All Categories - Coach to Expect Success

Coach Kara Lawson - Lessons for Life & Some Hoops

4/26/2022

Three videos I shared with my Leadership class recently - all great messages from Kara Lawson - the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Duke University. I have followed her career from long ago when she was in college at the University of Tennessee, playing in the WNBA for 13 years, an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, along with being a member of USA Women's Basketball too. A wonderful student of the game and of life, where is looking to make a difference with people wherever she goes.

One of the lessons I picked up from her was her tremendous love and respect she had for her college coach, Pat Summit. She was full of gratitude for the tough lessons, love, encouragement, etc., that she got from her coach in her formative years of 18-22. That got her life going in such a positive direction where she can still point back to those years as being formative for her success. She's 41 now and leading one of the top programs in the country.

She brought up the point about networking and how important it is all throughout life. She's been connected with some big-time names from U of Tenn., USA Basketball, The Olympics, ESPN, The Boston Celtics, etc. She knows how to work with others along with getting them to be their best in whatever is going on. Being a connector to people is a skill worth working on - all throughout life.

I loved how she hit upon the fact about following up on your passions in life. Going after those things that fire you up. Enjoying what you do in life does mean it will all be easy, but things will be worth getting up for and going after, no matter what. Coach Lawson brought up to always find a way to keep getting better in all that we do, to keep impacting others along with helping others to be their best. Sounds like a good play for life that she has drawn up on her board.

Here are the videos:
Kara Lawson Continues to Add to an Already Impressive Resume as Duke Head Basketball Coach

Kara Lawson: Commit to Each Other

Kara Lawson: Confidence Comes from Within

A Little Humor Goes A Long Way

3/28/2022

Humor is one of the many fantastic reminders for our Positivity Project Character Terms that always offer some great perspective. I've been working at making sure I keep some of that around with me along with gratitude. The things that John O'Leary is doing sure do help with both of these.

In John's podcast #284 found HERE, he interviews Trey Kennedy all about the importance of humor in our lives along with the fact that there are so many benefits from adding more humor into our days. In the times that we are in now, with Covid, politics, the economy, war overseas, etc., we need a little distraction to help us cope & to learn some valuable lessons from too.

Trey and John help us to remember to not take ourselves too seriously - which is one of many things that I am trying to work on all the time. Instead of beating myself up when I make a mistake, I'm learning to laugh a bit more along with looking for the lessons in my mistakes, where not only I can learn and get better... but to also stop making that mistake too. I think you will like this episode that John O'Leary shares with us. I also know that you can find tons of helpful podcasts, blog posts, vlog posts, etc., on his site that will bring you so much joy and learning too. Feel free to explore his other episodes and other items on his site.

Success & Failure - Both Don't Last Forever

2/9/2022

My friend Coach Ray puts these quotes out all the time & this one (like the others) are full of great lessons for me and anyone else that wants to take them in. It's a great reminder that both successes and failures, don't last... but they do affect our futures for sure. I find myself looking back to yesterday even, and there were good things that happened yesterday for sure. I look to continue those good things today. But to do that, my actions, choices, decisions, etc., need to be aligned with those things.

Just as there were some not-so-good things that happened yesterday, I want to learn the lessons from that hopefully to not have my actions, choices, decisions, etc., give me those same results. Again, it's tied into one of the best pieces of advice that I've ever found - and I share it often... "our past is our best mentor."

I also love that part of it where it reminds us that we "must pay the toll" of what success is. Sometimes it's paid in the failures we go through & the struggles that are usually associated with them. We can turn those into "currency" in order for us to use them on better times in our future. Again, things like this are always great reminders for us to take with us throughout our days.

Here Are A Few Things NOT To Stay Away From

12/13/2021

I found a powerful show from Alan Stein Jr. and his "Raise Your Game" podcast where in episode 1 from season 11, he interviews Brian Kight. Listen to it HERE. There are so many valuable things that he shares with Alan on his podcast & I wanted to share just a few powerful things that I picked up on.

Brian brings up that life is simple in counterintuitive ways. Some great connections to what life gives us:

Life is harder when we try to avoid hard things.
Life is scarier when we try to avoid scary things.
Life is more uncomfortable when we try and avoid uncomfortable things.
Life is more painful when we try and avoid painful things.
Life is more full of problems when we try and avoid problems.

Knowing that life is not supposed to be absent of problems, Brian shares some thoughts on why not go after the things in our life that mean something to us. In other words, he goes after things knowing that the rough times in life - we can choose many of them in the areas that we want them in. That way we are not having pain in our life, all in areas that don't mean anything to us. Thereby, not "wasting" it in areas that don't matter to us. There are plenty of tough moments in life for us to deal with having things more difficult, more scary, more uncomfortable, more painful, and more problems - if we are spending our time going after our dreams and goals... and these tough times hit us during these pursuits, it's a bit better to take them on.

Now remember, I'm not saying that we need to create more of these challenges. Life will throw us enough of those for sure. We just need to be able to get through life's tough moments as we are going after things that motivate us & give us reasons "why" to work hard to overcome them.

Listen to my thoughts on this topic HERE (and a few others) from my Motivation Monday Game Plan - from Dec. 13, 2021.

Gratitude - Not Just To Have Once A Year

12/7/2021

In the first of two blog assignments about gratitude I shared with my students to get their perspectives on, this one was a simple but powerful one for them & for me. First of all, I simply wanted them to find a picture or a quote to put into their blog along with their thoughts about it. This picture is a simple reminder for me that having an attitude of gratitude. It does indeed change everything! My outlook about things being connected to gratitude - I need that reminder a lot ... almost every day!

Gratitude can change my perspective about things and I find myself being connected to this more and more lately. Ever since this pandemic started in early 2020, I have found myself trying to focus on gratitude & perspective every day. (thanks Gary Vee) and for the most part, it's working. Now, that doesn't mean I don't have problems or troubles - but it is helping me to deal with those things a bit better than before. The key for me is to try and make this Gratitude & Perspective more of a habit so that it becomes an everyday thing that I don't have to think about - it's just happening. This simple picture is something that is a powerful reminder for me. Maybe for you too?

Bravery Is All Around Us

12/3/2021

I found something from John O'Leary again (so many lessons from this guy) and this one is all about Bravery. This interview that John had with Gunnery Sergeant Nick Popaditch and his discussion on Courage, Combat and Recovery. Listen to it HERE. I found myself being totally amazed at this discussion on so many lessons. First and foremost, Nick's sense of humor that he had with life!! Amazing lessons for all of us for if he can have that type of outlook / attitude after having gone through all of these things he described.. that simply tells me that I can do the same with my life too. The things that I have gone through are nothing compared to what he's been through & if he could have his current attitude and outlook on things - so can I.

These 2 quotes really stood out to me as it was something that was said to him that totally changed his life -

“If you don’t quit on us, we will never quit on you.” This is a powerful statement from his recruiter. I look at that statement and think how awesome it is to have a group of people connected together and something like this binds them. Something that will never break. Truthfully - I think of this connecting to a family or even a sports team. It will probably be something that I share with some players, coaches and teams as I see this being so strong to have this mentality going into their season & in life too!
"As a drill sergeant, Nick learned that everything was trained in the antithesis. Courage was trained by fear, honor by unfair treatment and commitment by failing." I look at this piece as something to learn some valuable lessons from. Those things that are fearful for me - I can learn courage from those things. I can learn to face them, get through them and to quit having them stop me from living the life I want to live. We all experience unfairness in life, I can learn to still be honorable to others & myself, so that I don't get soured by the unfair treatments. I look to for sure, not treat others in the same unfair matter. Also, to stand up for those that get treated that way too. The world needs more of this for sure.

We All Need PERSPECTIVE All Throughout Life

12/3/2021

During the last 21 months or so, we have had the opportunity to take a different look at things in our world due to Covid19. The entire world has been turned upside down during this time, as it has affected everyone. For me personally, I looked at the chance to focus in on having more gratitude & perspective from that second weekend in March when the brakes were engaged in just about all areas of life..

This video clip of three "well experienced" people sharing their thoughts & insights about life, gives us a great view into our own lives - all through their eyes. You will want to watch it for sure - find it HERE.

First up was Cliff Crozier - born in 1915 and he mentioned that he had done everything he wanted to do in his life and that he knows how important it is to put effort into staying active and staying healthy too. I tell you one other thing about Cliff - he's got plenty to smile and laugh about. He's got a great attitude for sure. ;-) He mentioned that age is just a number and it doesn't bother him.

Amelia Tereza Harper - born in 1913 and she starts right off about being able to enjoy her memories of her life & the joyful times. Got me thinking about how important (and how much we take for granted) our memories actually are. My father-in-law who passed away in 2020 from dementia, didn't have too many of those joyful memories - or maybe he did, and he simply could not recall them to tell us about them. In watching this video, especially with this part, I tear up every time. I sure am hoping and praying that me and the rest of my family don't have to go through that again - especially ourselves. In today's social media & internet world... taking time to be in the moment, to create the memories and not just "watching" others live life... that's where our memories are going to come from. I can at least remember times without the internet / social media. To tell the truth, I look back at those times with great joy & I do say, I miss them too.

Finally, John Denerley - born in 1914, speaks right away about his "mis-spent youth". He does look back a bit and saw how much he wasted time doing things that didn't mean much. Oh, he had fun it sounds like, but he sounds like he has bit of regret from those time - not a ton, just a little bit. But he sure learned some valuable lessons. He flew in the RAF (Royal Air Force) in WW II and he said, it was more "of an adventure rather than a penalty, even amongst the bombs." Again... a wonderful attitude that he had back when he was young, not just in his later days.

In just about all of my student posts that I read, they all mentioned how they hope to have what these people shared about their lives. The pictures they have around them in the video. The stories and the laughter & yes.. even the emotional parts too.... all go to show what goes into our lives really makes the journey worthwhile. Powerful reflections that I think everyone needs to take the less than 15 minutes to watch his video & do some hard thinking as to what changes you can make to help your life go in a better direction along with having the end in mind, as to how you would like your race to finish up when it comes to that time.

Creativity - I have more of it than I thought!

12/3/2021

I found a great article initially to share with my students, but I found some tremendous value for myself from the items listed. Check out the article HERE.

I have always not really thought of myself as being very creative & like most people, I always tended to think it was mostly connected with art or music. But, this article (and my students' posts) really got me thinking differently. One of the things from the article was that Creativity helps with problem solving. I have tried to see things differently, to find new ways of doing things and I finally see that is creativity at it's best. I'm trying to not give up so quickly on things and this connection to this important character trait is really a positive one for me.

A second one is the connection to motivation. As I look for new ways of doing things in my classes (and at work in general), along with new things with my podcasting / my "Chapter 2" in life after I retire from teaching, I am finding new energy from the simple fact of thinking about "what's next for me"? I am realizing that it's up to me to make those choices. I need to be creative to look at new things & to look at other things in a different way.

Finally, my last point on this - Creativity helps to bring people together. I am seeing that in the fact when I put myself out there more with my podcasts, Youtube videos, social media posts, etc., has helped to connect me with so many great people that I would have never had met before. Now that I see so many ways of being creative and yet, I still draw stick figures as anything artistic, I know there are more ways of showing creativity and I don't have this negative mindset that I'm not creative.

In fact, I'm looking to be more creative in many different things in my life & it's leading to some very cool stuff!

Forgiveness - with the help from Mitch Albom

11/19/2021

There was a great podcast by Mitch Albom on his "Tuesday People Podcast Show"... you can find it HERE. So many valuable life lessons come out of this story that Mitch wrote about him and his professor, Morrie Schwartz, in his award-winning book "Tuesday's With Morrie." Forgiveness is not only one of our Positivity Project character traits - it's one of the HUGE lessons from Morrie that he shared with Mitch in their conversations.

Morrie said, “Forgive yourself first, then forgive others." It's one of the things we tend to miss out on in life and I agree with that since I've struggled with this exact point. I think one of the main reasons for Forgiveness coming up at the bottom of my survey results for the Character Traits Survey that we did when we first started this Positivity Project - is mainly due to the fact that I have struggled forgiving myself throughout my lifetime. Morrie's right... the earlier we start forgiving ourselves, the easier it will be to not let others get in the way of living our lives, all due to what they say to us (or about us), along with what they might do to us too.

The examples that are shared in this podcast are amazing ones for sure. I think they are things that we all can connect with and learn from. This brings to mind that we can easily see that hopefully we are able to see that really all of humanity falls into this issue of learning how to forgive ourselves and others. We also need to remember that it's not easy & that it takes constant work too.

Besides listening to the podcast show (link above), it would be a great idea to check out all the items at Mitch Albom's website (mitchalbom.com) Check out his books... all personal favorites of mine - especially "Tuesdays With Morrie".

Integrity - It's Kind Of A Big Deal

11/19/2021

I found a fabulous article about Integrity, all from the perspective of a wonderful difference maker who was a long-time educator and basketball coach. His name was John Wooden. Here is the article about the connection he had to Integrity - Click HERE.

One of the main things I drew from this article - and from studying the man for most of my life, is that this is such a necessary building block for a good life and we all need to work on it as such. It goes way beyond ourselves too. If we lead a life of integrity, that helps us to connect with more people for sure. It's one of the things (the many things), that the world needs more of for sure. It can lead to a good night sleep, I tell you that. Living a life of character and integrity... it's the softest pillow ever!! We don't have to be worried about lies, or things we said or did, coming back to cause us much trouble.

His "Pyramid of Success" is something that has stood the test of many years. Integrity is like the cement that holds all of these blocks together. It is easy to see that all of these parts of his pyramid - and those Positivity Project character terms really do make life much easier to navigate through.