Advice from best selling author David Baldacci:
“Don’t write what you know about, write what you’d like to know about. And never chase trends. Don’t write about dinosaurs because Crichton did, or codes because Brown did. Write something you’re passionate about and want to learn more about. Have fun with it. Don’t treat it as a job. Exercise your imagination, treat it like a game.”
-David Baldacci
I have been in New Zealand for four days now presenting to high performance coaches and interacting with various members of Sport New Zealand’s High Performance team. It has been total immersion in performance excellence, a real coaches dream. The singular focus has all been all about what needs to be done to get better. Certainly elite sport is moving forward at hyper speed, faster than coaches and sport leaders can comprehend. We have been talking continually about future planning and present perfect. Read more
We coach people, not football players, tennis players, swimmers or jumpers! Remember athletes are not data points on a graph, Chris McCormack, Ironman Champion said it best: “We’re athletes. We’re not integers in a formula.” Read more
Maybe this is subliminal programming from my childhood, but I grew up thinking I could. My favorite book as a child was The Little Engine That Could. When I had children I read it to them at least once a week. There is a clear message – Embrace the challenge. Look at possibilities. What can you do? How can you do it? Take one step at a time, move forward, never look book. Recognize that doubt and fear of failing are real – acknowledge that, but don’t be consumed by it. Yes you can, if you think you can. Read more
Some wise words of wisdom and some real food for thought from Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz: “Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don’t embrace status quo. Find new ways to see. Never expect a silver bullet. Get your hands dirty. Listen with empathy and overcommunicate with transparency. Read more
Coaching is teaching, no one epitomized this more than John Wooden. Wooden always described his job as teacher, not coach. here is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talking about his coach, John Wooden. “He broke basketball down to its basic elements,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote in The New York Times in 2000. “He always told us basketball was a simple game, but his ability to make the game simple was part of his genius.” Read more
