Reflection Questions - MadrasAthletics.org

Transcription

2012
Character
Development
A GUIDE FOR FOOTBALL AND LIFE
NAME:
Page 1
Madras High School
2012
Table of Contents
Section I:
The Game Plan to Be Great
Preface
Family Mission & Reflection
Preseason One
The “M”
Preseason Two
Goal Setting
Section II:
The Fundamentals
Week One
Work
Week Two
Responsibility
Week Three
Team
Week Four
Service
Week Five
Love
Week Six
Attitude
Week Seven
Poise
Week Eight
Discipline
Week Nine
Hope
Week Ten
Competitive Greatness
Section III:
Appendix
Reflection Section
Personal Journal
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Preface
Mission & Reflection
Welcome to Madras Football. You are now a member of a family that is as unique as the
individuals that comprise it. No matter what your role is, you are important to the family. You
may be a Varsity Captain with tremendous responsibility or a first year freshman who has never
played the game before. Either way, you are valuable to our family. You have challenges and
responsibilities and with those you will have great rewards. We want you to not only enjoy your
time during high school, but we want you to look back and know that this family helped shape
you to be the person you will become.
In this handbook you will discover goal
setting and what it means to have and live
with good moral fiber. During your time with
our family we will teach you the game of
football, but most importantly we will help
you become a good person. We want you to
become successful in life and we will use
this family as a tool to help foster that
success.
Our coaching staff has discussed
multiple core values, and we have used The
Winners Manual, by Coach Jim Tressel of Ohio State University and The Pyramid of Success,
by John Wooden of UCLA. Both of these books and our core values have been tremendously
influential in designing this manual. Either of these books would be great references for any
member of our family and we encourage their use.
Madras High School Mission
Madras High School creates
an inspired community
of productive citizens
and life-long learners.
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FAMILY MISSION STATEMENT
Our purpose is to create a family of competitors whose effort to become great in their lives
and great in football is unmatched by any other program. Madras Football will be a springboard
for life after high school where our family members will have the tools to be great in their lives
and an example to their community.
Coming together is a beginning;
Keeping together is a process;
Working together is success!
Henry Ford
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Questions for Reflection
What does it mean to be successful?
What characteristics do successful people have?
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Preseason 1
The Big M
The journey of success is a multi-part process that is ongoing throughout your life. In other
words, once you have started the process of change you need to maintain your behaviors to
continue your success. A simple example is this: If a team wins a championship, there is no
guarantee they will win the title the next year if they simply show up. It takes practice, work, and
commitment to maintain the team’s success.
The first part of the process is to determine what your purpose is. Purpose comprises those
aspects of life that define who we are as individuals and the kind of people we want to
become. We have identified three key components of your purpose. They are your
personal/family identity, your moral development, and your caring/giving part of your life. With
each of these aspects you should be able to set goals and have long term dreams.
Who am I?
Personal/Family
What is my purpose
in life?
How can I make a
difference?
Include family members in all that we do.
Be a positive influence on siblings.
Prepare to be a good father and husband.
Inner Self/Moral
Explore your inner self whatever it may be.
Grow your morality and understand what that means to you.
Work to become a good person in your life.
Care/Giving
Make a difference to others.
Reach out and connect with your community.
Think of others first when you take action.
Use the table on page 8 to indicate your personal answers for each aspect.
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Preseason 2
Goal Setting
The goals portion of the Big M of Life is what we do, as opposed to who we are. We must
recognize that there is a key distinction between what we do and who we are. Each action is a
separate event and does not define you as a person. Setting goals does not guarantee success,
nor does it guarantee failure. Goals are simply benchmarks for performance but they do not
define who we are. Your goals now will most likely be different as you get older. Times in your
life will change, and different circumstances you cannot for see will occur. You can maintain
who you are through all of that, and you goals will become easier to change.
The categories we want you to initially explore with your goal setting are:
Your Football Family, Health/Fitness, and your Academic/Career aspirations.
Football Family
If I have a goal
to win a state
championship, does
it mean I am only
successful if I
achieve that?
What do you want to achieve as a team?
What do you want to achieve as a player?
Health/Fitness
Helps you perform at a high level and helps prevent injuries.
What kind of habits do you want to create in your life?
Academic/Career
What GPA and SAT scores do you want to earn?
What interests do you have beyond high school?
A good example of this is a professional baseball pitcher who loses a game because of a very
poor performance. Does this make him a bad person? No. He performed poorly that day. He
“did” not reach his personal goals that day. But if you think about it, he probably would strike out
99.9% of other human beings, even on his worst day. To play in the Major Leagues you have to
be one of the best. How he reacts to that situation and what he does is more of an indicator of
who he is. Did he admit he didn’t have good control that day? Or did he blame his catcher or
infielders for not making the plays? Did he blame his performance on run support? Is he willing
to take responsibility?
We will talk about this more later. Use the following page to fill out your goals in the suggested
categories.
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General Thoughts
Personal
Family
Inner Self
Moral
Caring
Giving
Football
Family
Health
Fitness
Academic
Career
The family is the basic social unit
of society. My family is very
important to me.
Above all else I realize that my
Inner self and my moral values
will shape my life. I will do what
is right.
My development does not end
in the classroom or on the field.
How I function as a total person
in society is important. I will give
back to the community.
I am part of a great family. I
count on my teammates, and
they are counting on me. I will
achieve great things for the
family.
One of the greatest gifts I have
is my health. My physical
conditioning is a controllable
commodity. I will develop
lifetime habits.
One of the reasons I am at MHS
is to achieve academically,
obtain a valuable diploma and
continue my education. I want
to grow both productively and
profitably in my career.
How Will I Achieve
Short-Term Goals?
Short-term Goals
How I Will Achieve
My Dreams?
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Preseason 3
The Links of the M
The Links
We have 10 links within our character development. You could probably have 100 different links
but we are going to focus on the following ten: Work, Responsibility, Team, Service, Love,
Discipline, Poise, Attitude, Hope, and Competitive Greatness. We feel you must develop all of
these traits and continually make an effort to improve them in your life. We also believe it is vital
that we work on each of these in a particular pattern. All of these traits build on one another and
are critical to success in character development.
The Pattern
You must be willing to put in hard WORK in order to have character. People that don’t work
don’t succeed and can’t be relied on. Through work you learn RESPONSIBILITY, which means
you can be relied upon, and are a part of something more than yourself. When you show
examples of responsibility you are ready to be a part of a TEAM, to be a part of something that
is more than just a sum of the individuals that are a part of it. When you are a part of a team you
can provide amazing SERVICE to your community, and build upon where you live. When you
share yourself and give of yourself without credit being sought, you know what it means to
LOVE. When you have learned to love unconditionally, you develop DISCIPLINE because you
do not seek credit for your efforts. Once you have learned true unselfish discipline, you will
develop POISE. You will be able to handle anything that the world throws at you. When you
have poise you can truly have a positive ATTITUDE because the world will not get you down.
When you have a great attitude you can experience true HOPE in your life. You will know that
things will turn out for the good most of the time. When you combine all of these traits that you
now use, you can achieve COMPETITIVE GREATNESS. You will be able to perform your duty
to the best of your ability, no matter what the task. Your mission in your current and future life
should to BE GREAT in everything you can do. When you choose to follow this plan, you will
achieve your dreams.
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Week 1
Work
It’s not enough that we do our best;
sometimes we have to do what’s required
Winston Churchill
The harder you
work, the harder it is
to surrender.
Vince Lombardi
I will prepare and some day my chance will come.
Abraham Lincoln
I’m a great believer in luck, and I find
the harder I work the more I have of it.
Thomas Jefferson
Opportunity is missed by most people
because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
Thomas Edison
Hard Work
●
It is important to recognize that work is not who you
are, but what you do. Remember, what you
accomplish or do not accomplish, does not define
who you are. No matter what endeavor you pursue in
life, if you want to succeed, you’re going to have work
at it. Think about when you were younger, you played
a video game or went outside to shoot hoops. You did
this for pure fun, there are still things that you do for
pure fun, but if you want to perform at a high level or
make it a career, hard work will become part of it.
●
●
I firmly believe that any
man’s finest hour, the
greatest fulfillment of all that
he holds dear, is the moment
when he has worked his
heart out in a good cause and
lies exhausted on the field of
battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
Now, let’s think about football for a minute. To be
● ● ●
really good in high school, college or in the pros you
can’t rely on talent alone. It takes a lot of work, a lot of conditioning, a lot of repetitions each day,
and building your knowledge to gain a level of expertise. Read Michael Jordan’s quote on this
page. It really states how success is achieved. You work at it bit by bit, day by day, one step
here, another there. You fall, you get up, and you keep going.
All parts of the Big M and the goals you set, take work. Nothing that you desire is just going to
happen. At the same time, you have to balance the components of the Big M. If you spend too
much time on one goal, you will lose balance and be neglecting your whole person. Remember
that you don’t discover a great
marriage; you don’t wake up one day
Coaches and players can say anything they want, but if
and become a great student or
they don’t back it up with performance and hard work,
player. You have to work at it.
the talking doesn’t mean a thing.
Michael Jordan
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Every morning in Africa, a
gazelle wakes up. It knows it
must run faster than the
fastest lion or it will be
killed. Every morning, the
lion wakes up. It knows it
must outrun the slowest
gazelle or it will starve to
death. It doesn’t matter
whether you are a lion or a
gazelle, when the sun comes
up, you’d better be running.
Perspective
When you are doing something you really
love, it is easy for you to get out of sync. It is
easy for you to lose perspective; when
everything is less important to you, other than
what you are doing at that time. Remember,
you are more than what you do; there are
other people who matter and count on you.
On the journey to success, after we’ve made
all of our preparations, (the goals, blueprints,
and dreams) the next step is to work toward
those goals. To do that, we need two qualities
that are vital to our work; persistence and
toughness.
Persistence
Think about something bad that has happened in your life. You may have even caused this bad
thing or event to happen. Where you fall into trouble is when you allow that event to define who
you are. It can haunt you and influence your decisions over and over, typically to your detriment.
Nothing in this world can take the
place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than
unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded
genius is almost a proverb.
Education alone will not; the world
is full of educated failures.
Persistence and determination
alone are omnipotent.
President Calvin Coolidge
Persistence is a quality possessed by people who want to
achieve. If they have a passionate desire to succeed, the goal
becomes more important than any obstacles that are thrown in
their way. You realize that a single event or failure does not
define them.
A great example of this is when you are evaluated through the
football season. Remember when your coach talks about your
game film, he is talking about your performance, not you. We
care about you, and because we care, we want you to know
how you can improve your performance. Understand if you do
something wrong and your coach points it out, he is talking
about what you did, not you. No matter what happens, always
remember this, FAILURE IS AN EVENT-IT’S NOT
PERSONAL.
Basically, everyone you talk to about the game, you just played, focuses on what? Did you win
or did you lose? It is impossible to avoid this. That is what everyone focuses on. So how do we
deal with this? Persistence. Everything that happens - good and bad – should motivate you to
be persistent.
There are two types of persistence: The first one is where you have doubts about the outcome
and your abilities and you push forward anyway. There is nothing wrong with this and it is
certainly better than just quitting.
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The second type of persistence is one where you shut off the outside world. It doesn’t matter
what the score is, or what your record is, you are performing and you are never giving up.
You never doubt you just do your job. In a world that values results over everything else, we
need to be persistent to pursue and achieve our goals.
Success does not come to you, you go to it.
Toughness
How many times have you seen the guy with the big mouth who talks trash and spouts off about
how great he is, and then someone cleans his clock with a hard hit. All of a sudden, BOOM!
He’s real quiet, his plan stops.
In football you get hit over and over, you lose your breath, and you
see stars. Then, you start to feel the pain. Guess what, the next play
starts soon. Get lined up and ready to do it all over again. In life,
toughness is just as important as it in football. Hopefully, the life
toughness you develop doesn’t have that much to do with the
violence you experience in football. Life is tough in a different way.
Mental toughness must be developed in life, so you can handle all of
the difficulties you will experience. You may be offered drugs, or
money for something unethical, and countless other temptations. It is
always harder to deal with moral and ethical challenges. Physical
challenges are much easier. We want you to be tough off the field,
because if you are, we guarantee you will be tough on the field.
Everyone has a plan until they get hit.
Evander Holyfield
A Story of Mental Toughness
He failed in business in 32’
He ran for the state legislature in 32’ and lost.
He tried another business in 33’ and failed again.
His love of his life died in 35’
He had a nervous breakdown in 36’
He ran for state elector in 40’ he lost.
He ran for congress in 43’ and 48’ lost both times.
He ran for Senator in 55’ & 58’ guess what? He lost.
After all these very public failures he refused to quit. In 1860 he was elected President of the
United States. Abraham Lincoln went on to serve in the most difficult time in our nation’s history.
Shortly after the Union won the Civil War and freed the slaves, he was shot and killed. Now, he
is remembered as possibly the most important figure in the History of The United States.
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A Story of Physical Toughness
At the end of the 1985 season in a game against the Cowboys, Ronnie Lott, mangled his left
pinky in a brutal collision with a running back. Bone fragments and parts of Lott's finger lay
somewhere in the turf. Lott came out of the game briefly. He bore the agony of his
dismembered finger in the manner of all Top Guns and Terminators of sports. Enduring the
pain, was a religion -- or at least a line-item entry in the game's Iliad of make-believe war.
The next week, Lott had his fingers taped so he could play. Over that winter, he remained in
excruciating pain. He faced the next season with an awful choice: a complicated and delicate
operation in which bone and skin grafting and the placement of pins in his hand might restore
full use of his hand -- or, he could have the top of his finger amputated. Choice No. 1 meant
missing playing time and risking further injury. Choice No. 2 meant missing some finger but
being ready for more. Most football fans know how this came out. Lott chose to have the top of
his finger chopped off and then went on to his third Pro Bowl season with the 49ers, leading the
team to yet another playoff appearance. Ronnie Lott is now in the Hall of Fame and is
considered one of the greatest players in NFL History.
Whatever you do, do it passionately. Failure is an event, not a person.
Every obstacle presents an opportunity... if you’re looking for it.
Relax! You only fail when you quit.
The problem with
opportunity is it is
always disguised
as hard work.
I hated every minute of training, but I
said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live
the rest of your life as a champion.”
Muhammad Ali
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Reflection Questions
1) What has been the toughest experience of your life? How did you get through
that experience? How did it affect you?
2) How is persistence linked with passion? Can you be persistent about something
for which you have no passion? Why?
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Week 2
Responsibility
The reputation of a thousand years
may be determined by the conduct of one hour.
Japanese Proverb
Team Honor Code
We know the right thing to do.
The hard part is doing it.
Honor is better than honors.
Abraham Lincoln
As a member of the Madras Football
family, I will abide by my actions at all
times in order to represent myself, my
family, and my teammates with the
highest degree of class and dignity.
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool
than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Abraham Lincoln
Class
There are many people who struggle with the idea of “Having Class.”
It is actually quite simple. How do you conduct yourself? What do you
do when no one is looking? It does not matter where you come from,
how you were raised, or what your culture is; we know how we like to
be treated, and what makes us feel good. All we ask is that you do
that.
A simple way to remind yourself of your actions is to use “Grandma
Rules.” In other words, would your grandma approve of what you are
doing right now? Would you be happy to stand up and tell her
everything that you did today? Your actions and the way you conduct yourself should be exactly
the same no matter where you are, at that moment. Whether you are on the field, in school, in
your community, and especially at home we want you to conduct yourself with class and honor.
There is a choice you have to make in
everything you do.
So keep in mind that in the end, the choices
you make, make you.
John Wooden
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Drugs and Alcohol
Chemical addiction and abuse is a tragedy and reality of our world. We want to make sure that
none of our family members ever fall into this life changing trap. We want none of our players to
partake or expose themselves to these activities. Any player who has a problem and comes to
the coaching staff, in confidence, will be helped, in any way possible.
If a player is a caught engaging in these illegal activities,
(Illicit drug use, drinking of alcohol, etc.) the individual
involved will be handled according to district policy.
We implore our family to take care of each other. It is our
responsibility and our task to maintain a healthy family. We
ask our team to police themselves and help one another to
avoid these poor choices.
Language
In today’s society it is easy to curse and use poor language. Almost everyone is at fault.
Unfortunately, it has become a part of our normal dialogue. The problem is that every time we
choose to use those words, we are humiliating ourselves. We are showing the world that we are
not as good as we can be. We are doing the exact opposite of improving. In your life you may
have a career where it is ok to use bad language. This is unlikely, most careers require a person
to be professional and use appropriate vocabulary. You should make an effort to practice this
appropriate vocabulary. If you do work in a place where vulgarity is as common as snow in the
Rockies, you should be the example. It will be noticed, you will be regarded in higher esteem,
and you will gain more respect.
The Ten Reason Why I Swear
$%@#&^@!
^&*#$
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
It pleases my mother and grandmother so much.
It is a fine mark of manliness.
It proves I have self control.
It indicates how clearly my mind operates.
It makes my conversation so pleasing to everyone.
It leaves no doubt to my good breeding.
It impresses people that I have more than an ordinary education.
It is an unmistakable sign of culture, refinement, and quality vocabulary.
It makes me a very desirable personality among women, children,
and respectable society.
10) It is my way of showing how cool I am.
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Honesty
This attribute is one of the best things you can strive to improve on every day. You will find that
if you use honesty in everything you do and say, you will be rewarded more than you know. First
of all, you will be a reliable person that people look to for answers.
You will be more successful in personal relationships, where trust is
the most important component. Your teammates will always know
they can rely on you. If you are honest, when tough times occur,
things won’t bother you as much. You will have a foundation of
behavior. You won’t have to try and remember your story. You don’t
need a story when you know the truth.
Class Is
Class is respect for others regardless of who they are.
Class is having simple manners. Saying “Thank you” and
“Please.” It is holding a door for another person.
When in doubt,
Tell the truth.
Class is extending compliments to people because they
deserve to be honored for their task.
Class is never bragging about what you have accomplished or
tearing down other’s accomplishments.
Mark Twain
Class is never making an excuse or blaming someone else for
one’s shortcomings.
When you have class everyone will know. If you don’t, no
matter what you accomplish, it will never have meaning.
Class is treating other people better than you would expect to
be treated. Raise the bar, and then everyone wins.
Your perception is who you
perceive to be, your
character is who you are.
I don’t care what someone
did; I care why they did it.
I don’t care what they said; I
care about why they said it.
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It takes less time to do the
right thing than to explain
why you did wrong.
Henry Longfellow
1) The responsibility of doing the right thing can weigh a person down when the
focus is on rules and regulations. Do you agree with this approach of giving
people expectations rather than a list of dos and don’ts? Why or Why Not?
2) If teachers, restaurant workers, cashiers at the grocery store, or those in any
other service roles were to comment on your treatment of them, how would you
measure up on the question of class? Is there anything you need to do to
change that?
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Week 3
Team
Unity is the great need of the hour,
and if we are united we can get many things
that we not only desire but which we justly deserve.
Martin Luther King Jr.
.
Team Roles
Everyone on our team has a valuable team role. No player is more important to the team or to
the game than another. Some players will play more and produce more individual statistics.
This individual production is fine, but it does not create a special position or status on our team.
Everyone is equal.
We must understand that what we are working toward is much larger than us as individuals or
even as a team. Our community looks towards our success or failure. They follow our progress,
track our stats, and the upcoming opponent. Many of them remember what they had in high
school, and the opportunities they realized or missed. Our team is a catalyst for the community
and our school. We play the most visible sport and the one that garners the most attention. We
have a responsibility to be together, and represent our community and school in a honorable
way. .
Great Teams = Unselfish Teams
Every great team has two key ingredients: love for one another, and discipline. If you have that
love, the discipline takes care of itself. Team roles are easily established if there is a true
selfless love for one another. When you are an unselfish team you can achieve great things
together, because the only concern is the team. If you have love for your team, you can’t be
selfish because others are more important to you than yourself. As an individual player your
statistics will take care of themselves if you are on a great team.
Think about some of the things that we do to separate ourselves from the group. I-pods, cell
phones, TV, and computers all isolate us in a way. It is easy to get caught up in what I want,
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A man was lost while driving
through the country. As he
tried to reach for the map, he
accidentally drove off the
road into a ditch. Though he
wasn’t injured, his car was
stuck deep in the mud. So the
man walked to a nearby farm
to ask for help.
"Warwick can get you out of
that ditch," said the farmer,
pointing to an old mule
standing in a field. The man
looked at the decrepit old
mule and looked at the
farmer who just stood there
repeating, "Yep, old
Warwick can do the job."
The man figured he had
nothing to lose. The two men
and the mule made their way
back to the ditch. The farmer
hitched the mule to the car.
With a snap of the reins he
shouted:
"Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack!
Pull, Ted! Pull, Warwick!"
And the mule pulled that car
right out of the ditch.
The man was amazed. He
thanked the farmer, patted
the mule, and asked, "Why
did you call out all of those
names before you called
Warwick?"
The farmer grinned and said,
"Old Warwick is just about
blind. As long as he believes
he’s part of a team, he
doesn’t mind pulling."
and what I am doing and what is important to me. You are
constantly exposed to ways to entertain and take care of
yourself. Remember your team needs you too.
Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.
Don’t walk in front of me. I may not
follow. Just walk beside me and be my
friend.
Listening
Have you ever heard the expression “Do you really listen, or do
you wait to talk?” We all struggle with this, in fact some more
than others. The number one thing you could do to be a good
husband is to listen to your wife. She will love that more than
anything you could ever buy her.
You can be influenced if you are willing to truly listen to others.
Not just authority figures or people we respect. You also need
to listen to people that you do not agree with. They may have
Either we are pulling together
or we are pulling apart.
There is really no in between.
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something that they can offer you can learn from. The other reason to listen is it helps you relate
to others, and discuss your opinions with people that disagree with you. The more considerate
you are to others the more likely others will respond to you when you have something to say.
Team First
It is human nature to be competitive and want to be better than the opponent. This is especially
true when competing within a team. We work really hard to gain a position, or gain playing time.
We think of ourselves first and what we need to do to be successful. We have in our mind what
success is, and this is a good thing. To be a great team we need people that want to be good,
and are competitive with each other. However, when you get so focused on yourself, and fail to
work for the good of the team, everyone loses. Even minor victories will be hollow.
There are countless situations that can be used as examples for a player who was asked to
switch positions by their coach for the betterment of the team. This is also done for the
betterment of the player. Often a player has the idea that they will be successful at one spot but
a coach can see they would have a better chance playing something else. This philosophy will
always be used in our program. You will be put in a position that helps the team most, and gives
you the best chance to play. There is no reason for you to be the 4th string Wide Receiver if you
could be the 1st string Offensive Lineman and helping your team win games.
This mentality of team first has to be worked on every day. It is a skill like anything else. This
growth is always a process, no matter how good of a person you are. People who say that they
never have a selfish thought, are either far better than anyone we have ever met or they are not
being honest. Remember: Together Everyone Achieves More
Gives 100 Percent
Demonstrates
Loyalty To All
Shows Courage
Off The Field.
A Great
Team Player
Cares About The Team
Above All Else.
Makes No
Mental Mistakes
21
1) Have you ever experienced the chaos that results when members of a team are
self-absorbed rather than selfless? Looking back, is there anything you would do
differently?
2) What is the larger goal of your team’s success? In other words, how is what
you are striving for about something bigger than yourself?
22
Week 4
Service
Many Small people, in many small places,
Do many small things,
that can alter the face of the world.
Anonymous.
In helping others, we shall help ourselves,
for whatever good we give out completes
the circle and comes back to us.
Fiona Edwards
Selflessness
When you think of service you probably first think about a business transaction that you have
had in your life. Often this experience was very good or the exact opposite, very poor. Why do
we remember these things so vividly? It is because when others are trying to do something for
us we have a level of expectation. Usually that level is defined by what we perceive is fair, or
correct. In other words, how we would like to be treated in that situation. We also
subconsciously think of how we may serve another person in that same situation. We have an
intuition of what is right based on our lives and experiences up to that point.
When a person effectively serves another person, they do so without obligation, but with a
desire to help another. This selfless behavior is the key to service. You must be willing to give to
others your full self, without expectation of credit, returned favor, etc. In doing this, you truly
serve man’s greatest need, to be loved. Selfless service to others will fill your life with joy,
Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve.
You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.... You don't have to know the second
theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by
love. Martin Luther King Jr.
Leadership
To serve when it is easy is fine, and very rewarding. The person or
people you help will be grateful for your time and efforts and you
will gain satisfaction of a good deed. Typically, you will also receive
appropriate credit, praise from colleagues, peers, and even awards
about your service. These things are all great, and there is nothing
wrong with them. Many famous people have received credit for
23
their good deeds. However, the real heroes are the people
who you never hear about. They are the ones who donate
time and money when they have less than they need.
These people are the ones who give their last dime to the
person who needs it more. When you give when it is most
difficult, is when you receive the largest rewards.
Wreckers or
Builders?
Have you ever got
to tear something
down? Have you
ever just
destroyed
something? It’s
actually kind of fun
sometimes. You
get to use power
force and aggression to change something. It sometimes is
hard work, but ultimately in the end, it is easy. When you
build, you get to create, your influence has the ability to
mold a life, change something with your plan. You never
know when your plan or simple act of kindness will save
someone. The act of ignoring a problem can be as
damaging as anything. Will you ignore others, waiting for
someone else to help? Will you shape your deeds with a
well-made plan? Eventually the question becomes; Are you
willing to build with your service or do you simply want to
wreck?

You never know when someone might
catch a dream from you. Or something you say
may open up the windows of a mind that
seeks light; The way you live may not matter
at all, But you never know, it might.
And just in case it could be that another’s
life, through you, might possibly change for
the better with a better and brighter view, it
seems it might be worth a try at pointing the
way to the right; Of course, it may not matter
at all, but then again, it might.

24
The Pebble
Drop a pebble in the water: just a
splash, and it is gone; But there’s
half-a-hundred ripples circling on
and on and on, Spreading,
spreading from the center, flowing
on out to the sea. And there is no
way of telling where the end is
going to be.
Drop a pebble in the water: in a
minute you forget, but there’s little
waves a-flowing, and there’s
ripples circling yet, And those little
waves a-flowing to a great big
wave have grown; You’ve
disturbed a mighty river just by
dropping in a stone.
Drop an unkind word, or careless:
in a minute it is gone; But there’s
half-a-hundred ripples circling on
and on and on. They keep
spreading, spreading, spreading
from the center as they go,
And there is no way to stop them,
once you’ve started them to flow.
Drop an unkind word, or careless:
in a minute you forget; But there’s
little waves a-flowing, and there’s
ripples circling yet, And perhaps in
some sad heart a mighty wave of
tears you’ve stirred, And disturbed
a life was happy ere you dropped
that unkind word.
Drop a word of cheer and
kindness: just a flash and it is
gone; But there’s half-a-hundred
ripples circling on and on and on,
Bearing hope and joy and comfort
on each splashing, dashing wave
Till you wouldn’t believe the
volume of the one kind word you
gave.
Drop a word of cheer and
kindness: in a minute you forget;
But there’s gladness still a-swelling,
and there’s joy circling yet,
And you’ve rolled a wave of
comfort whose sweet music can be
heard Over miles and miles of
water just by dropping one kind
word.
1)
When was the last time someone did something for you? What did they do? How
did it make you feel? Did you thank them, or di you even have a chance?
2)
When was the last time you helped someone without being asked? Why did you
serve them? How did it make you feel? Who can you think of to help next? What are
you going to do?
25
Week 5
Love
I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.
Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
Abraham Lincoln
If all my friends were to jump off a bridge,
I wouldn't jump with them, I'd be at the bottom to catch them.
Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
Unknown
No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without
leaving some mark on it forever.
-- Francois Mauriac
Be kind to one another, because most of us
are fighting a hard battle.
Ian Maclaren
Perspective
When playing a sport we can get caught up in the X’s and O’s and the strategy of beating our
opponents. We want to make sure we are in optimal physical condition. Sometimes we forget
about concern for our teammates and others involved. When we do this, we place the team and
ourselves at a disadvantage.
This year our team could have the most talent in school history, we could have the best coaches
and the best schedule. However, without love and concern
for our fellow team members, we are going to come up short.
Life is about relationships, we were not made to just achieve
things. When we look at the Big M, the top section is all
about relationships. In order for us to Be Great, we must not
only focus on our goals and achievements, but more
importantly; truly great people will care more about the
people they share their journey with than the trophy at the
end. This idea is critical to our success. It binds together our
team during good times and bad. How strong our love is for
each other will show when adversity shows up.
Commitment
What does love mean to us? Love is a deep sense of commitment that each person in our
family has for one another. Of course, this commitment contains feelings and emotions, but
those by themselves are not enough. Those commitments and feelings must be followed up
with action. If you are willing to put everything on the line as a loving team, we can Be Great. If
some of us are not willing to make that loving commitment, we will eventually face a team that is
26
What Will Matter
Ready or not, some day it will all
come to an end. There will be no
more sunrises, no minutes, hours or
days. All the things you collected,
whether treasured or forgotten, will
pass to someone else. Your wealth,
fame and temporal power will
shrivel to irrelevance. It will not
matter what you owned or what you
were owed.
Your grudges, resentments,
frustrations and jealousies will
finally disappear. So too, your
hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do
lists will expire. The wins and losses
that once seemed so important will
fade away. It won't matter where
you came from or what side of the
tracks you lived on at the end. It
won't matter whether you were
beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will
be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the
value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you
bought, but what you built; not what
you got, but what you gave. What
will matter is not your success, but
your significance. What will matter
is not what you learned, but what
you taught. What will matter is every
act of integrity, compassion,
courage or sacrifice that enriched,
empowered or encouraged others
to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your
competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many
people you knew, but how many will
feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your
memories, but the memories that
live in those who loved you. What
will matter is how long you will be
remembered, by whom and for
what.
Living a life that matters doesn't
happen by accident. It's not a matter
of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
willing to, and they will triumph that day. Does this commitment
guarantee championships or wins? No, but it assures that our
team will have done its very best.
Lasting commitments
are hard to find today.
Look at the divorce
rate, the number of
single parents, and how
often we change for the
simplest reasons. Often
these situations, and
others, are the result of
hard times. Instead of
coming together many
people run away from
the tough times. The
problem is that hard
times always occur. If we come together, and stay committed,
we can get through those hard times much easier.
Commitment is the key to any relationship. If you want to Be
Great in any relationship you have to be willing to cry, you have
to be willing to love, you have to be willing to truly commit.
A wise man once said “You don’t win tough games with talent;
you win tough games with toughness. The only way to gain
toughness is with love.”
Love has a way of making unexpected things happen. Love can
transform a team of players with less than stellar talent into a
tightly knit group that can perform above its level of ability.
Relationships
Over your career at Madras High School, we hope your
relationships with your teammates and coaches deepen, and
become very special. We want you to eventually be in a place
where you feel comfortable with sharing anything that’s on your
mind or in your heart.
The great thing about positive loving relationships is when you
give, you receive so much in return, and often more than the
person you gave to.
One of the other key ideas about relationships is that no one is
insignificant. The biggest team star is as important as the player
who never plays. Both need love and support, just like your best
friend. The funny thing is, sometimes the big star needs us even
more, because sports has always been an outlet for his
problems. As coaches we have known many “stars” who
27
The $20 Bill
needed more support than anyone else. Relationships, and
reaching out to touch someone in need, is another responsibility
you have as a player for us, but it should be looked on as a
blessing that you can make a difference in another. That act could
tip the domino of change for them. Like the saying goes; Pay it
Forward.
We must learn to live together as brothers
or perish together as fools.
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is:
What are you doing for others?
Martin Luther King Jr.
Compassion
We have talked quite a bit about how to love people and why. If you
think about it, often we think about love as what brings us
happiness. “I love ice cream.” “I love going to the beach.” We think
of these things because they give us satisfaction, quickly and
easily. What about loving something or someone who can do you
absolutely no good? That is a true measure of a man. Can you give
without expecting anything in return? Can you care about someone
whom you normally would never speak too?
When you give yourself for the sake of others, you have made the
true steps towards manhood and leadership. You never know who
needs your help, needs your time, or needs your love. Love is your
commitment, your purposeful giving of yourself for the good of
others. You can always give without loving but you can never love
without giving.
Concern for man and his fate must form the chief
interest of all technical endeavors.
Never forget that in the midst of your diagrams
and equations.
Albert Einstein
A well known speaker started off
his seminar by holding up a $20
bill. In the room of 200, he asked.
"Who would like this $20 bill?"
Hands started going up. He said,
"I am going to give this $20 to one
of you - but first, let me do this."
He proceeded to crumple the 20
dollar note up. He then asked.
"Who still wants it?" Still the
hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "what if I do
this?" He dropped it on the
ground and started to grind it into
the floor with his shoe. He picked
it up, now crumpled and dirty.
"Now, who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned
a very valuable lesson. No matter
what I did to the money, you still
wanted it because it did not
decrease in value. It was still
worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are
dropped, crumpled, and ground
into the dirt by the decisions we
make and the circumstances that
come our way. We feel as though
we are worthless; but no matter
what happened or what will
happen, you will never lose your
value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely
creased, you are still priceless to
those who love you. The worth of
our lives comes, not in what we
do or who we know, but by
WHO WE ARE.
You are special - don't ever forget
it."
If you only learn one thing during
your career at this school…..
Learn how to share your love.
28
1) Loving and caring seem to be easier for some people than for others. Do you
think that is true? Why or why not?
2) If you had to pick the five most loving people you know, who would they be, and
why would they make the list?
29
Week 6
Attitude
The greatest discovery of my generation
is that human beings can alter their lives
by altering their attitudes of mind.
William James
As you think, so shall you become.
Bruce Lee
The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.
Winston Churchill
Your Attitude is a Choice
Often you will find that the outcome of most
Most people are about as happy as
competitions is a result of attitude and not talent.
they make up their minds to be.
How we think, affects everything that we do.
Abraham Lincoln
Others thoughts, or what they say, can affect
how we think. Sometimes we get positive
encouragement; we should honor that and take that into our minds as a positive motivator.
Negative thoughts are a corrosive element in our lives. If we let negativity enter our minds, it
may defeat us before we even attempt to compete.
Talent is not something that can be controlled. Each team has a set amount of talent; it is how
you use that talent that makes the difference. You can be guaranteed that the attitude that you
have, will be the fuel to the fire of your talent. If your attitude is poor, your performance will
suffer. If your attitude is positive, your performance will be enhanced.
Pessimism never won any battle.
Dwight Eisenhower
Attitude is an attribute that is always something we
have to work on. No one ever has a positive
attitude 24/7. We have to constantly remind
ourselves of how we are thinking and how we are
approaching some task. The more we do this, the
easier it gets. Having a positive attitude becomes a
habit that is much easier to achieve on a daily
basis.
30
Gratitude
Being thankful and appreciative sounds like a simple thing and in fact, it really is, but so many of
us forget and often take things for granted. We want you to be continually reminded how
fortunate you are to be able to play football and basically receive a free education in high
school. One of the most important things we can do on occasion
is to list out all of the wonderful things that are going on in our
Spending a little time calculating
lives. This is difficult to do sometimes because it is easier to
the number of things that go
right is a simple but powerful
focus on the negative and have an attitude of “poor me.”
way to reactivate our sense of
wonder and gratitude.
Richard Carlson
One of the exercises you should try, is on a daily basis, create a
habit by writing down in a journal at least one thing for which you
are grateful. It sounds so simple but if you stop and think every
day about something you are thankful for, your life will become a much more positive
encouraging place.
You can recognize how blessed you are and what a wonderful life we all have been given. Of
course some people have a more difficult road to travel in their lives because of circumstances
they cannot control. We all have a different set of cards that have been dealt to us. The
common bond we share is we can all play those cards with a positive “solution minded” attitude.
It is impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the
same time.
If you have no reason for giving thanks, the fault
lies within yourself.
Humility
Often when you are an athlete at a high school, you are treated differently. This is very obvious
if you happen to be very talented and successful. This can be a confusing time for you as a
young man. People tell you that you are great, girls pay more attention to you, yet you are told
that the TEAM comes first.

If we were humble,
nothing would change
us, neither praise nor
discouragement.
Mother Teresa
Becoming humble and staying humble while this is all going on
is a difficult task, but is essential for personal development.
We are not saying you should not be confident, but we don’t
want that confidence to become arrogance. You always have
something to learn, and there is always someone out there
that is better than you or is working harder.

31
Maybe when we lose a game or fail to get a date with a
pretty girl, it helps remind us to be humble. This is a good
thing! These experiences of “failure” can teach us that we
always can improve and even the best, sometimes fail.
Being able to accept that, learn from our mistakes and not
lash out with anger is an important step to take as an adult.
The interesting thing about humility is that, if you are part of
a team that is truly humble, you should barely be able to
tell if the team won or lost. When you are humble you think
of others and how they feel. Having an overzealous
celebration in front of another team is not something that a
humble team does. Neither does a humble team lash out
and blame others for a loss. It is an event, it’s over. How
you react means more than the contest.
Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is really the only way to demonstrate how
important a task is to you. It is the glue that holds your
attitude, gratitude, and humility all together. It is easy to
have enthusiasm when you are playing a playoff game,
meeting your cross town rival, or winning the game, but the
challenge is to keep up during the tough games and when
something is going wrong. If you want to Be Great in your
life, it is those times when enthusiasm is the most
important.
When you execute your fundamentals, having enthusiasm
will help enhance those abilities and increase your
performance. Think about taking a test, how did you do on
the test when you had a negative mind set? How did you
do when you were more confident and you were looking
forward to getting a good grade?
It is obvious to all of us that each day it is not easy to be
enthusiastic. We can be tired, or something rotten has
happened to us that day. The key is to think of others, at
that time. Our enthusiasm and energy could be the
difference for our teammate that day. That could be the
spark that keeps them going, makes all the difference, or
keeps them from quitting.
32
There are three types
of people:
Those who make things
happen,
Those who watch
things happen,
And those who say,
“What happened?”
Which one are you?
A little
spark can
create a
wildfire.
I AM ONLY ONE
I am only one, but I am
one.
I can’t do everything, but
I can do something.
And what I do, I ought to
do.
And what I ought to do,
through my inner
strength, I shall do.
1) What is it like being around people who are grateful? What about people who are
not grateful? How do they make you feel?
2) Do you feel a lack of enthusiasm for some part of your life? Why do you feel that
way, and how can you change that situation?
33
Week 7
Poise
I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career.
I have lost almost 300 games.
On 26 occasions I have been entrusted
to take the game winning shot... and missed. I have
failed over and over and over again in my life.
And that is why... I succeed.
Michael Jordan
Adversity – The Great Teacher
Adversity will come to all
of us; it is only a matter of
when it will happen. How will you respond when it knocks on your
door? If our attitude is one of learning and growing, we will use
adversity to our advantage and a stepping stone on our journey to
success. In other words, adversity is an opportunity to get better.
The difficulty occurs when we experience a failure and you start
to point fingers or become defensive.
There is no education
like adversity. In that lies
your great opportunity.
Bruce Lee
What about when something goes really well, or you have a great
success? It is easy to get caught up in all the praise and all the hype
If you are going
that surrounds success; how will you react? Will you get a big head and
through hell.
Keep going.
think you can never do anything wrong? Will you think you never have
Winston Churchill
to get better? Success is a great teacher too. It is hard to remain
grounded when everyone thinks you are wonderful and can do no
wrong. What you can do is be thankful for your success and give credit where it is due. If your
teammates helped, make sure they get credit and be thankful for others who have helped you
achieve this success. Have an inner satisfaction for what you personally, accomplished.
You Won – Now What?
Awesome, it feels good to win. Be happy, celebrate, and enjoy the time. Handle yourself with
gratitude and class. People will appreciate your success more when you handle yourself with
humility. You and your team will gain a positive reputation with the fans, the school, the
referees, and other teams. You will be liked and respected. This will go far in duplicating your
success. It is exponential: Fans like you = more fans = tougher on opponents at your home field.
When refs respect you = better calls = less penalties. You could make a case for hundreds of
results of simply winning with class and humility.
34
Ok, again you won the last game. Guess what? None of
Success is a lousy teacher. what just happened in that last game is going to matter in
It makes smart people the next one. That is what is great about sports, it is
think they can’t lose. timeless. There is no significant connection between one
Bill Gates event and the other. If you played well or didn’t play well, it
has nothing to do with the next time you get to compete.
The challenge that lies before you is: Are you willing to try
and get better for the next time? Are you willing to push your team to get better? Are you willing
to become a better leader? Championship teams have people who are never satisfied with
being “good enough.” We want you to raise your level of performance every time so you can
become the very best. In other words make the guy who eventually beats you, set the record!
You Lost – Now What?
So we lost a game, I can bet that there will be more losses
in your career as a football player. You want to know
something else? Half of all the teams in America lost their
game on Friday night. Half won. It is just the way it goes.
You know why there are so few undefeated teams? It’s
really hard to do. Even teams that are incredibly talented
and well coached, perform at a lower level than normal
sometimes. Sometimes, they score fewer points than the
other team. Being better does not guarantee success; it
just increases your
odds. It puts you in
a favorable
situation, but never
guarantees
anything, especially
in high school
athletics.
In 1993 at Whitworth we had a football
team that went 1-8. We had lots of problems.
We underachieved in many ways that season
but we played a couple of games against better
teams where the character of our team really
showed. Both games we lost but you wouldn’t
think from the reaction of the other team.
Against Simon Frasier a powerful school from
Canada we lost by 6 points but set school
game records in passing completions, yards,
and touchdowns! Simon Fraser said we were
the toughest team they had played all year.
The team also went down to California to
play Humboldt State, a much larger school,
basically to get beat and earn money for our
program. We lost by 2 points 38-36 on a last
second touchdown. The other team even gave
us their victory cake because they felt we
deserved it more. None of us felt these were
failures. Sure we didn’t feel great coming up
short on the scoreboard, but in both games we
were outmatched. They were better but we did
our very best and were happy we had made
such a great effort. It’s funny I don’t even
remember the game we won that year.
Coach Wells
What if you were completely outmatched? The other team
was really good and we were not as strong or as fast?
Does that make us bad? No. How did we play that game?
Did we play well? We did our absolute best, but we still lost? Ok, let’s learn from our mistakes
and be proud that we did the best we could.
Now, what are we going to do about this loss?
Does it make us a bad team? No, that game is
Our greatest glory is not in never falling,
an event. It happened, plays occurred,
but getting up every time we do.
mistakes were made, and people screwed up.
Confucius
No big deal. That game does not define you or
our team. We cannot control the past, we can
only work on the future. What kind of attitude are you going to have for the upcoming game?
35
Becoming a positive influence, working hard to improve and
encouraging those who had a bad night, is what you should
be doing.
Woohitike (wo-oh-hee-teekeh), or bravery, is one of the
central virtues or values of the
Lakota Sioux. They believe that
Resources
we all have it in us to be brave,
Often when success or defeat crosses our path, we turn
inward and rely only on ourselves to try and deal with it. This
can be a major mistake. Think about the last test or major
assignment you
struggled on. Maybe
the fault does lie within
There is no strength
you because you failed
where there is no struggle.
to prepare, but what if
It’s a rough road that leads to
you did prepare and still
heights of greatness.
failed? Have you
Seneca
thought about getting
help from your teacher
or your friends? Is there
someone else you could try? Have you used all of your
options to help you succeed?
that each of us can defend the
camp when necessary. Life will
give us the opportunity, issuing
the invitation to the contest, and
as time goes on, we will be
shaped and strengthened by
our challenges. Whether we
can win each time or not, we
will be tempered by adversity.
The ancient Lakota hunter
warriors handcrafted their own
bows from seasoned ash wood.
There were two ways to acquire
the proper wood. The
conventional way was to find a
The answer is typically no. Most of us are too embarrassed or
prideful to ask for help. We become worried that if we can’t do
everything on our own, somehow we have failed. This is
untrue. Remember in the last chapter, we just talked about
TEAM? Your teammates, your coaches, your parents, your
teachers are all part of your team. They want to help you. Use
them, get better, and use your resources so you can handle
your adversity and success better.
young ash tree, harvest it, and
let it dry for at least five years.
But the hunter warriors were
always on the lookout for a
mature ash tree that had been
struck by lightning. Such a tree
had been dried and cured in an
instant by the awesome power
of lightning, and any bows
made from it would be much
stronger. Such trees were rare,
Face adversity promptly
without flinching, and you
will reduce its impact.
Never run from anything
and never ever quit.
Winston Churchill
36
but they were preferred
because they had suffered the
ultimate adversity, and ultimate
adversity produces ultimate
strength.
1) Do you agree that you can learn more from a loss than from a win? Why or Why
not?
2) How does having an extremely competitive environment, with the possibility of
failure, aid a person’s growth?
37
Week 8
Discipline
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Winston Churchill
Without self-discipline,
success is impossible, period.
Lou Holtz
Discipline is not a dirty word.
Pat Riley
Defining Discipline
Those who get up and begin their day in reflection are not devoid of problems; they are not
devoid of discouragement. They just get over it quicker. If you get positive habits ingrained into
your life you will succeed at more than just football. With discipline you can turn your goals into
your accomplishments. Having discipline is remembering what you want.
Talking about discipline can sometimes feel like a negative idea. Discipline often feels like no
fun, no freedom, and no joy. The truth is that discipline allows for an invigorating life, full of
choices. Think about it, why do parents discipline their children? They love them; they want
them to be going in the right direction. This is no different than your coaches or teachers. These
people in your life want you to do right, and teach you the proper way of doing things.
Being disciplined allows you to enhance and improve what is important in your life. If you want
to be a good student, you need to study. If you want to be a good husband and father you need
to be faithful and committed, if you want to be a good player you have to practice hard, prepare
in the off season, and listen to your coaches.
All of these things take discipline, and with
discipline you will see great benefits.
It is not enough to get things done;
they must be done right.
38
A Disciplined Football Team
Doesn’t beat itself by mistakes
Keeps penalties to a minimum
Is always ready to play – INTENSITY
Has the guts to come from behind
Rises above adversity
Never, ever quits.
Always do right. This will
gratify some people and
astonish the rest.
If you tell the truth, you don’t
have to remember anything.
Mark Twain
The great thing about playing a sport like football is that you learn any number of things that will
help you later in life. One thing you learn is the discipline of doing a task a certain way and to a
certain standard. The payoff is seeing the positive effect of that individual discipline on the team
as a whole. The same can be said in the opposite way. When a player makes a mistake, like
jumping off sides, the entire team is hurt by that penalty. A lack of discipline has a ripple effect
through any team or organization.
Focus
Mental focus is a key component of
discipline. We can define focus by
saying: Focus is the ability to
concentrate on something by ignoring
outside, important forces that can
interfere with the task at hand. When
you commit to something stay with it
until it is done right.
Distractions are a part of daily life. The
key for you is to be focused on what
you are supposed to be doing and who
you are with at that time. Be fully present for yourself. In class you need to pay attention to your
teacher or the assignment. When you are at home talking to your sibling, be there for them and
listen. Be fully present in each and every moment. Focus on the moment is a great phrase to
live by.

In basketball, as in life, true joy
comes from being fully present
in each and every moment, not
just when things are going your
way. Of course, it is no accident
that things are more likely to go
your way when you stop
worrying about whether you’re
going to win or lose and focus
your full attention on what’s
happening right this moment.
The day I took over the Bulls, I
vowed to create an environment
based on the principles of
selflessness and compassion.
Coach Phil Jackson

If you are always looking for what’s next, you won’t be looking
at your blessings and appreciating all you have. You won’t
have gratitude. How can you care for something if you’re not
listening? If in that moment you don’t care enough to be fully
present, then you’re not focused. To be a great leader and to
be great as a person your focus has to be on the moment.
When you focus, you can perform.
The statement that legendary Coach Jackson shares is so
important to understanding focus and discipline. The key part is
when he says: It is no accident that things are more likely to go
your way when you stop worrying about whether you’re going to win
or lose and focus……. Discipline and focus does not guarantee
positive results, but you can certainly increase your odds by
using them.
39
A Disciplined Player
Is on time
Values practice and training time
Will sacrifice for the team
Has learned to take orders; in taking orders, he learns how to give them.
Knows that discipline is the essence of every successful organization.
Has learned that many of these things establish a degree of self-discipline.
You can’t make a great
play unless you do it in
practice.
Chuck Noll
If you sacrifice early,
You will win late.
Charles Haley
We share this chapter with you to show that if you make a commitment to discipline, you will
gain a principled and happy life. You get out of life what you put into it. If you want good grades,
you must work at it. If you want money, you have to work for it. If you want to be a great player,
you have to put the work in. Things don’t just happen, things happen because you make it
happen based on the amount of activity or non activity on your part.
We are all different people with different goals. But the bottom line is same – Discipline. Nobody
can achieve any goal of any kind without discipline. People must set up goals, imagine the end
result, and plan out the possible course of action, to achieve their goals in a proper time frame.
The tough part about being human is we have
a creation called the excuse. We use these
constantly and ultimately an excuse is the
opposite of discipline. This story continues until
we realize the significance of discipline in our
life. Sooner or later, one has to learn this truth
about discipline. There are two options:
(1) Learn it. (2) Life will make you learn it.
In other words, take control of your life, or life
will take control of you. Everybody wants
freedom to the fullest. But, to tell the truth,
nobody can experience true freedom without
discipline. Indiscipline leads to one being
controlled by life and the various
circumstances. And these very things, curtail freedom. To enjoy freedom, amplify your self
discipline and your goals will become realities.
There is always a struggle going on – struggle
between head and heart, struggle between
emotions and facts; the solution is discipline. The
result is either your goals are achieved or your
excuses run your life.
The truth about discipline is that it is very easy to
not be disciplined, and discipline is an act of
cultivation. Today’s actions will be tomorrow’s
results. Sow it today and reap it tomorrow.
Discipline will guide you in your personal growth.
.
40
1) How have you seen discipline work in your life or in the life of someone you
know?
2) In what arena do you find it most difficult to focus, to be all there every
moment? How do you think you could overcome that lack of focus?
41
Week 9
Hope
Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.
Christopher Reeve
If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then
begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday
you have the opportunity to write a new page.
Mark Houlahan
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
So watch your step.
Rally the Troops
When we possess the hope and belief that ultimately
we’re going to be successful in our journey, there is
not much of what comes our way on a daily basis
that we can’t handle. When we see negative events
as stepping stones and have hope that our problems
can actually propel us toward our goals rather than
hinder us, then we are, of all people, truly blessed.
When obstacles in our lives arise, which will happen
often, the foundation we have laid through the
characteristics we have developed will help us
maintain our hope. Whatever stands before us is not
permanent but only a temporary obstacle.
Think about a football game where everything is stacked against you, the other team has the
ball, the lead, and time is running out. With all of those things stacked against you, why can
hope work? This is when hope can rally the troops, and the other fundamentals; attitude,
discipline, love, and handling adversity will come into play to keep the team pursuing victory.
As a team you have to plant the seeds of physical training and be mentally prepared with your
game plan, and believe in that plan as a team. When you put in the time and the sweat equity to
a goal, hope can work and it will hold true strength. Hope can be the unseen factor that keeps
our team believing in ourselves, and our mission on the field.
42
Learning
Hope motivates action in people. We have to believe that what we
are doing is going to make a difference, or our motivation is going
to be based on a negative idea. Knowledge is a wonderful thing.
Learning means, we take that knowledge and put it to work. When
we learn and mature in knowledge, something takes place inside
us that opens up to a world of new possibilities. We could have the
very best equipment, stadium, uniforms etc., but it doesn’t motivate
us to push through the pain of training, move forward through
classes, and other obstacles that lie in our path. Hope is what helps your motivation to learn,
push yourself, and succeed. It is the by-product of your belief.
Leadership
Life is going to happen, whether or not it
Hope can never abandon you, only you can abandon hope.
goes the way we want it to, life happens.
As long as we search for a rewarding life
and carry hope with us, we have a chance
to end up leading winning lives. Hope is one of the principal springs that keeps mankind in
motion. Leaders spread hope to others around them, they show the way towards success and
stay positive even when things go wrong. Being a leader is so important, not because we need
50 guys telling everyone what to do; no we need 50 guys who will pick up their teammates who
need help. When a teammate is devoid of hope, they are vulnerable to the traps of naysayers
who think things can’t be done and look at the world through negative lenses. A leader says
“Yes there are problems, yes we have challenges; but the future is bright and with hard work we
can accomplish great things.”
Hope is the power that gives us the power to step out and try.
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
Albert Einstein
A Dealer of Hope
Can you create a lifestyle that deals hope to others? Some of the most successful people in
history are dealers of hope. President Obama made history, becoming the first African American
President of the United States. His number one message during the campaign was he would
bring change and hope to America. His message got him elected to the most powerful position
in the world. He now has to deliver the hope he promised, time will tell.
43
Ask yourself this question: “Am I a dealer of hope? Do I
create an atmosphere and culture of hope among my
teammates, my classmates, and my family?” If you can
grasp the power of hope and spread that hope to those
around us, we will see great things happen in our lives and
in the lives of people we touch.
Terry Fox was a dealer of hope. Please read his short story
on this page. A major obstacle came into his life; he chose
to be a dealer of hope. He wanted others to benefit from his
misfortune. He did something about it. Even though his
journey came up short of his goal to run across Canada he
started a movement for others. He is the true definition of
Hope.
Hope is the dream
of a soul awake.
Wake up your soul!
Fear defeats more people than any
other one thing in the world."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Another Story of Hope.
A mule fell into a dry well. When his owner discovered him,
he tried to figure out what to do. After thinking awhile, the
owner figured the mule wasn’t worth the time and cost to
save so he figured he would just bury the mule. He got his
neighbors together and a load of dirt, they started shoveling
the dirt in on top of the mule. With every shovel load the
mule fought and kicked. Eventually the dirt began to rise,
but the mule was on top of the dirt. It calmly walked out of
the hole. The dirt that had been thrown in to bury him, the
mule used to save him. Remember to never give up on
anyone; you might be just what they need. Be a dealer of
hope.
Hope is a way of making
dreams become a reality.
44
The Marathon of Hope
Terry Fox was only 18 years old when
he was diagnosed with osteogenic
sarcoma (bone cancer) and forced to
have his right leg amputated 15
centimeters (six inches) above the
knee in 1977.
While in hospital, Terry was so
overcome by the suffering of other
cancer patients, many of them young
children that he decided to run across
Canada to raise money for cancer
research. He would call his journey the
Marathon of Hope.
Terry started his run in St. John’s,
Newfoundland on April 12, 1980 with
little fanfare. Although it was difficult
to garner attention in the beginning,
enthusiasm soon grew, and the money
collected along his route began to
mount. He ran 42 kilometers (26
miles) a day through Canada's Atlantic
Provinces, Quebec and Ontario.
However, on September 1st, after 143
days and 5,373 kilometers (3,339
miles), Terry was forced to stop
running outside of Thunder Bay,
Ontario because cancer had appeared
in his lungs. An entire nation was
stunned and saddened. Terry passed
away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.
The heroic Canadian was gone, but his
legacy was just beginning.
To date, close to $500 million has been
raised worldwide for cancer research
in Terry's name through the annual
Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and
around the world.
1) What are the characteristics of a person who has hope and one who does not?
2) Do you see yourself as a hopeful person, or do you tend to rely more on dogged
persistence? How have you seen hope at work in your life, either in a positive
sense, when you had hope, or in a negative sense, when you lost hope?
45
Week 10
Competitive Greatness
The price of greatness is responsibility.
Winston Churchill
80% of success is showing up on time ready to work.
Unknown
The quality of a person’s life is in direct
proportion to their commitment to excellence,
regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
Vince Lombardi
Quality is never an accident.
It is always the result of intelligent effort.
John Ruskin
Excellence in Life and Football
How long during your life will you get to play football? If you started as a 6 th grader like many do,
you have about 6 games or so for three years. That’s 18 games. In high school you will play
about 9 games per year. That’s 36 games over 4 years. Less than 5% of players play in college,
at any level. So the chances are you will have the opportunity to play in about 50 games in your
whole life. That is if you don’t miss a game from injury. So in your lifetime, the chances are you
will spend a little over 50 weeks playing football. Think about that, it’s less than a year. You will
probably live till you are about 75-80 years old, hopefully longer. Does this give you some
perspective? You have precious little time to play this great game. Savor it; strive to become
your best.
At the same time, what about the rest of your life? We
can all agree that what matters the most is how can
we Be Great during that time? Excellence means that
Only those who are willing to
you are striving to reach your full potential. Excellence
do the simple things perfectly
is by design; it is a philosophy about how you do
will acquire the skills to do
things. Do you take shortcuts or do you plan and do
difficult things easily.
your very best? Making sure that every stone is
turned, every detail is covered. Why do some football
teams continually produce great teams? Why are they
always competitive and tough to beat? This is not an
accident. Achieving excellence and maintaining competitive greatness takes a tremendous
amount of hard work.
Excellence is not an act,
it’s a habit
46
Listening
EXCELLENCE
We hear others when they instruct, but do we really
listen? When we listen, we learn, and we move out
of our own comfort zones and into another’s world
of knowledge. Listening is the most important part of
communication. It’s probably why we have two ears
and only one mouth. If you want to Be Great, listen
twice as much as you speak.
Going far beyond the call of duty.
Doing more than others expect.
This is what excellence is all about.
And it comes from striving.
Maintaining the highest standards.
Looking after the smallest detail.
And going the extra mile.
Excellence means doing your very best.
In everything, in every way.
When we strive for excellence and competitive
greatness we not only enrich our lives, we enrich so
JACK JOHNSON
many others. In fact, we do more for others than we
do for ourselves. Our world does not revolve around
us, it revolves around the group, around the community, and that’s where our excellence will
shine. We achieve this excellence by following a well devised plan we create. The great thing is
we don’t have to do this blindly or alone. We see countless examples of competitive greatness
in sports, business, and school every day.
Strength and Fitness
A common attribute of great teams and players is their
You are what you
strength. They are strong, in good shape, and have
continually do.
programmed their body for their sport. If you go around
the country the best teams in each conference will
certainly have talent, but everyone has talent on their
team. Consistently, the common difference between the top tier teams and the lower tier teams
is their commitment to fitness and strength training. The very best, not only have a strength
program, but like everything else they do; they push for excellence during their training. They
compete against each other and work together. Great teams train together, not alone. Great
teams follow a program; they don’t just have each player do their own thing.
Competing Like a Champion
It is easy to be ordinary, but it takes courage to
excel. Champions have the courage to expose
themselves; they take risks and sell out for the team.
When you have a team full of similar people, is when
you reach competitive greatness. Teammates
having the courage to do what it takes to become
the best we can be, that is how champions are
made. Fear of failure or embarrassment is typically
the number one obstacle we face. If you think about
it, if you have courage, it’s ok to have fear because that fear won’t rule you. In fact the more
often you face your fears the easier it is and the less often it will occur. Courage is a great thing,
it solves so many problems.
As you know, sometimes we don’t perform to the best of our ability. When this happens ask
yourself the question: “Did I compete to my best ability?” If you did, then don’t berate yourself
47
A Walk in the Mountains
A son and his father were walking in
the mountains.
Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself
and screams: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
To his surprise, he hears the voice
repeating, somewhere in the
mountain: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
Curious, he yells: "Who are you?"
He receives the answer:
"Who are you?"
Angered at the response, he
screams: "Coward!"
He receives the answer: "Coward!"
He looks to his father and asks:
“What’s going on?”
The father smiles and says:
“My son, pay attention.”
And then he screams to the
mountain: “I admire you!”
The voice answers: “I admire you!”
Again the man screams:
“You are a champion!”
The voice answers:
“You are a champion!”
The boy is surprised, but does not
understand. Then the father
explains: "People call this ECHO, but
really this is LIFE. It gives you back
everything you say or do. Our life is
simply a reflection of our actions.
If you want more love in the world,
create more love in your heart.
If you want more competence in
your team, improve your
competence.
This relationship applies to
everything, in all aspects of life;
Life will give you back everything
you have given to it."
YOUR LIFE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE.
IT'S A REFLECTION OF YOU
about this failure. It is an event not a defining moment. Learn
from your mistakes and remember those errors so you won’t
make them again.
The Very Best
The following list is the top four (non-physical) things an NFL
team looks for in a potential draft pick.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Willing to learn and work hard to improve.
Humble attitude, understands he has a lot to learn.
Passion to become the best he can be.
Tireless effort to study other players at their position.
Notice what it says, someone who wants to learn and strive to
get better. Remember, only about 1700 football players get to
play in the NFL, and there are thousands who are ready to take
their place. The very best understand they are good, but they
don’t ever stop trying to
improve. The effort and
Life is often compared to a
dedication NFL players
marathon, but I think it is more like
being a sprinter; long stretches of
perform, turns into
hard work punctuated by brief
competitive greatness on
moments in which we are given the
the field. None of them
opportunity to perform at our best.
want to be replaced by
Michael Johnson
the other guy. They
compete to the very end,
everyday.
The Big M of Life
If you are a star on the field, or in
the classroom, you still have to
focus on your purpose component
of the Big M. If you do, you cannot
only reach your goals, but you will
achieve your full potential.
You must be willing to constantly be
honest with yourself and evaluate
what your priorities are. Are moving
towards your priorities or if you are
moving away?
Be realistic, be honest, be willing to
learn, and make your best effort.
You will compete at the highest
level.
The hallmark of excellence,
The test of greatness,
Is consistency.
48
1) What one aspect of your work life comes to mind when you think of excellence?
Is it a positive or negative example?
2) Is there something in your life now that you know is not measuring up to the
standard excellence? What can you do to remedy that?
49
50

Reflection Questions - MadrasAthletics.org

Transcription

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