Attitude

Attitude is everything! We have all heard this phrase on more than one occasion in our lifetime. Early on in life I heard it from my parents and my teachers. When I entered the business world many years ago I heard the phrase or some form of it at virtually every sales or motivational seminar that I attended (and there were many). I heard it so often that I became numb to the phrase and ignored the message.

As I have matured, I have come to realize the power of that message that we have heard time and again. Not only is our attitude something that will have a tremendous impact on the life that we live, it is one of the few things in life that we have full and complete control over. We have the ability to wake up every morning and decide what kind of attitude we will carry with us on any particular day. Good, bad or indifferent, the choice is all our own. It has been said that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.

As coaches, I feel that it is our duty and responsibility to teach strong character traits. Having a positive attitude toward things in life is one of the things that when instilled in a young person will make a lasting difference in their lives. Not only in their athletic performance, but more importantly down the road as life gets a little more difficult for them. As always, we must teach and lead by example. There are endless opportunities on the fields and courts of play for us to take situations that do not turn out as we would have liked and then “turn lemons into lemonade”. In other words, show your athletes that sometimes, situations are only as bad as they want to make them. Their attitude is their choice.

I have a few “favorite sayings” and one of them is “positive things happen to positive people”. I believe that if this one simple message can be instilled in all of those you coach, your success as a coach and mentor will be off the charts.