even future too; as his teachings will live on forever. I listen to podcasts and read books that continue to mention what a profound difference that he and others have made on life for so many people. To me that’s what our lives should be all about – making a difference with others along with adding value to their lives too. Whatever you find yourself doing throughout your life – these ideas should be part of it. Starting now, don’t wait. I’m working on doing that. I hope you are too.

Action Is Key!

11/27/2016

“Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.” – Teddy Roosevelt

This statement stuck out to me for 2 reasons. First our basketball team’s motto this year is “Carpe Diem” – Seize the day! I remind them every day that today is all we have and that we have to make the most of it in practice along with everything else that we do throughout the day. It is a great reminder for me to do the same thing. Seize the moment of every day is something that I have not always done.

The second reason is that the quote is from Teddy Roosevelt, one of my favorite historical figures and he is also mentioned a lot in my favorite TV show, Blue Bloods. His picture as the police commissioner of the New York City police department is up in Frank Reagan’s office in the show.
If you think about what an oyster does – sitting there for so many years and years, just so a pearl can be created – we are not meant to just sit around doing just one thing only throughout our lives. There has to be action throughout our lives along with every day too! Even the event of getting up out of bed in the morning is a form of action that we must take to get our day started.
I am blessed many times over to have a job to go to every day that is easy to get up early every morning. Many days I wake up before my alarm goes off as I look forward to going into school. Now that it’s basketball season, I have the same excitement towards the end of each school day as I get to go to practice to hang out with a couple of great coaches that I work with along with a great group of young ladies that work so hard every day. They are really seizing the day ever chance they can.

Action has been a problem for me at times in my life. Having a job to go to everyday that I enjoy and then continuing to get the chance to work with great student-athletes is something that helps me in the action department. I think that is a major part of getting into action for anyone – have something that you are passionate for in your life. Things that have a distinct purpose are key to seizing the moments in our lives.

Do you have things going on around you that connect to your purpose? Are there things happening every day that you have a passion for? If so – FANTASTIC! Keep after them and look to create new things that connect to those. If not? Ask yourself why not? What can you start to do to connect with things in your life that connect to your heart? Things that connect to dreams and goals that you have had for short time or those that you have had since you were younger. Start to look for things and people that connect to you in a meaningful way. Look for those things today – seize the moment. Right now and start looking to seize the next moment, and the next, and so on. Looking for help? Let me know how I can try and help.

Conversion Time: Our Weaknesses Into Our Strengths

11/13/2016

"Try to look at your weakness and convert it into your strength. That's success." — Zig Ziglar

There’s not a day that goes by where one of my may weaknesses taps me on the shoulder to lets me know that they are still around. Heck, every day they really don’t have to let me know, I know they are there. I know we all have weaknesses and I think many of us know & admit plenty of them that we have in our lives, but how many of us are willing to do anything about them?

Zig reminds us that we should be conscious of them and look to improve them. Since there are so many of them that some of us have (like me), I guess it’s something of a challenge to turn these into strengths. The way I look at it, I can become an even better and stronger person when first admitting to my weaknesses and then choosing to improve upon them to become better.
As I am sitting here at our kitchen table with the cold 35-degree morning outside; the sunshine is pouring in on me and our dog (who is sitting here with me too just looking outside) and I am warmed by the sun, my coffee and this whole concept that Zig’s talking about and it puts a smile on my face. Why a smile you ask? I have so many areas in my life to get better at, that’s why.

First, it’s an incredible challenge I think to first admit that we do indeed have many weaknesses. Second it’s an equally important challenge to want to do something to improve those areas of our lives. I really kind of chuckle as to all the choices I have to improve and get better. For me it’s easy to identify the areas of improvement, since there are so many. Now the crucial part is for me to start the action steps to actually do something about them.

The other important element is the time factor. None of us have the time that we think we do since it does go by fast and there are really no guarantees as to how much we have. The time is now for us to take those important action steps. For me, my son has actually helped in that he has cleaned our basement so that the table down there is now usable. I can do my school work, work on my blogs, my videos, my podcasts, and other projects that I know that I need to work on.

Cleaning you say? What’s the big deal? To me, there have always been so many excuses, plus I get distracted when I go through things most times. For him to do this, he has eliminated a brick wall for me. Now I not only need to take the lesson from him (action, do something about the clutter in my life) to clean up plenty of things that I know I have to get rid of and I am willing to part with it too. This also helps set the stage for me to do the things that I want to do and I didn’t have a place to do them. A simple act by son, has helped me face some of my weaknesses (procrastination, lack of action & focus, etc.) It’s time to take advantage of this opportunity.

Now, time to feed our dog his breakfast and take him for his walk on this gorgeous morning. Then another cup of coffee when I come back which I will take with me down into the basement to get some things done today before we head out to spend some time with my parents. What weaknesses can you take a look at? Who is there to help you with them or is it up to you to take that first step of action? Either way, look at something today to improve upon and then be willing to do it. As always, look to share this part of your story so you can help others.

"The Boss" Is Right and The Time Is Now!

10/5/2015

“A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the person you want to become and start being the person you want to be.” – Bruce Springsteen

I knew that “the Boss” knew music. What I didn’t know that he was so wise about people. I think most people have this thought about becoming some type of person throughout life, but I don’t think that it appears too often together with another powerful thought. Not only do people get to a point of wanting to become somebody that means something to you yourself, but the “wanting that” becomes painful when you are not doing something about it. There is a time and place for just starting to be that person that you want to be and not put it off anymore.

It sure is frustrating and painful for many of us that for many reasons keep putting off becoming the person we want to be. I think for some people, they don’t understand this dilemma since they just go out and become the person they want to be without spending too much time thinking about things. The time is now, today to start doing things in order to become that person for ourselves. There is no better time than the present to start on this journey.

Me? I’ve been on this journey a long time. Looking back in my past even in 4th and 5th grades, I can remember having thoughts and ideas on what I wanted to become. It wasn’t a teacher or a certain profession, but I started to think about my future and where I wanted to go in my life. Stumbling and bumbling throughout life, I ended up in a profession that means the world to me. It’s become part of my identity for sure. This was due to mainly the people in my life that helped guide me to where I am today. Of course I chose things that contributed to my journey into coaching and teaching. I still look back with a lot of humility and gratefulness on how I ended up where I am today.

Another key for me is that I know I’m not who I want to be yet. There are new and exciting ideas I have for my life that I didn’t have a few years ago. The people in my life that I want to positively affect have made a big difference for me too. There are things I want to do both in and out of the education field and I realize I have to get going on those things quickly. The other factor that I have realized – and this is a key we all have to connect with – is how fast time is going by and how much time we really don’t have to do all these things.

It comes down to action folks. I know some of you are better at it than I am. I’m behind the learning curve on this one (for the most part), but I’m not going to quit. In fact, thanks to many people in my life – I’m more inspired now than ever before. What about you? What’s got you fired up and excited about doing what you have to do, to become the person you want to be??

The World Lost A Good Guy - Thoughts From Dr. Wayne Dyer

9/8/2015

"Nobody can take your dreams away from you. You can imagine anything you want." -- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

We lost a great man this past week with the passing of Dr. Wayne Dyer and when I saw this quote it got me thinking as to what many of his messages were all about, especially this one.

First of all I remember listening to a few Wayne Dyer audios along with a number of interviews that either he did or others interviewed him. One of the many things he would focus on was the above quote and the fact that it was very important to dream in the first place. He would promote the fact on how powerful our minds really are and that we just have to tap into some of that power in order to make substantial changes in our lives.

With the world being as crazy as it, is the thought as come to me on how vitally important it is for us to indeed dream about things that are close to our heart and those things that are part of our core being and then of course start to do things about putting those things into action. As I sit here on a Saturday morning along with my cup of coffee of course and get back into somewhat of a normal schedule with school starting in a few days, this thought really has me intrigued about many things.

Another quote I saw this morning before I started writing this was from Brian Tracy and it was about not playing for being safe and how dangerous that is, and that ties into for me, how it’s not doing any good for the world. By us dreaming, imagining and doing the action steps needed to make those things happen – then we are affecting not only ourselves but everyone around us that we know and even those that we don’t know. As I sit here contemplating that thought, I do get excited knowing that I have to, it’s more that I MUST get going on making my dreams and goals a reality. That thought alone has been with me for a large portion of my life so as they say, lesson repeated until lesson learned.

With school starting again, what better way for this teacher and coach to get back to “school” where I need to make some changes, continue to make some things happen for me and my family along with others that are around me too. In fact part of it for me is to connect more with those people around me that mean something to me. My good friend Don, yes… coach Don that I coach with, just texted me about going out for breakfast. He like me, is an early riser which is a good thing. He is one of my good friends that I need to do more with, help him more with his dreams and goals (which we do indeed talk about), and along with this comes him helping me too.

So as the calendar is now into September and there seems to be more of a “normal” schedule for most people with school starting and all, I wonder what are a few things that you can start working on that connects to your dreams and goals? The power of our minds that Dr. Dyer spent his life researching and sharing that information to help others, check some of his work out. Listen to him and read a few of his books and then look to do a few things that will help you with your dreams and goals. You will be benefiting not only yourself, but also you will make a difference for others too. What a great focus point to start off the school year with. Don’t you think?

Success Is A Lot Like Science Class. It's A Subject We All Need To Study!

7/28/2015

"Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result." –Oscar Wilde

I never really liked science in school. Certain subjects in science were interesting like an ecology class I took back in high school and biology wasn’t too bad as far as I can remember. As far as chemistry and physics…. Yuk!

To look at success as being a science, I can totally see that and I must say, this kind of science I’m perfectly fine with. Yes, there are the conditions that we have to create for ourselves and others that we have to deal with for sure. There are the experiments that we must work on, fail and learn from them. Science is a lot of investigating, researching, reading, experimenting, studying, learning and then doing – that is what success is all about. I love this idea as it really comes down to being where success is indeed a science.

Looking back throughout my life, I have definitely done a lot of these items except the action part. I’ve done a lot of failing in many areas in life, had success in others and along the way I am coming closer to having success in many areas in my life. I could have had those success come much sooner if I would have taken this approach and not only learned the lessons that needed to be learned but then to also put them into action throughout my life too.

Many of the conditions we have control over in our journey in life and towards success. There are of course some conditions we don’t have control over other than we do control how we react to them. Yes, those probably affect us in a few ways, heck maybe even in a lot of ways. We do however have the right and the responsibility to choose how we will react to them. This fact does take practice to do. It does mean we have to work on our mental toughness and the sooner we do that, the better we will be. As with many things there are lessons here for this skill to improve in us. It just doesn’t happen.

There is also the important factor that our success journey does also affect others too. The harder we work on these lesson in our lives, the better off those that are connected to us will be. Even people that don’t really know us can actually benefit by us being the example for doing this the right way. There are those that simply view us, causally know us that we can affect. There is also that group of people that get helped by someone that we helped. There is a lot riding on this science class that we are all enrolled in. This class never really ends and we do get graded on it by our results in life. This is one science class that I suggest you get into, stay in it, and always keep learning and applying those lessons that are learned.

Ask Yourself What Is Really Important - Build Your Life Towards That

7/12/2015

“Ask yourself what is really important, and then have the wisdom and courage to build your life around your answer.” – Wright Thurston

When I saw this quote on Twitter, it obviously caught my eye since this is something that I believe in and try to promote. The reason I hung onto it and read it again and then saved it was that I was reminded about how true this is in my life with a little discussion my wife and I had this weekend.

We were talking to each other about frustrations that we have been having with each other along with other things, and within the discussion it hit me (again, since we have had similar discussions before) that she is not only right on the majority of what we were talking about, but also our discussion got me thinking about how much work I still need to do on myself. At 49 years old, yep, I don’t have it all figured out and I still have lessons to learn. The old saying popped into my head about lessons being repeated, until lessons are learned.

This point about always learning hit me too as I saw a former student post something about how she thought she would have things figured out a little more at age 19 and that didn’t happen. Now at age 23, she also thought she would have more figured out, accomplished a little more, be in a certain place in her life. But she went onto saying something about how that’s not really the case as she is currently having trouble cooking noodles or something like that. She sounded like she was reflecting on the fact that she was still ok, that she’s not the only one that has thought and gone through this, and that she will continue to work at figuring things out in her life.

That point hit me as I too am still working on me. With the help of my wife and others, that is something I know I need to do a better job at. Instead of casting blame elsewhere as I often have done and not putting the action steps into place that are necessary to help make some of those changes, I have yet another reminder for myself to get back into and stay in this game of getting better.

As I have my 2nd cup of coffee going down here on a Sunday morning, this reflective time that I look to find every weekend is so crucial to me. With writing this blog, doing my podcasts, learning about new ways of communicating with people along with thinking about my week ahead of things I want to get done or simply get started; I know I need to continue to not only find this reflective time but then to actually go out and do the things that I reflect upon.

This quote above should be something that we all can focus on for sure. What are the things you are building your life around? Find some time and take that time to really connect to what this is for you. The coffee might help too.

Big Key In Life - Work On Ourselves Harder Than Our Jobs

5/3/2015

“Go to work on yourself, harder than your job” – Jim Rohn

I love this quote and I’ve heard it a few times from different people too. I think it’s totally true, although it has taken me a few years to digest it and to see how true it is. Working on ourselves is a total inside job. We are the only ones that can do anything about ourselves. By us working hard to improve ourselves, everything else that we are involved in will be better too. If we only focus on our job and not ourselves too – the job will temporarily get better at our expense. Since we are not improving too, it will all catch up as both the job and ourselves will have plenty of troubles.

The actual reality of going to work on ourselves is not that difficult of a task to do. The actual “work” is easy. It’s the discipline, dedication, concentration, etc., that makes it difficult for us. The work itself are things like reading great books, blogs, articles, etc., that push us and give us new ideas on how we can get better in our lives. The work also includes keeping track of what goes into our brains. It has been said many times that most valuable piece of real-estate that we own, is the 6 inches between our ears. We have to be mindful of our thoughts as our thoughts become who we are and all that we do. Another key item on this work list is that we need to hang around good people. Those that will help push us out of our comfort zone and help us grow. Not the typical groups that want us to just do fun things, complain about our jobs and our lives, get caught up in living other people’s lives through reality shows, etc.

Finding the time or better yet, truthfully MAKING the time to do these things is the key. I’ve said, I hear people saying it all the time, and I bet even you have said this – I don’t have time for that. Now ‘that’ can be anything; exercise, eating right, doing homework, going to a meeting or class after a long day of work, spending more time with a loved one, etc. The key that I’m trying to make a change to is that we need to make it a priority, we need to actually make time for that item that we want to accomplish. This weekend I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this idea since we heard it last week in my Principles of Leadership class. Not only am spending some time thinking about it – I’ve put it into action!! With my wife for example, and spending time with her on her schedule and those things that are important to her and not mine. I’ve worked hard to not say anything to her about that and I have found that I’m still ok and we haven’t fought or argued about this like we normally do (usually due to my lack of patience and self-centeredness). That seems like one of the hundreds if not thousands of things I need to work on myself to improve. I bet you could pick one or two to start on you??