Sports for the Soul

“Don’t pick a career for money or some other reason. Do what you love, because it will never feel like work. … If there is something that’s your passion when you’re young, do it. Let everything else take care of itself.”
– Bill Belichick, 6-Time Super Bowl-Winning Coach

When you listen to highly-successful people give life advice, again and again you hear a common message: do what you love and chase a dream you’re passionate about.

You hear this advice from achievers in every field. Not only from great coaches like Bill Belichick, but also from entrepreneurs, businesspeople, artists, scientists, teachers—successful people in nearly every line of work.

Those that follow career paths they are passionate about are not only much happier than everyone else, but they also end up more successful. [continue reading…]

“It’s easy to fixate on how the other team has better resources than you do. But it’s more important to concentrate on maximizing your own resources instead of worrying about things you can’t control.”
– Mike Leach, 2-Time National Coach of the Year

In sports, there are dozens of factors you have no control over. You have no control over random injuries to your players, the weather, the plays your opponent will choose to run, etc. The list of things you don’t control could go on and on.

The most successful coaches refuse to waste their time and effort worrying about such things because it only gets in the way of the things they DO control. And it’s the things you do control that determine how successful you will be. [continue reading…]

In Bob Stoops’ excellent autobiography, No Excuses, passages from those who worked with or competed against Stoops are sprinkled throughout. One particular passage that stood out to me comes from Mark Mangino, the man Stoops hired as his assistant head coach and running game coordinator when he arrived at Oklahoma prior to the 1999 season…

“When I got to OU, it was in worse shape than it looked from the outside. But Bob Stoops, he doesn’t let anything beat him down. If I was having a bad day, he’d say, ‘Don’t let them get you twice.’ That was his favorite saying. In other words, deal with a problem once and then move on.”
– Mark Mangino, Former Oklahoma assistant coach and Kansas head coach

Another way Bob Stoops often puts it: “Don’t let them beat you twice.”

Life is full of setbacks and surprises. Whether it’s losing a game, losing a sale, getting bad news, or suffering any other type of setback, it’s how you deal with those setbacks that determines how quickly you’ll turn things around. [continue reading…]

“If you are afraid of confrontation, you are not going to do very well.”
– Bill Parcells, Two-Time Super Bowl-Winning Coach

Being positive does not mean being passive.

Despite what some might think, going out of your way to avoid conflict will not lead you to a more peaceful life. It will lead you to a life where you have very little control over your own destiny because you’re letting others make decisions for you. It will lead to an unfulfilling life of fear and regret.

You can’t be afraid of confrontation. You have to stand up for yourself and what you believe. [continue reading…]

One message you hear again and again from the most successful coaches and leaders is that you shouldn’t waste your time and energy worrying about the things you have no control over. Instead, you should focus on only the things you CAN control—specifically, your effort and your attitude.

Some leaders present this concept as an equation: E + R = O. That is, Event + Response = Outcome.

While you don’t always control the Event, you do always control your Response and it’s how you Respond to an Event that determines your Outcome.

Six-time National Champion college football coach Nick Saban had this to say on the topic… [continue reading…]