NO EXCUSES!

No excuses: Any excuse for non-performance, however valid, softens the character. It is a sedative against one’s own conscience. When someone uses an excuse, he attempts to convince both himself an others that unsatisfactory performance is somehow acceptable. He is, perhaps unconsciously, attempting to divert attention from performance; the only thing that counts is his own want for sympathy. The user is dishonest with himself as well as with others. No matter how good or how valid, the excuse never changes performance.

The world measures success in terms of performance alone. No man is remembered in history for what he would have accomplished. History never asks how hard it was to do the job, nor considers the obstacles that had to be overcome. It never measures the handicaps. It counts only one thing - PERFORMANCE. No man ever performed a worthwhile task without consciously ignoring a plausible excuse.

To use an excuse is a habit. We cannot have both the performance habit and the excuse habit. We all have a supply of excuses. The more we use them, the lower our standards become and the poorer our performance. The better we perform, the less plausible our excuses become.Next time you want to defend your sub-par performance, say instead (at least to yourself), “NO EXCUSES!’

CoachM's comment about talking to his kids reminded me of the above passage from our 'Be An 11! Guidebook For Success.'' To it I would add that "The major reason for failure in life is giving up what we want most (to run faster, jump higher, be more explosive and successful in the future) for what we want at the moment (all those things that his kids are making excuses about).

Everything one does counts. Whatever you do takes you either closer to or farther away from reaching your goals. There is no neutral ground. Even if you are "stay neutral" for a couple days (like out here we are having a 30 year weather event and schools have been closed for several days, more snow for some areas today), probably no more school till JAN 5th. That would be 3 weeks with no lifting, UNLESS, a coach and his players made special arrangements to get their workouts in.

Do you think there are some teams that are figuring out a way to get in their workouts? Think about it, YOU may have to play them. Bottom line is: You either get your workouts in - or you don't. The world doesn't care about all the mitigating factors that you might have to overcome. In fact, as we have said many times, the obstacles and hurdles are put in your path to see how much you really want what you say you want. It is there to test your mettle, your grit, to see if you really deserve it.

And let us not forget what Lombardi said about all this:

"Each week after the battle, one group savors victory; another lives in the bitterness of defeat. The practice and the hard work of the season seem a small price to pay for having won. But there are no reasons that are adequate for having lost. For the loser there must be one hundred percent determination and dedication to win next time."

100% Dedication leaves no room for excuses. The clock is ticking . . .