Coaching Quote of the Day 4th August 2013
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
(Robert Brault)
enjoy
Coaching Quote of the Day 14th May 2013
“To enjoy life is worth so much more than it costs.”
(French Proverb)
Balancing the Push and Pull of Life
In today’s guest post Andrew A. Faccone draws upon his own life experiences and his coaching expertise to share 3 points around life, commitment and time.
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Balancing the Push and Pull of Life ..
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
(Albert Einstein)
We are all given 24 hours a day, 1,440 minutes per day and 86,400 seconds per day to use how we see fit.
Those of us reading this post are very fortunate and blessed to choose how we are to use that precious time we are given. That allotted time has a short life span, it must be used immediately and it cannot be carried over. If it is not used properly it expires.
It is our choice to maximize or minimize how we allocate our days, weeks, months and years that we are given in our lifetime. The mystery of life reveals that life is not a straight line, there is no instruction booklet on how to live and we are responsible for our actions.
The attention that we pay to the little things throughout life has a dramatic effect on the outcomes of our life as we progress and mature throughout our lifetime. Since our birth we have all pursued different paths, we have learned, prospered, been knocked down and despite the challenging conditions have succeeded as well as failed in some of our endeavors. The challenges have made us stronger and the shortcomings have taught us what not to repeat in the future. In some cases we are all learning from those shortcomings.
Past events somehow always re-appear at various times throughout our lives. In the time of our youth we pursued our education and the playful desires of our youth. Academics, athletics, music, literature, sciences, religious education, play time with our childhood friends, youth and civic groups, participation with a strong supervision from our families who attended those important life events. They cheered us on in victory and comforted us when the results did not materialize as hoped for.
When our formal education ended we then used our educational backgrounds or God given talents to find a way to make a go of it on our own. Welcome to being a grown up! We now face the commitments of professional life, parenthood, earning a living, providing for our families, advancing our professional careers and now we have become those attendees routing for our family members as they progress through their childhood and young adult activities that we participated in in the not so distant past.
Where is the person who wanted to change the world and make the difference in the world?
Is this life still a life in balance? Is there equal push and pull in our daily activities? Finding that balance, the constant struggle that addresses all of the aspects of our lives. Spirituality, physicality, and mentality.
I am asked many times in all of my personal & professional travels how did I get where I am in life? I have some of the answers to this question and some answers I do not have. I have been blessed to have had some extraordinary people that have been a part of my life. Nine years of a disciplined Catholic school education, athletic participation in high school and college, a loving family along with several key family members who taught me about the true lessons of life and that I can do anything that I set myself to attaining.
I try to rely on 3 key points and try to use them as my daily guide as I try to find a balance between the many commitments I am involved with in my daily life both personally and professionally.
What you say will determine what you will become. I have always been a believer in word affirmations. The words you are projecting will impact your individual outcomes. If you’re not projecting positive words and expecting great things to occur, they will not happen. If you don’t believe something will happen nobody else will. Use those empowering words to get you to where you want to be.
- Control The Controllables is the most important piece of our lives’ direction. We cannot control other people or the actions that they undertake, outside events, or decide the specific outcomes for certain situations. We can only control ourselves and our actions; we are accountable to those actions and decisions that we ourselves make. No one else. Do the best you can to work on those goals both short term and long term, work diligently and constantly change your approach to achieve your goals, but understand you can only control what is in front of you. A strong will can conquer anything, but you also have to be realistic in what you undertake.
- Have a goal & the end point in mind. We all set out many times to undertake certain projects but never have the end goal in mind. Example: I am going on a diet and lose weight. That statement screams starve yourself and constantly not be satisfied with even losing the smallest amount of weight. Give yourself credit for wanting to lose weight and changing your eating habits. Whenever a new habit is introduced to our lives it takes roughly 28 days to form a new habit. You have to give yourself credit and realize that to be successful and create a new habit it takes time. Having the end point in mind, losing 1-2 pounds weekly and trying to exercise on a more regular basis is a realistic goal & plan. It is not where you are it’s the direction that you are headed that counts. Keep that goal of where you want to be ever present in your daily actions. You’ll be surprised what you can attain.
- Enjoy the journey Life is full of surprises, challenges, and lot of unexpected “things “occur. When life throws the unexpected curve at us daily, which it does to us at some point, we need to readjust and get yourself back on track of the task at hand. Interruptions, issues, something totally unexpected is going to occur. Deal with it quickly and to the best of your ability and get back to what you were you were doing. Once that event has occurred put it in the rear view mirror and move on. Tony Robbins, noted author & motivational speaker, referenced the statement ‘the past does not equal the future’. It is so true. We all need to be aware of this statement and realize that we are doing the best that we can, with the time we have to enjoy each day with its many challenges and surprises.
Life is an attitude -have a good one and you will enjoy the wonderful journey. When you start to make these new adjustments in your daily activities, changes in those daily habits, week after week, month after month, and year after year you will start to recognize that new person in the mirror who you have not seen in some time. Start small but think big, because you can do it, great things are coming your way… it all depends on you!
About the Author/Further Resources
Andrew Faccone, MBA is employed in the healthcare industry as a long term care account specialists in the United States near the New York Metropolitan area. Andrew has over 18 years experience as an athlete,& coach positively impacting the lives of athletes he has coached. Andrew is available for speaking engagements of any size or location and individual coaching sessions.
Contact Andrew A. Faccone at aa****@ya***.com or
Linkedin : http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-a-faccone-mba/24/291/3b2
Cell Phone 732 614 8425 Eastern Time Zone
Background on Image above title via: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Coaching Quote of the Day 22nd September 2011
“Finding inner success is the best, easiest and, in fact, the only way to achieve and enjoy everything everything else in life.”
(Spencer Johnson)
9 Traits Parents Wish for in Their Kids’ Coaches 4
In this week’s guest post Janis B. Meredith discusses what she wants from one specific type of coach – how many of these are similar to what the people who use your coaching want?
9 Traits Parents Wish for in Their Kids’ Coaches
by Janis B. Meredith
Parents of athletes are not looking for flawless humans to coach their kids. We realize there is no perfect coach.
But we do have a wish list. As a coach’s wife for 27 year and a sports parent for 17, I know what I want in a coach and I’m pretty sure most sports parents would agree. I appreciate a coach who:
1. Speaks honestly in the pre-season. Kids do not want coaches to make false promises of playing time or of how they are needed, or tickle their ears with words like “You will be a leader on the team”—and then not follow through. Coaches should be up front with players about their role on the team.
As a high school softball coach, my husband has had many honest talks with girls before the season about their role on the team. If they will have a back-up role, he tells them so. They may not like what he says, but at least they know exactly where they stand.
2. Keeps consistent with the rules. Moms, dads, and players want a coach who makes all players—yes, even the team star—abide by the same rules. If the team rule is that two fouls in the first half puts you on the bench, then a coach should not bend those rules just because she desperately needs that player on the court. What kind of message does it send if we let an athlete think that they are above the rules?
3. Clearly communicates to parents. Parents like printed practice, game, and team meal schedules. They like having a team parent who reminds them to work the snack bar. They like a coach who plans ahead and then lets parents know the plans. As parents, we’ve got a lot to remember and when coaches take the time to clearly communicate, it lessens the conflicts and confusion in our homes.
4. Clearly communicates to players. I love it when I see a coach who, when he pulls a player out of the game, take a few seconds to coach him. Kids need to know what they did wrong and what they did right. How else will they improve? Trouble is, many coaches will not take the time to do this during the game. They pull a kid, then keep them guessing as to what they did wrong. Frustrating.
5. Pushes and challenges players. My kids’ favorite coaches were ones who challenged them and pushed them to be better players. Neither parent nor child wants a coach who acts as a babysitter and does not help them improve their performance. As a football and softball coach, my husband says that if an athlete does not leave his team as a better person and player, he has not done his job as a coach.
Bill McCartney, former coach of the Colorado Buffaloes says it this way: “All coaching is, is taking a player where he can’t take himself.”
6. Treats players fairly. There’s nothing more frustrating than a coach who pulls a kid out of the game for one mistake, while leaving another player in the game who commits the very same mistake over and over. As parents, we don’t ask for special treatment for our kids, we ask for fair treatment.
7. Encourages players. Personally, I don’t mind a coach who chews on my kid, as long he balances it out with encouragement.
8. Enjoys the kids. A coach who enjoys kids—not just coaching or not just the sport—will have a greater impact on those kids’ lives. Why? Because kids will seek him out. They will be drawn to him, feel comfortable with him, and never feel like they are bothering him.
My husband is one of the best examples of this that I know. He has always loved high school kids. And the kids know it. They never hesitate to come up and talk; in fact, they often seek him out. Because he taught them how to swing a bat? Or block on the line? Maybe. But more likely because they know he likes them.
9. Models positive traits. Parents like to know their kids are in good hands, that they are spending time with people who exhibit good morals, a caring attitude, integrity, and authenticity.
Are we expecting too much from our kids’ coaches? After all, they are parents and teachers and construction workers and lawyers and doctors and grocery clerks—just like us.
Exactly.
I ask nothing more from my kid’s coach than I ask of myself.
About the Author/Further Resources
As a coach’s wife for 27 years and a sports parent for 17, Janis sees life from both sides of the bench. Follow her blog at http://jbmthinks.com, her tweets at jbmthinks and her facebook page at www.facebook.com/sportsparenting.