WE CAN'T TEACH EFFORT
BY ERIC WILLIAMS

According to The American Heritage Dictionary “effort is the use of physical or mental energy to do something or exertion”. The amount of “effort” you exert can make the difference in whether or not he or she is successful in completing a task.

My football Coach always says “We Can’t Teach Effort” whenever the team doesn’t practice hard. What Coach means is that he can’t teach a player how to give a hundred and ten percent on every play. That is a choice that each person makes. Putting my all into blocking can get the team a touchdown rather than a run for 50 yards and running routes at full speed could get the team a long touchdown pass as opposed to a reception for 30 yards. My Coach’s constant reminders about effort have impacted my life even off the football field. I now know that my “effort” can make a difference in me accomplishing whatever obstacle or goal that I’m trying to achieve.

Coach’s lessons have followed me off the field, whenever I put my best effort into a homework assignment, I’m rewarded with a good grade or whenever I give one hundred and ten percent at work I’m rewarded with a gift card. Putting forth effort isn’t always an easy task. It’s quicker to take the easy route. When I fully apply myself, the outcome is always much better. If it was easy, everybody would apply it to his or her live.

People that really want to achieve a specific goal become successful because of the sacrifices they make. I recently chose to sacrifice hanging out with my friends and stay home to write a paper all weekend. My teacher knew I had worked hard on the paper and she was really impressed. She said “Eric’s paper was the best and most original out of all my eleventh grade classes.” My effort and sacrifice separated my paper from the rest of the class.

My perseverance has not only brought me success in the classroom, but it has led to my success on the field. One of my goals I achieved so far this season was getting more playing time. Before the season started Coach told me I wasn’t going to get any playing time this season. But, I stayed positive and gave a lot of effort at practice and now I’m on almost every special team. That’s one small step of success I have achieved due to not giving up and working hard for something I really wanted.

Experiencing the accomplishments I’ve made in sports and my life due to the effort I’ve put in has made me buy into what my Coach has always told me. Making sacrifices in life will set me in the right direction to become a great student in college and a good American citizen. I feel that if I give effort, the sky is the limit and I could complete any task before my eyes. I know Coach doesn’t mention effort a million times so his players will only succeed at football. The Coach mentions it so we can apply it to life - being a great husband, a great father, and a great human being.

What It Takes to be Number One

"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

I don't say these things because I believe in the �brute' nature of men or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour -- his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear -- is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."


Coach Vincent T. Lombardi

FUNdaMENTALS

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

By Unknown

Focus on the fundamentals. Remember what really matters. Identify the simple principles and actions that are crucial to your success at work and at home.


I’ve recently become addicted to tennis. I was glued to the television during the US Open and try to play every chance I get. Originally I was forced to play by my wife, who needed someone to practice with, and my son who at the age of 9 has decided he wants to be the next John McEnroe. But now I love the game and my goal is to be the first unranked 40+ man to win the US Open.

In my pursuit of greatness I’ve taken a few lessons and when playing I try to implement what I’ve learned. I tell myself:

Keep the racket low.
Move the feet.
Bend the knees.
Rotate the hips.
Low to high.
Follow through.
Don’t pass out.

One day I thought I was doing everything right and yet I still wasn’t hitting the ball well. What am I doing wrong I asked myself in frustration? I thought of all the advice I had shared in Training Camp, and laughed as I realized I had overlooked the obvious.

I was doing everything but keeping my eye on the ball. I was so caught up in trying to do everything else that I forgot the most important part of the game.

I know I’m not alone. I see it happen all the time in businesses, in schools, in sports, and in life.

Distractions cause us to lose our focus.

We allow the trivial to get in the way of the meaningful.

Busyness and stress keep us from developing the relationships that are crucial to building a winning career and team.

We fret about the past, worry about the future and take our focus off of the present.

Bombarded by information and distractions we forget what is truly important.

We focus on the outcome instead of the process and wonder why we miss our targets.

We focus on everything else except the ball.
Today I want to encourage you to keep your eye on the ball. Get back to the basics. Focus on the fundamentals. Remember what really matters. Identify the simple principles and actions that are crucial to your success at work and at home.

Simplify, Focus, Execute.

I played tennis yesterday for three hours. My body was tired and the blisters on my feet were killing me. But I kept telling myself keep your eye on the ball.

I played the best I've ever played.

Keeping my eye on the ball helped me take my game to a new level. I know it will help you do the same.

A Little Equation That Creates Big Results

by Chris Widener

"The purpose of a man is in action not thought." -Thomas Carlyle

People will often ask me how I get so much done in my life. They wonder how I am able to accomplish so many things. The answer is found not in what a great person I am, but in an equation I came up with a few years ago and that I remind myself of on an almost daily basis. And when I live this equation out, it produces big results. What people don't seem to grasp is that this equation will work for anybody! Anyone can see results in their life if they will live it out!

This little equation, when understood and acted upon, is perhaps the most powerful equation there is, in regard to long-term achievement and accomplishment. Yet, this is not a complex equation. In fact, it is rather simple. So what is it?

Your short-term actions multiplied by time equal your long-term accomplishments.

If you want to see change in your life, see big results, the first thing you must do is change your current actions. Otherwise, the old saying becomes a reality: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got!" But if we change our actions, we will see different results!

Most people want to accomplish a lot in their lives. Yet very few actually do. Why is this? It is because what they believe will equal their long-term accomplishments is wrong. Here are some of the things that people believe will create great accomplishments for them:

Beliefs

Vision

Big dreams

Ideas

Ideals

Values

Desire

The truth is, that while these things are very important, they are not enough in and of themselves. We need to have the above underlying all that we do, but we need to actually do something! And this is where most people stop. We need to take action on our dreams and beliefs every day.

Here are some examples of how this works.

Who loses weight? The one who knows all about the benefits of exercise or the one who walks three miles a day?

Who retires early? The one who dreams of a house on the beach or the one who invests $300 a month?

Who writes books? The one who desires to become a best-selling author or the one who gets up early and writes for half an hour a day?

Who has the best marital relationship? The one who knows how much spending time with their spouse can improve their relationship or the one who sits down and talks with their spouse every night?

Who makes the most sales? The one who believes they can become a great salesperson or the one who makes 10 sales calls a day?

I think you get the point. When it all comes down to it, we must act upon our vision, beliefs and ideals, or we won't see them come to fruition. I see too many people who know what is right but don't ever do anything about it. Imagine what a difference we could make in our lives and the lives of others if we would simply begin to act on our beliefs!

When I get to the end of my life, I want to know that I have done all I can to make this world a better place and enhance the lives of those around me. I want to know that I gave it my best shot. And I am sure you do, too.

I remember reading an interview with an author who has written numerous books that have sold in the tens of millions. The interviewer asked him how he did it. His answer was that he got up every morning before anyone else in his family and wrote, longhand, with a pencil, for an hour. Then he quit and went about his day. But his short-term actions piled up. Seven hours a week, 30 hours a month, 365 hours a year. After a while, he had lots of books!

Some questions as we leave:

" What long-term accomplishments do you want to see come to pass?

" What short-term actions will you need to do over time to see them come to pass?

" What will you do today to begin seeing your dreams come true?

" What will you do this week to see them come true?

You can have an awesome future, filled with great achievements and results, if you begin today to take action and make it a reality!

One more time, so you can plug it in, memorize it and live it:

Your short-term actions multiplied by time equal your long-term accomplishments.