Sports for the Soul

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
– Michael Jordan, 6-Time NBA Champion and 14-time NBA All-Star

When we think of Michael Jordan, we often think of his six NBA championships, his game-winning shot to win a national title in college, his incredible ten seasons as the NBA’s scoring leader, and all the iconic game-winning shots he made throughout his pro career.

When we look back on Jordan’s career, it’s easy to remember a scoring machine who could do no wrong, who never lost a game or missed a clutch shot.

But as the above quote reminds us, Jordan failed many times.

Just as we all do.

What separates the great competitors from everyone else is the perseverance to get back up after every failure. [continue reading…]

“If you’re bored with life, if you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things—you don’t have enough goals.”
– Lou Holtz, National Champion Football Coach

In the classic bestseller Psycho-Cybernetics, Dr. Maxwell Maltz pointed out that human beings are designed to strive for goals.

“When man is functioning as a goal-striver, he tends to feel fairly happy, regardless of circumstances,” Maltz wrote.

This truth always stuck with me and Lou Holtz’s quote above reinforces the point.

Whenever life gets tough and disappointments come your way, one of the quickest ways to shift your perspective from negative to positive is to start focusing on goals that excite you.

Start visualizing your dreams coming true and thinking of ways to accomplish your goals. Keep those dreams and goals at the forefront of your mind. This will give you a natural surge of hope and enthusiasm. [continue reading…]

“Attack each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”
– Jim Harbaugh, National Champion Football Coach

The way you start your day sets the tone for how your day is going to go.

When you wake up in the morning excited about the future and passionate about what you get to do today, you’ll have an extra level of energy fueling you throughout the day and you’ll constantly be looking for positive opportunities.

When you wake up in the morning dreading what may happen, you’ll feel tired all day and you’ll find the negative in almost everything.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that extensive studies show that enthusiastic people are happier, healthier, and more successful than apathetic people.

While the benefits of enthusiasm may seem obvious, what isn’t so obvious is that enthusiasm is a choice. [continue reading…]

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
– John Wooden, 10-Time National Champion Basketball Coach

There are many things in life we have no control over.

The weather, the economy, our genetics, the family and socioeconomic background we are born into, what other people say and do. These are all things we can’t completely control and this list could go on and on.

Yet, most of us spend an excessive amount of time and energy worrying, stressing, or complaining about the things we can’t control.

Not only is it a waste of time and energy to focus on the things you can do nothing about, but it also takes away time and energy from the things you can do something about—the very things that can make your life better right now and in the future.

Things we can’t control will constantly be fighting for our attention, but we need to have the discipline to quickly shift our focus back to the things we can control. [continue reading…]

Earlier this year, the world lost a football coaching legend.

In January, Coach Philip Haywood passed away after a tragic car accident. He was 73 years old and had just completed his 50th season as a head coach.

Coach Haywood spent the last 41 seasons of his career as head coach at Belfry High School, a small-town Class 3A school in Kentucky. With a record of 491-162, he was the winningest coach in the history of Kentucky high school football.

He won eight state titles, finished runner-up six times, was named the Best High School Football Coach in America by USA Today in 2013, and was named the National Coach of the Year by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association in 2017.

Haywood was also the author of two books, in which he shared his lessons for succeeding in football and life. [continue reading…]