All Categories - Coach to Expect Success

Find A Way...

9/15/2023

Coach Ray - the teacher, the educator, the difference maker - he's all that and more. His recent post shared a thought about if we really want to do something & it home with me today. I've seen this before but today, it struck a little deeper.

First of all - Following Coach Ray is always full of learning opportunities and no matter what age you are, or what you do for a living - you can learn some valuable lessons from this man. This reminder that he threw out there got my attention - and again, I've seen it before but it proves that we need to see and read things over and over again through life.
Throughout my life, I have certainly come up with plenty of excuses & I know I will have them in the future too. What I really need is to have one or more LESS excuses every day on the things I know I need to do to go where I need to go. Things like this sure do help. I hope it helps you too.

See my social media links for some more about this Quote of the Day from Coach Ray Ostrowski along with checking out my podcast episode on this topic - click HERE for that.

Family Trip / Legacy

8/15/2023

Had a great trip with my parents recently where we spent 5 days and 4 nights traveling to Upstate New York - the Lake Placid area. We went there to celebrate the life of my great aunt who passed away during the last few months, and his son - my dad's cousin - wanted to have a memorial service in the small town of Keene Valley. It was a busy few days, especially when we got there for the service. You see, my dad grew up in this area - specifically, he spent his summers there from about the age of 10 through his years after high school. Growing up in New Jersey was not leading him in the direction that was best for him. My great aunt helped to raise him and made a major difference in his life. Truth be told told, in my dad's own words - she saved his life! Which in turn, helped me to be here too.

Watching my dad's face at this service where he got to see some childhood friends that were also in attendance - was so heartwarming to see. We were not sure who was going to be there, but not only did he get to see some longtime friends there, but we all learned that my great aunt was that same difference-maker for so many other people. That's just the way she was. This service left a huge impression on me in many areas. First, seeing my dad reconnect with people that he spent a large part of his formidable years with. We got to hear some funny and amazing stories. My mom and I got to see some areas of Keene Valley & Lake Placid that we never saw before, including the country club where my dad worked as a caddie for some of those summers there. I learned the importance of people & family & how they all looked out for one another and took my dad is as "one of their own" members of the community. The fact that what we do in life has a big affect on so many other people. My dad's legacy will be a special one. My mom's too, as she grew up in the Western New York area. We have always known a bit more more of her family's heritage, but not so much of my dad's. This trip helped with that.

It also taught me some valuable life lessons as I watched a bit more closely with having a lot of time with my parents - who are both in their 80's. My dad self-admitting that was probably his last time that he will visit this big part of his life. I also am thinking more and more now about my legacy - as the son of my parents, the grandchild of my grandparents, etc. What they have all gone through in their lives - the good, and the not so good - all have a direct connection to me, my wife and our kids. This experience makes me want to be better - for my family and anyone else I have a connection to. I have had that attitude as a teacher for my career - but now, even as I being "retirement", I know I want to simply keep getting better every day of my life that I have going forward. My advice? Find time to spend with your family. See where they grew up (if you can). Talk to them about things from their time growing up. Hope you can talk to some of their friends / family / people that knew them. Look to ask yourself - what more can I do to improve my legacy? And thereby, improving your families' too.

Lessons From A Loss -

8/6/2023

An amazing game that turned into heartbreak for the United States Women's National Soccer Team in the quarterfinal loss to Sweden. It's funny, not really... it's quite sad.. the critics that come out of all corners when something goes wrong for someone else. We can't look at the problems in the world and allow them to get us down. We need to look inside ourselves & look to the team of good people around us to find out how to get better and improve.

As Jon Gordon says, "It's never about the circumstance! It's about your state of mind and how you CHOOSE to respond." The USWNT has some reflecting to do and they will do that & then changes will be made. As always, we can learn a lot from sports throughout life - that's why I'm such a fan of sports for the lessons that these games teach us. Powerful moments for us to always learn from and get better from. It's our choice.

I know I need to keep working on my choices every single day!! The key is for me to also learn from past choices - the good and the not so good ones.

Almost There... And Then What?

7/25/2023

Saw this picture and I reposted it as it hit home with me. Heck, I did a podcast on it too. Listen to it HERE.

I know I have quite early on things, all throughout my life. But, I can't go back and fix it. All I can do is to learn from those experiences. One thing for sure is that I am learning to just keep going. To not throw in the towel on things.

For example, this website. For a long time, I have kind of let it go. Not keeping things updated and having things on it that are out of date or not part of my current plan. Blogging was one things for sure that I wanted to get back to. I had promised my students to blog with them on their weekly assigned topics - that didn't last too long & I told myself that it was ok due to being too busy with other things. Not a good choice for me at all. Nobody said anything, but I sure did say things to myself and they were not really positive at all. All I can do is to focus back on things to keep working on. Things to not give up on and to tell myself that I can do those things. I need to just keep at them... here and now... and keep educating myself about these things ... keep encouraging myself and to just keep moving forward. How about you?

Fabulous Book To Get

7/17/2023

I am getting into Jon Gordon's latest book - "The One Truth" and it is, what I think, his best book yet. I'm not even done with it yet. I found this part to share with you and it got me fired up reading it & sharing some thoughts with you. I hope you find some value in it too.

Jon was talking about the opera singer, Luciano Pavarotti where the famous singer "was so devoted to his craft that it drove his discipline. If you are not devoted and you don't love what you're doing, then discipline is hard. But if you are devoted and love it, then you have a higher state of mind and discipline is much easier."

I think this is spot on. The more things (and people first), that we are devoted to, the discipline that is needed come a bit easier for these parts of our lives. Then as we know, the different things in our lives are connected to the things that really drive us. I know this hit me and got me thinking about some things that I need to keep working on. As I write this post, it's 9:39 p.m. and I knew I wanted to get my latest podcast episode out... which is all about this post & you can listen to it HERE. But I also wanted to get this blog post out there too. So, instead of watching TV, I got these things done & now I'm going to make some popcorn and keep reading this book that I'm fired up about as I know there will be tons more of things that I will be underling, writing notes on the pages, etc.

Go out and find this book... it's a life-changing thing that I think we all need to read and pull out the parts of it that work for us.

3 Points of Wisdom For All of Us

7/13/2023

This is another pure gold type of podcast to share with you - John O'Leary and his Monday Motivation series. This episode is from Monday, July 10 and remember, you don't have to listen to it on a Monday. Find it HERE.

This goes hand in hand with another podcast from Ben Newman, that I will be getting something out to everyone on it. These things that make an impact on me, get me thinking and reflecting, maybe get me a bit emotional; but they all are things that I think others need to hear as well. Remember - I'm the assist guy.. .dishing off the ball so others can score. :-)

Learning from others - especially those that are older than we are and are obviously further along their journey of life - doesn't mean we can't learn from them. If we pay attention and those people are willing to share their experiences and lessons - we can learn from them without having to live 95+ years (as was the example of what John O'Leary was talking about. Three things to focus in on here...

Take more risks,
Reflect more often,
and do more things that will live on, after you die!

Keep learning things that can help you on your life journey. I hope this is one of the many things that will help. In fact, check out my podcast on this topic too as I really think that if we look at this closer, we can make a plan for ourselves to keep trying to live a better life. Find my podcast HERE.

Being "Mean" Can't Be In??

7/12/2023

I listened to a fantastic "Tuesday People Podcast" - listen to it HERE.

Mitch Albom & Lisa Goich got me thinking about how much "mean" there is in the world and got me also thinking about how there has to be a better way. The more we are able to show kindness towards others, the more people notice the example we are setting. Mitch & Lisa are so on target with their conversation I'm hoping - as the way they always are. But if you remember (and you will when you listen to these shows from Mitch's podcast), Morrie was sharing his wisdom about all of this way back in 1995. I love how Mitch shares some of the audio clips with the audience so we can hear it for ourselves from Morrie.

My podcast about all of this (from Wed. July 12), can be found HERE. I hope you enjoy this episode, as it is coming in 2 different parts. The intro is just me and then the other part is a Facebook Live recording I did earlier in the day. Hopefully some good stuff here for you to pick a few things from. Thanks again for investing your time with me.

I'm always looking for feedback from my shows. So, you can leave comments & ratings for my shows wherever you listen to the podcasts. You can find me on social media. You can message me here on my homepage or leave a message here on this post. Thanks again for spending a few moments with me.

I Don't Have To... I Get To

7/9/2023

Another powerful and emotional listen to my friend, John O'Leary & his interview of Alex Sheen on the "Live Inspired Podcast". Here is a quick intro from the interview:

"Alex Sheen is on a mission to better humanity through promises made and promises kept. As the founder of the social movement and nonprofit “because I said I would,” Alex believes individuals can create a world where promises are kept, fostering trust, empathy, and positive change."

This interview had many emotional parts to it & I hit some of the emotions while at the gym and I had to chuckle at myself wondering if anyone saw me getting a bit misty-eyed on the weight machine I was using & maybe they were wondering if I was ok or not. One of the parts that I have listened to a few times was when Alex was asked the question about what was the best advice he had ever received. His answer - "I don't have to. I get to." The one of a few examples on this one really got to me. It was about his dog that passed away in 2020 after 14 years of companionship. He didn't have to get up at 4 in the morning when his dog would lick his face, which told him that he had to go out & do his "business.".... Alex GOT to get up to do this. He mentioned he would give anything to have one more face-licking at 4 a.m. That got me simply because that is what our dog does to me and I'm the only one that will get up with him. No matter what time, no matter the weather, no matter what. I will also miss that for sure when it no longer happens.

He mentioned that our "get toos" could be someone else's best days ever! That what we sometimes might think is a burden, there are tons of people from around the world that would love to "get to" do that thing that we might complain about or dread doing. Now I know that I can't do this mindset shift for each and every single thing I "have to" do. But I sure can set up my life with more things to work on and do - that I can take the view of "get to", rather than "have to." In fact, I got up early this morning (Sunday, July 9, 2023), because I was a bit more fired up about things that I want to do... things that I GET TO do.

What are some things you can change to "get to" instead of "have to"?

Listen to John O'Leary's conversation with Alex Sheen HERE. It will get you thinking in some new & different ways. I promise.

You can also view a quick video I put together on my Coach John Daly Facebook page - click HERE to see that.

Many changes... It's Time!

7/7/2023

IWell... it's been way too long since I've updated this blog & quite frankly, I'm totally embarrassed that I have not been working on this like I said I would. Part of my new mindset is to not beat myself up for things that I do or don't do; but to own them & look to not only fix them, but to learn from them as well.

Now that I made a big time decision to retire from full-time teaching, part of my next chapter in my life is to get back to these things that I've always wanted to do along with the fact that I've always been saying that I wanted to do these things.

This came to me as something that I know I need to start doing, along with even more so, knowing that I want to start doing these things. This picture of this quote from Napoleon Hill, helped me out a ton. Click HERE to listen to my short podcast about this quote.

I need to take more persistent action - now that I have a bit more time, along with the fact that I need to do these things that I feel I have been called to do with my life. The truth is, I've been fearful of doing things that require me to get out of my comfort zone, to learn new things, to try things that are scary to me, to build my own business, etc. I do realize that my fears cannot be around someone who is taking action every single day! I have never been doing that throughout my life. That time of inaction is over. Too many people are counting on me to do the things that I've had on my heart for almost 25 years. Got this email just a little bit earlier today & it spoke right to me. It's from "The Daily Coach" (I like that name... LOL) and it's from a coach with a ton of experience & he's sharing it with others. I added the highlighters/ drawings for my own emphasis and reminder to me... "It's time, to be honest about what's holding you back and cut that from your life." I needed that. Simple. Powerful. Truthful.

Good ol' Wayne Dyer - this is a classic truth for sure: "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." I've shared that with my students over the years and I also knew it was meant for me too. All the important lessons I shared with students during my 34 years of teaching were meant for me as well. I told them that every single day!

So look for more postings from me along with other things I WILL BE getting out there... it's time. :-)

What We Focus On Grows

7/21/2022

Amazing thought here that I got from John O'Leary and Matt Miller from a coaching session a couple of days ago - What You Focus On, Grows! I'm finally figuring out this important fact and I'm hopefully sharing it with some ideas and connections that you need to hear & think about too. Check out my podcast about this HERE.

I've known about this for many years - why I have not put more "stock" into this?? I guess I'm realizing how much of a slow learner I am. But, I am realizing how important it is to focus in on things that I want to choose instead of letting things happen to me where I don't have control. Sam Crowley says it all the time - "Where focus goes, energy flows!" I'm catching myself more often when I start going down a negative rabbit hole & I'm working on stopping myself from going further along with figuring why I'm going there and what the lessons are that I need to learn from that "detour." There is never to late of a time to pick up "new" skills like this. I'm also figuring out how important it is to have little victories in my life - every day that I can do little things, the right way, is one way to build a better life.