Today’s message is especially dedicated to all the coaches and parents out there.
One day as I was walking around my home town,
I saw a group of men tearing a building down.
With heave and a ho and a mighty yell,
they swung a huge steel ball and a tall building fell.
Impressed, I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled?
Should I hire them if I ever want to build?”
“Oh, no,” he laughed. “Oh no, indeed!
“They’re unskilled laborers—that’s all I need.
“These men can easily wreck in a day or two,
what it takes skilled builders many years to do.”
So I asked myself as I walked away,
which one of these roles do I want to play?
Do I want to be known as one who constantly tears down?
De-energizing others as I spread negativity around?
Or do I want to be known as one who skillfully builds up with care,
enthusiastically encouraging everyone whenever I’m there?
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/default2.jpg300300adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2011-12-01 23:26:162011-12-01 23:26:16MESSAGE #1590 A POEM FOR COACHES AND PARENTS
Greetings from Florida, Day 3. I am having a great time and my talk yesterday in Key Largo was very well received. I sold many books and connected with some great Florida coaches.
Sarah and I then had a great lunch at the Conch House, which was featured on the Food Network.
Today we are in Dania Beach/Hollywood.
As I blog here at Starbucks, I can’t stop thinking about the late, great Coach John Wooden.
Much of my coaching and life philosophy came from John Wooden. And much of John Wooden’s coaching and life philosophy came from his father.
His father used to say:
“You should never try to be better than someone else.
Always learn from others.
Never cease trying to be the best that you can be – that’s under your control.”
Here are some other great quotes from Wooden…
“Never mention winning – you can lose when you outscore somebody in a game and you can win when you are outscored.”
“Give your best effort and your results will be what they should. The score of a game is a by-product and not the end itself.”
“The journey (practice) is better than the end (game). The game is to see if they did a decent job (in practice) during the week.”
Success is…“Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.”
“Character is what you are, your reputation is what you are perceived to be.”
“We hope that things will turn out the way we want them to, but we don’t do the things that are necessary to make those things become reality.”
Wooden’s 3 Rules (From his father):
Never be late
Never use profanity
Never criticize a teammate
“Never mistake activity for achievement.”
“He just used sports as a means to teach us how to apply ourselves to any situation.” -KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
In the 1930s, a poem stuck with Wooden that helped shape his philosophy. Watch the vlog below to see me recite the poem.
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/default2.jpg300300adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2010-06-06 09:01:552010-06-06 09:01:55MESSAGE #1048 FLORIDA DAY 3
