Category: Life Lessons - Coach to Expect Success

Reminder for me...

5/4/2019

"Don't compete with others; make them compete with you."

This was a quote I mentioned awhile back in one of my podcasts and it took a friend of mine - Coach Ruekert, to remind me of that. Of course you can take a look at sports for this connection as I am sure that I used this during last season with our girls basketball team. But looking at it again, I need to use it for my everyday life too. In fact, probably more important that I do that. I know there are plenty of things that I just have to start doing instead of watching others do what they are doing.

The competing with others in one area is time. My time is being spent on things & people, where it's probably not the best place to be spending it on. When I'm talking about people, this morning in fact I spent a little bit of time watching Sports Center. Nothing wrong with that of course but after getting caught up with the world of sports (which I enjoy), instead of watching more, I knew I had to get caught up on my blog. I knew I had to follow up with a couple of important people and reach out to them online. I knew I wanted to get my day started running some errands that need to be done. All of this instead of competing with watching others (tv) go after their dreams and goals.

It takes a little reminder like I got from Coach R, to get my head focused on where it needs to be and to start taking action in the areas that I need to. So, as I head off to start my day - I want you to take a look at the quote above and see where you are competing at - or who are you competing with. The TV? Friends? Your job? What could you do right now to where you are doing something you know you need to do and to have others wonder about the great things you are doing. :-)

Staying Positive When Life Gets Hard

2/7/2019

This article that I had my students look at for one of their recent weekly blog assignments had a great title: "How To Stay Positive When Life Gets Hard." It was a very short article that really focused in on 3 people and their thoughts about staying positive.

"Nothing is ever achieved without some trials and tribulations. The first step in moving beyond those circumstances is to remain positive. Without that, you’ll be perpetually stuck in the situation. No good has ever come from negativity."

— Mark Lee, founder and CEO of MDMartin, LLC

It's a good reminder for all of to remember that our lives do have a lot of ups and downs throughout our time of being on this earth. Remaining positive throughout life is a better way to take on these challenges compared to having a negative one. For some people this is difficult and it helps for anyone to have other positive people around them, reading good information, listening to good information, having things to do in life that are connected to their passions and to taking good care of themselves too. It's totally possible to more possible and again, it will help you figure things out a better than a negative attitude will.

"Stay positive, focus on being mindful and keep a clear head. When problem solving, don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t all go according to plan. You can’t control everything in life or business, so embrace the adversity and dig in even further to drive a positive outcome. The harder you work for something, the more rewarding it is in the end."

— Amanda Ruisi, founder and president of AKR Public Relations

Amanda brings up a fantastic idea here - it has so much to do with our current mindset that we choose to have. Remember, we can't choose what happens to us most of the time, but we certainl can choose how we will react. The old saying about life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% of how we respond. It is worth the hard work. At least if things don't work out, you have practiced by giving great effort so the next thing you need to work on, you already have some good habits going.

"I was diagnosed and treated for cancer when I was 19, and I have a uniquely optimistic and positive outlook as a result. But maintaining that positivity still takes constant effort. When I’m feeling down or overwhelmed, one of the best ways to change my mindset is to focus on gratitude and finding awe in the everyday. For example, when I got burned out from business travel last year, I took time on every flight to focus on what I’m grateful for and to think about how unbelievably awesome it is to be in the air flying."
--Jennifer Benz, founder and CEO of Benz Communications

Even if we are blessed to never have had cancer to deal with personally, my bet is that we all know someone who has had to fight that battle. So this example is an extreme one of course, but it does allow us to see someone who is fighting a HUGE battle and the lessons we can learn from them and their fight that they have on their hands. Learning lessons from others and their stories is something we should always look to do.

Remember that there are plenty of examples out there; articles, books, podcasts, videos, seminars, shows, etc., where we can get some good information in order to create some good habits. Remember what Zig Ziglar's son Tom said "The fastest way to success is to replace a bad habit with a good one." This post hopefully helps you do that.

Making Each Moment Count - Mitch Albom

1/22/2019

The story of Mitch Albom visiting his old professor, Morrie Schwartz and the profound life-changing lessons he learned. His book "Tuesdays With Morrie" is a joyful and hope-filled book that you must check out. It is one of my favorite books of all time! There is even a move that was created from the book, which is again a special life-changing movie that you should watch. Check out the Youtube video of Mitch Albom's speech, HERE. (or you can watch it below)

One of the fist lessons he shares is the fact that after his first visit, Mitch thought about the fact that in his 30's he was not as happy as Morrie was in his late 70's. Mitch had his health, a life in front of him, a great job, etc., and Morrie was dying with ALS disease and he seemed 10X happier! What was that all about? Mitch had to find out more.

With all the visits that Mitch had with his "coach" on Tuesdays, he learned enough to write his book that was set up to help with Morrie's medical bills. Taking vs. Giving. A great lesson about life being so much enjoyable and memorable when we give to others instead of just taking for ourselves. Life is all about giving and the relationships we can establish with others. That's a powerful message that all of us can take. This 12 minute or so video has some powerful & memorable ideas for us to take and make our own. Then we can give them away to help others in our lives. Morrie has had a HUGE positive affect on millions of people's lives. Read the book. Find the movie. Check them out in order to gain the full heartfelt messages and lessons. No kidding, I've watched the movie more than 70 times probably as it's been shown in my classes since it first came out, and I'm still learning new lessons every time I watch it. You can do the same. :-)

Lessons From Coach John Wooden on a TED Talk.

1/1/2019

Coach John Wooden will always be a teacher to me. A fantastic educator who's messages and methods are needed today in our world more than ever. In this video that Coach did for a TED Talk, he brings up so many valuable lessons. One of which is his definition of success and how it is more about us doing our best instead of comparing ourselves to others. That is something that all of us can remember and take with us wherever we go. His dad was one of the biggest difference makers in his life and the lessons that he took with him througout his whole life - and his life lasted just about 100 years!! Now we can take those lessons from his entire life and get them from a video or read them in one of his many books.

The other part to this is from Coach Wooden's "Pyramid of Success"! Again, so many valuable lessons from this document - for 2019 I am looking to gain CONFIDENCE in myself and apply that to things that I need to do - things that I have had to do for years!! I know it's inside of me and I've had glimpes of it before, but there is no time like the present to get this going in my life. SELF-CONTROL is something that I also need to work on. I need to develope better habits, those things that will take me closer to my dreams and goals and not further away. On the flip side there are bad habits that I need to replace. It's been said that the quickest way to success is to replace a bad habit with a good one. That needs to be something I look to do every day! Again - so many valuable reminders from a timeless document that Coach Wooden gave to us.

Do You Have Adaptability?

11/6/2018

Being more adaptable is something that I think comes with age for some people, and for others it means we become less adaptable. I found another great article and it brought up this point about being adaptable, one that seems we don't talk about nearly enough. Find the artcle HERE.

One of the main points that the article hit me with right off the bat is the important fact about how crucial relationships are in life. With people of course comes the opportunity to show how flexible we are, how we are adaptable or not. Our flexibilty is described as our willingess to adapt and that it really comes down to our attitude. Staying with the idea about people, we know how difficult it can be to be adaptable. We also have to remember that since this is one of the most important skills (of many) that we can have in our lives, that automatically means that it won't be easy. Remember - things that are worthwhile, things that mean anything, usually will not come easy. There will be work involved. There will be setback. There is a need for effort to be put into these things.

Some of the pieces of being adaptable is confidence, tolerance, empathy, being positive and having a respect for others. Funny thing is, as I'm typing these words out I'm thinking about how I do these sometimes in my life, and other times I need some major help with them. Another point that comes to mind is that having the willingness to grow in these areas is also something that is needed in order to become more flexible. The world needs more of this, not less. Look at the list of those pieces - do you realize how much more power they represent if you implement them into your life? I know that I need to live more of those in my life everyday.

That empathy idea is a BIGGIE for me, heck, for anyone. It's all aout seeing things from other people's points of view. We have to walk in their shoes and that reminds me that we have to get out of our own shoes first to do that. If you could work on one thing today - try that. Try having more empathy for those that are "differrent" than we are. If we get out of our own shoes first and then step into their shoes, maybe we can not only understand them better, but we also might find that we have more adaptability in our lives. Like the picture says, either we can do the changing or the change will be done for us. :-) It's up to us.

As always - reach out to me if you want to have a discussion. These are always great topics to talk about and get more perspectives on.

Commit & Figure It Out

8/26/2018

Amazing the thoughts and ideas that come to you when you choosing to put good stuff into your head. That's a key in life I've been finding lately. I get to choose what goes into my mind, thereby choosing the items I know that will have an influence on me. John O'Leary's podcasts help me in so many ways. I first connected to his book "On Fire" and now I'm hooked on his podcasts. His latest one got me fired up about a few things - find it HERE and listen to it - It got me going and I hope it at least gets you thinking too. There are so many things I need to commit to - It's about time I do those things. How about you?

One thing that I have really seen a difference in my life is the simple fact that I'm reading more. It is amazing to hear that so many people mention that throughout their lives on the importance of reading. I am finding how much of a key it is. Try it. You might like it. It's helping me to stay focused (which I need a lot of help with) and with that I'm able to commit and focus more on the things that I need to do. Thanks for listening and checking out my podcast too - find this episode HERE. Please take a few moments to subscribe & share this with someone, also leave a 5 Star rating on ITunes or other services where you find this show. Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachtoexpectsuccess/ on Twitter: @coachtosuccess and on Instagram at: @coachjohndaly

Great Conversation With Matt Haffner

8/25/2018

I had an amazing discussion on so many levels a few weeks ago with Matt Haffner - a return guest on my podcast show. You can listen to my show HERE. He's a former student of mine and Matt's passion is fishing - but the lessons that he shares are endless for all areas of life. Join me in listening to his message about the importance of critics in our life, chasing after your passions, not falling into the what society says we have to do to be successful. I love the fact that this 28 year old has so many lessons about life for us. He is also becoming a student too as he is realizing (from a friend's advice) that he needs to be more open minded - which is what he is starting to do. Again... a student becoming a teacher for me to keep learning lessons that I need to learn. It's one of those things for me that I need constant reminding of and that helps me to keep working hard at. Actually on a daily basis it's good for me to be reminded about this. Hope you have your student hat on too. Thanks for listening. Please take a few moments to subscribe & share this with someone, also leave a 5 Star rating on ITunes or other services where you find this show. Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachtoexpectsuccess/ on Twitter: @coachtosuccess and on Instagram at: @coachjohndaly

Coffee And Great Conversation With An Awesome Teacher & Coach!

8/6/2018

What a fantastic morning. Got my 7-11 dark roast coffee - I'm a morning person through and through - and this morning I got to start off my day in a very positive way visiting with Coach Will Puvalowski for sit down conversation. Coach Will shared so much valuable knowledge - so much that we all can use in our lives no matter if we are a teacher, a coach, or any other profession. I count Will as a good friend of mine and I told him that he has taught me some valuable stuff for life. I love this story of Will being a former student at Lake Shore and now he's a valuable co-worker teaching, coaching and helping so many kids - talk about a HUGE difference maker.

His openness and honesty as to how he didn't like school at all as a student - if asked if a career in education was on his radar - he would have told you no way, not a chance! It's amazing to see the twists and turns that his life took and ours can too. Our talk reveals a lot of great advice. We all need to have a Coach Will in our lives - you can contact him through FB, Twitter ( @coachwill79) and through email: wpuvalowski@lsps.org

Please, check out my show with this interview - find it HERE. Thanks for listening. Please take a few moments to subscribe & share this with someone, also leave a 5 Star rating on ITunes or other services where you find this show. Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachtoexpectsuccess/ on Twitter: @coachtosuccess and on Instagram at: @coachjohndaly

Students Teaching This Teacher Continues...

7/30/2018

Another fun and fantastic interview with a former student of mine. You can listen to this podcast interview HERE. Joe has so much going for himself - chasing his dreams & passions in music, sports broadcasting and sports memorabilia too. He's a hard worker in going after his chosen career and he's got some amazing lessons & passion to share in this conversation. His lessons on not letting setbacks or life's curve-balls being thrown at him - those are lessons we all need to learn from for sure. His focus on things that he wants to accomplish and go after in life are very admirable to watch and learn from.

He has done a great job speaking to my Leadership classes, sharing his story and lessons. This term especially was special with the messages he shared with my students and the lessons that they learned from Joe will stick with them as they finished high school - or at least I hope those lessons stay with them. I know he's got plenty of lessons that he has taught this teacher! You can connect with Joe here on Twitter: @Joe_Ferguson98

Thanks for listening. Please take a few moments to subscribe & share this with someone, also leave a 5 Star rating on ITunes or other services where you find this show. Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachtoexpectsuccess/ on Twitter: @coachtosuccess and on Instagram at: @coachjohndaly

Lessons From Wineries - On Vacation

7/22/2018

It's always great to get away on a vacation to places we enjoy. My wife and I really enjoy going up North here in Michigan - the Traverse City area to be specific. They have so many wineries that we enjoy going to and many of them we are visiting for the first time. Three of them I mentioned on my podcast and the lessons that each of them brought. Check out my podcast HERE.

First was a young man named Benjamin at the Laurentide Winery - A young man that grew up in the area and stayed to work in an area that he is passionate about. He had great enthusiasm and did a great job with the customers that he was helping. He was a very personable young man.    We had a great discussion about growing up in a small town and how he stayed and most of his life-long friends left for different adventures. We all have those choices in life.

Another one that we stopped at was the Verterra Winery - This is where we had a great visit with Matt. A very down to earth & personable former teacher and coach, that is now working on his second career. Fantastic conversation with Matt and many lessons learned from him too on looking ahead to new adventures.    Going after dreams and goals, no matter your age was an important lesson that I got among other lessons.

Finally, one of my favorites that I love stopping by every time we go up North - and that is The Willow Winery -    The owners, Jo & John are such great hosts every time we see them. They were hosting some friends, two of which were playing some fantastic live music. A great visit with one of the best views you will ever see in your life. Again, great lessons of gratitude, dreams, love, friendship, and so many other life lessons.

Again - a great vacation in so many ways. I hope your next vacation has some great lessons for you.

Thanks for listening to my podcast. Please take a few moments to subscribe & share this with someone, also leave a 5 Star rating on ITunes or other services where you find this show. Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachtoexpectsuccess/   on Twitter: @coachtosuccess   and on Instagram at: @coachjohndaly