2W Content Playbook

TOPIC: GOALS
SUBTOPICS: Consistency, Sacrifice, Self-Management, Asking For Help

These lessons teach students how to set specific and realistic goals, as well as how to plan ahead to execute on those goals. Lessons reinforce the need for preparation, time management, and organization in pursuit of goals. Lessons also stress the importance of self-motivation and self-direction in goal-setting. Finally, lessons teach students how personal goals can align with family and societal goals for the good of others.

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There are two types of mindsets people operate from: a fixed-mindset and a growth-mindset. But there is only one mindset that leads to success: the growth mindset. That’s because the growth mindset isn’t focused on where you’ve been or what you have, it’s focused on where you’re going. It’s focused not on what you have in this moment, but instead on what you’re going to gain in every moment between now and then. “Become perfect” is a growth mindset. “Become perfect” says “I may not be there today, but I’m going to get there soon.”

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Have you ever wondered the difference between those people who are rushed by adversity and those who are catapulted by it? What makes some people fall apart when pain and adversity comes their way, while other people seem to be made stronger by it? Zig Ziglar said, “Tough times don’t last; tough people do.” Perhaps the single greatest characteristic of a “tough person” is their ability to transform their pain into “purposed pain.” When a person, 18 or 80, can point their pain in a positive direction they forge a strength that will allow them to overcome any obstacle, achieve any goal, and become more than they ever imagined.

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Forward is not just a direction. It’s a mindset. Having the focus and tenacity to keep moving forward no matter what distractions come your way is a powerful tool. The greatest predictor of success is not intelligence, physical strength, natural aptitude, or even a combination of these things. Instead, the greatest factor in whether or not a person can accomplish their goals is one thing: Grit. Grit is the willpower and determination to pick a goal and get to it, no matter what tries to get in your way. It’s the focus and tenacity that keeps you moving forward even if the whole world is trying to push you backward.

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“No one can choose your character but you.” Coach MackeyYour character is not dictated by your circumstances. You choose the type of character you will develop. Just as you choose your level of commitment and effort or your attitude.All year these lessons have been giving you the building blocks to construct a firm foundation for your character to grow on. The lessons apply to sports and being a good athlete, but they also apply to your life outside of the game.We’ve talked about taking responsibility, pushing through struggle, never giving up, owning your mistakes, and many other topics that will help you on and off the field to be the best possible version of yourself. The lessons only work if you let them, though. Ultimately, you choose whether or not to accept those lessons and integrate them into your life.No one can make you stand firm in the face of struggle or embrace discipline. No one can convince you to let go of things that are out of your control or to believe that overnight success is a myth. You have to come to terms with those things on your own, and that is a choice.You can be told these things all day, everyday, and still not have them affect your life unless you make the choice to take them seriously and let your actions reflect that choice. The future version of you is dependent on what the present version of you chooses to believe and to do. The belief and the action are both important. Without the belief, you’ll never have a reason to act, but without the action, the belief won’t have an impact on your life.Sports are a fantastic arena for learning these life lessons. In the end, they’re exactly that: Life Lessons. After you step off of the field, these lessons are still with you, helping you to live a better, more successful, life.That is, if you choose to let them.

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No one just stumbles into success. We have to succeed on purpose.A lot of time is spent focusing on why we are doing things. What is our reason and purpose for wanting to achieve this specific end result? Why is this goal special? But that’s not really what we’re talking about right now. There’sa difference between having a purpose and acting with purpose. Havinga purpose means having a goal that we are working towards for a reason. Acting with purpose means intentionally performing the actions required to reach that goal.

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It’s easy to say “I’m all in.” But how many of us actually put in 100% if we’re really being honest?It’s hard to actually go all in. What if we put all we have into this moment right here and it doesn’t work out? What if we give it our all throughout the game, and then we’re stuck in overtime with no energy left? “What if” is a mindset that will strangle our ability to give our all to anything. When we focus too much on what could potentially happen, the fear of not being prepared for it can cripple us.We need to let go of the “What if” mindset. We need to let go of the fear to trust. Because it’s only when we let go of the “What if” mindset that we can go all in on our goals and dreams. It’s only when we let go of the fear of trust that we can go all in on ourselves, our teammates, and our coaches

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The lessons you learn in the locker room can shape and change you for the rest of your life. Success in sports has a short shelf life; you can only play sports for so long before your body says it has had enough. Even if you’re the best athlete ever, the day will come when your ambition takes you to a place that terminates on a dead end road.Our character aligns us with something more than ourselves. When we love our family, we’ll do whatever it takes to succeed for their sakes. That deeper alignment between our goals, our family, and our character, moves us farther toward success than mere ambition ever could.

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We live in a world that is obsessed with proclaiming all that they’re going to do. What they want to do. Our world loves the “gonna” and the “wanna.” They talk non stop about their goals, so much so that they begin to be praised for it because they talk about it so much that people believe they’re getting something done.

You see thunder in the weight room. People who show up so they can post that they were there. People who spend more time trying to get the right angle for their selfie than they do actually working out.

But as it turns out, that old Chinese proverb is true: “Mere talk does not cook rice.”

When you’re willing to do the work no matter the praise, you’re suddenly qualified to do the work.

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Too often people believe that opportunity is random, and received by being in the right place at the right time. The reality, however, is that opportunity is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t a “luck thing”, it is a “sacrifice thing”. The opportunities that lead to success come at a cost, and that cost is preparation, priorities, and practice.

Prior Preparation Permits Proper Performance

This applies to all areas of life, even when you think you’re “just a” freshman, teenager, etc. You have responsibilities that only you can handle. Take responsibility for what you have been trusted to do because only you can do it.

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When it comes to competition, the main thing is to win the game. It’s why you fight hard and sacrifice more. It’s why you keep score. At the end of the day, the main thing is to win the game. That doesn’t mean each play doesn’t matter, but it does mean that you can’t let the terrible plays, or the great plays distract you from the main thing. As long as you major in minor things, it’s going to keep you from achieving the main thing. Minor things only matter so long as they contribute to achieving the main thing. Once they stop moving you forward, they no longer matter.

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When we lose or fail, it’s never caused by just one thing. Instead, it’s caused by a series of repeated errors. Often, you’ll see those errors, but you don’t do anything about them because you think they don’t matter. But think about an airplane. If the plane is just one click (one degree) off from the projected path and doesn’t course correct, it won’t reach its destination. The little errors left uncorrected cause the big failures. Success or failure is never caused by just one thing. It's caused by a lot of little things added together. To stay on course to reach the big picture goal, you need to be proficient in setting (and sticking to) smaller, SMART goals.

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The thing that you do most consistently is the thing you'll be most successful at. You get great at what you get reps at, and whatever you get the most reps at, whatever you are most consistent at, is what your normal will be. When you create a new normal to be consistently better today than yesterday, there's no limit to how successful you can be. Sometimes it's easier to accept a lie or half-truth than to look for the whole truth, but only by making total truth the new normal can you truly h on and off the field.succeed. The more consistently you get reps at creating a new normal, the more success you will find bot

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"Success is never owned, always leased, and rent is due every single day." -J.J. Watt Success is not final. There's no single finish line that once you reach it, you never have to work hard again. There's no one goal that once it's done, there's nothing left in life to go after. There's always another end zone, always another goal post. This is what it means to say that success is never owned, always leased. Success requires self-control. It requires the daily paying of rent in the form of hard work to make your dreams a reality.

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When you go after something big, there's no way you can achieve it in a day or even a week. Big goals and dreams take a long time to reach, so you need a plan for how to get there. That plan is where you aim small. There's a big goal that you're working towards, but before you can get there, you have to do all the little, daily things that will build on each other over time. Remember: To reach big dreams, you've got to aim small.

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Do you focus on what you have done right or what you have done wrong? Too often, we focus on the one thing we did wrong instead of the 99 things we did right. When you focus on what you do right, it makes you a better teammate, makes you tougher, and enhances your talent. When you focus on what you do wrong, the opposite happens.

That’s not to say you should never think about your mistakes or listen to criticism. Far from it. Learning from mistakes is a key part of growth, and constructive criticism can help you overcome hurdles on the road to success. But when you let a mistake eat at your mind after its usefulness is past, it will only hold you back. If you let it go to focus on what you did right (learning from the mistake or loss), it will propel you forward.

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We talk a lot about love and sacrifice and commitment. But so often we live out like. Like is conditional, while love is unconditional. The best teams are the ones that live out love for each other. The best teams don’t care much about what they like, but they care a lot about what they love. That’s because love is tough, love forgives, and love is transformational.

As easy as these things are to say, they are difficult to live out. It’s tough to love our teammates. It’s tough to forgive when they mess up. It’s tough to give the best of us for the best of them. But love will always beat out like. Do you love your teammates? Or do you just like them?

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Every morning you have to make the choice to either rise and whine or rise and grind. The morning is going to come whether you like it or not, but how you choose to greet the morning will determine how the rest of your day goes. Rise and whine is all about excuses and complaining–neither of which will get you anywhere. But rise and grind is all about getting up and doing the work anyway, which is the only way to succeed.

The rise and grind mindset doesn’t just apply to the morning, though. When your mindset is rise and grind, that translates to making your whole day better.

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We all have different lenses through which we see the world. Some of these lenses relate to our family heritage or regional culture. But perhaps the most important lens that we use is either faith or fear. A lens of faith sees a future of possibility while a lens of fear sees a future of difficulty. The way that we see the future determines how we act (or fail to act) in the present.

When you think about your goals, do you view them through the lens of faith or fear? That choice makes all the difference.

Description:
Anger is an emotion that we all experience. There’s nothing inherently wrong with anger (or any other emotion). The thing we too often get wrong about anger is how we react to it. Anger is fleeting. We can’t let this short-term emotion stick us with long-term consequences. Instead, we want to respond to our anger in constructive or helpful ways. When we get angry, we need to take five.

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The best athletes are the smartest athletes. That’s not because they have a higher IQ or more common sense. It’s because they’re willing to ask for help.

Too often we think that asking for help means we aren’t strong enough to handle things on our own. Too often we think that asking for help is synonymous with being weak. But that can’t be further from the truth. In fact, the smartest thing you can do is to ask for help when you are out of your depth.

Description:
If you settle for the work that is required or mandatory, you will fall short of your potential. It is the unrequired work that challenges your talent and helps you to become the best you can be. Required work is what everybody has to do. Unrequired work is not laid out for you. No one is going to check that you’ve done the unrequired work. No one will even know if you do it. It is the unseen and unpraised work. Required work qualifies you to be in the game, but unrequired work permits you to become a champion.

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We all feel like life is chaotic sometimes. If you want to feel in control of your life, you've got to control the controllables. Instead of being a control freak about things that you can't control, be a control freak about the things you CAN control. That's things like preparation, effort, and focus. When you feel like life is chaos, let go of what you can't control, and become a control freak about what you can control.

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Hoping, wishing, and wanting will not help you achieve your goals. You've got to actually do the work to make your dreams come true. The One Day goal matters, but it is the next one thing that is going to get you there. Success is built over time by doing the next one thing that will help you reach your goal. What that one thing is will change, but the mindset that it matters never does.

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Everyone loves celebrating the big things. The trophies, the big wins, the acceptance letters. They’re all big achievements, and they are certainly worthy of celebration, but people tend to forget all of the little things that had to happen to make those big things a reality. If we want to find success on the field or court for the big wins, we need to commit to giving our best at the little things first. Over time, the little things will add up to become the big things.

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To be a champion, you need both internal and external accountability. Internal accountability is the standard you set for yourself based on your own integrity. It’s what makes you take ownership for your actions. External accountability is the standard you set for your teammates, your friends, and your family, and that they set for you. Accountability, both internal and external, calls us to do the things we know we should be doing. It holds us to a higher standard than we might otherwise reach.

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It's easy to get overwhelmed and worried when we try to change the past or control the future because neither of those things is possible. The past is already written, and the future is not here yet; your energy can only affect things in the present. That's why you have to be here. To be here is to give your best to the moment you're in. To be here is to learn the most that you can from this moment. When you learn to be here, in the moment you're in, it's harder for life to overwhelm you.

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A lot of people don't reach their long-term goals because they're sitting in a rocking chair. A rocking chair is comfortable and gives you something to do, but it doesn't help you move anywhere. If you want to get out of the rocking chair, you've got to be willing to be uncomfortable doing hard work. You are worth more than the time wasted sitting in a rocking chair. Your goals are worth more.

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Our society is obsessed with the idea of Look Right–editing social media posts, retouching photos, padding resumes. But life and sports are not an app on your smartphone. They are real. Sports and real life demand integrity, commitment, and hard work. They require not only that you Look Right, but that you Be Right. And the secret is, when you ARE right, then you will LOOK right, but the opposite is not necessarily true. So start with Be Right. Start with who you are.

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There is no secret or shortcut to success. Everything you need to reach your goals is hiding in plain sight. In other words, what you need to do to be successful is already right in front of your eyes. You just have to see it and then do the hard work to get there. The three things in plain sight are: the people around you, your process, and your perspective.

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To have a great team, you have to be willing to say No when it matters most. The five most important things you can say No to are: excuses, complaining, entitlement, lies, and the hokey pokey. When your team commits to the Five No's, you are also committing to saying Yes to: responsibility, positivity, hard work, the truth, and being all-in for your team. Through these commitments to avoiding what is not helpful and pursuing what is helpful, your team can become great.

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You know that your goals require commitment. But do you know why commitment matters so much? It's because commitment is the catalyst for the actions that lead to success. Specifically, commitment wins because it creates a cycle of perseverance, growth, and execution.

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It's good to have big goals. The problems arise when you try to take big steps towards those goals. No matter how big the goal, you always have to start small to reach it. Dream about that big goal, but work backwards from it to find a step small enough to achieve now. The more you succeed at the small steps, the closer you'll get to the big goal. But as you progress, you've got to remember to start small.

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The messy middle is when you feel stuck between where you used to be and where you want to be. It’s not something you graduate from; it's something you move through. If you don't realize this, you will spend a lot of time waiting for things to get better tomorrow without doing the work to make it so. But, if you learn the lessons that the messy middle is trying to teach, then when tomorrow comes, you will be ready to make the most of it.

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If we’re gripping onto something too tightly, whether that thing is good or bad, we’re not paying attention to other things around us that could be even better. When our hand is closed into a tight fist, we can’t accept any gifts. When our mind is latched onto a particular moment, we can’t focus on any other moments.So, the question probably isn’t: Am I holding on to something I should let go of?Instead, the question is: How do I let go of this thing?

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What kind of teammate are you? This question impacts you as an individual, but it also impacts your team. How you answer this question makes all the difference both on and off the field.You have a lot of teams, though you may not think of them that way. Aside from the obvious sports teams, your family, friends, and classmates are also your teams. The type of teammate you are impacts the people around you. So the big question to ask is: What kind of teammate are you? Regardless of what team you are on, there are four answers to this question: content, complicit, committed, compelled.

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“Step up” isn’t a negative challenge we should be hearing from other people; it’s a positive challenge we should be giving ourselves everyday. We step up because we can push our own boundaries. We can go further. We can be faster. We can get better. And we don’t need anyone else to push us to do those things. We have the motivation and discipline inside us to get there.Reminding ourselves to step up is less about having to get better than about knowing we can get better and proving it to ourselves every time we step on the court, field, or track. We can do whatever we can imagine, and the idea of stepping up is just accepting that fact and proving it to ourselves.

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Attack mode is an attitude that defines how you do what you do. At its most basic, attack mode is giving your all to whatever you're doing. No half measure will do. You've got to go all in. In the weight room, in the classroom, at home—wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go all in and do it in attack mode.Anything worth doing is worth doing in attack mode.

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When you’re the lightning in your locker room or community, you’re more concerned with the action and the work, and you let the noise follow. You are willing to do the work before you ever get the praise. For you, praise is not a prerequisite for you to do the work, it’s a byproduct.Thunder is loud and captivating, while lightning is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, but the lightning clearly wins for which one makes the biggest impact. So which do you want to be: thunder or lightning?

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You've got to go pro in your mentality long before you go pro in reality. Otherwise, you might not get to the professional stage at all. Pros have three key things in common. They look for the next great challenge to overcome. They understand the concept of "garbage in, garbage out." And, they work when it is required, not when they feel like it.When you go pro in your mind, it allows you to go pro in your body. Go pro is a mentality. It's a mindset. It's a mantra. Stop thinking like an amateur and go pro today.

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Confidence is built, not born. It's like any skill on the field. Confidence comes from letting go of the outcome because you know that all you can control is your response. Confidence comes from getting reps at things that you aren't good at and seeing how much you improve over time. And, confidence comes from knowing who you are and living out that identity.If you want to be more confident, these are three things that can help you to build confidence.

Description:
You are part of multiple families: your parents and siblings, your team, your friend groups. However you define your family, they should be first in your mind at all times. FAMILY means Forget About Me I Love You. You put your family first because you love them. Their well-being is important to you. Family should always be first and foremost in your mind because together you are stronger than you are alone.

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You've probably said "I don't have time" for something when what you really meant is "I don't want to." Not enough time is rarely a limiting factor; your will is the most common limit. It only takes one minute to make a change. If you decide that in this one minute you're going to work towards your goal, then the one minute becomes two and before long you've changed the way you use sixty minutes, so that you've worked towards your goal for an hour.Whether you reach your goals and dreams isn't about having enough time; it's about managing the time that you have. With the ABCs of time management, change the way you use one minute so you can change the way you use your whole day.

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Student-athletes everywhere share a fear: the fear of failure. It's not just athletes, though. People of all ages fear failure. But that fear comes from an unhelpful definition of failure and success. If you think that failure is when you get something wrong or make a mistake or lose a game, then of course you're going to be afraid of it. If you think that success is only when you win, of course you'll fear not winning.Failure is not lack of success; it's lack of learning. Success is not winning; it's getting the next smallest thing right. Fear of failure will try to hold you back, so you've got to redefine success and failure, so that you can fire failure.

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If you want to reach your goals, you must take action. Nothing will work unless you do. When you take action, you move towards your goal. And at the same time, you move away from things that will derail you from your goals, such as entitlement, unearned praise, and unsuccessful attempts.Your goals will never become reality if you do not take action.

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We’ve all had competitive moments where we go from only giving half effort to being GAME ON. For Coach Mackey, one such moment was with his oldest son Harrison, when they were playing a video game against each other. The way that they competed with each other while playing the game showed how much they value each other.

When you compete, it shows who you value and how much you value them, based on the way that you do it. When you value someone a lot, you’ll go GAME ON when you compete against or alongside them, no matter where you’re competing and what competition means in that place.

Description:
The best athletes are the smartest athletes. That’s not because they have a higher IQ or more common sense. It’s because they’re willing to ask for help.

TOPIC: GRIT
SUBTOPICS: Perseverance, Passion, Attitude, Learning

In these lessons, students learn self-motivation, the ability to sacrifice time and resources for others, and the ability to learn from the obstacles that they encounter. Lessons in the curriculum also teach students to stretch beyond their comfort zone in the pursuit of goals. Lessons teach students to rely on the plans they have made in the goal-setting phase so that they can continue to execute on the plan despite obstacles. Lessons also teach students to identify, analyze, and solve problems that arise.

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Description:
There are a lot of things, when it comes to finding success in the game of life, that are optional. Whatever you might find on that exhaustive list, the one thing you will not find is sacrifice. Sacrifice is required for reaching your goals as an individual and as a team. As challenging as this concept is, it is worth every painful moment. When you learn how to use sacrifice to your advantage, you unlock a door to success that few people are ever willing to walk through. The reality of sports and of the game of life, however, is that if you don’t sacrifice for your goals, then you will sacrifice your goals.

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Struggle shows up in every area of our life at some point. Struggle can be having a hard time learning a new subject or having to push yourself to the edge of exhaustion to finish that mile run or having to deal with a rough home life. But if you didn’t struggle, how would you ever learn? And if you didn’t learn, how would you ever improve? We can’t control whether or not we are going to struggle. That’s one of life’s guarantees, and we can’t escape it. What we can control is how we deal with that struggle. We can try to run away from it, but in the end, that’s only going to prolong the pain of struggle.

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In the military, missions don’t always run smoothly. Maybe the team doesn’t feel they have the right resources or the situation doesn’t look ideal. They may want to give up on this one.But orders come from the top, and when they request or recommend to abort mission, the answer might instead be: Charlie Mike. Continue MissionThe problem is that when we give up easily on the little things, we train ourselves to give up on the big things. It’s just like working out or running drills. Whatever muscle we give reps to is the muscle that gets stronger.We prefer to take the easy road and quit. We prefer to let the reps for quitting on easy things build that muscle. We prefer to give up on our dreams instead of putting in the hard work to keep going. It’s a choice. We can choose to keep building the quit muscle or we can choose to Charlie Mike.

“Most people don’t go far enough on their first wind to find out they have a second wind.” - William JamesWhen we refuse to give up at the end of our first wind, a second wind rises up and we discover that we are capable of more than we ever believed. Most people never experience that realization because they are too quick to throw in the towel. But, if we put in the work long enough, hard enough, our perseverance is rewarded.We just have to remember that it’s not always easy to tell when we’ve hit the end of our first wind. The only way to really know, is to keep going.

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Failure is a part of life. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you’re doing, you’re going to fail.When we are terrified of failure, we end up paralyzing ourselves. We become so afraid to fail that we end up sitting on the sidelines, watching as the game, and our lives, pass us by.When you’re more concerned with the way that you fight than you are the outcome of the fight, you begin to realize the real victory is in the struggle. The real victory is in the process, not just the outcome.You were made to be in the arena. Fighting. Striving. Pushing yourself to the absolute limit. The arena is where you’re going to make your impact on the world.

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People will always interpret your actions based on your attitude. When people trust your attitude, they trust your actions.

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What does it take to win? Lots of people will point to things that they see in those that are at the top of the game. In the champions. In those basking in the spotlight. They’ll point to strategy, or talent, or execution. And they wouldn’t be wrong to do so-- all of those things matter. If you’re going to play sports at a competitive level, it certainly helps to know what to do, how to do it, and to be talented enough to execute on it.

But as anybody will tell you, talent alone doesn’t win titles. Strategy and execution alone don’t win championships. They are merely your tickets in the door. The difference between where you and where you want to be is not in those things, but in the X factor.

Description:
One of the most powerful tools that you have at your disposal is a simple phrase. One that, if you let it, could change the course of your life. “It doesn’t have to be this way.” There are certainly circumstances that are out of your control. But as we’ve said before, though you may not be able to control every situation, you are in control of how you RESPOND to every situation. And the reset button isn’t always a one time thing. How many times have you tried and failed at something, only to have to keep attempting it again and again and again? The reset button is a muscle, just like anything else, and it needs to be exercised just like any other muscle.

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Success doesn’t care if you “want to” or not. Success doesn’t care what you “feel like” doing. It only cares about whether or not you choose to put in the work to make your dreams a reality. Listening to your heart just isn’t going to cut it. Your heart may be telling you to go back to bed when you’re supposed to be giving your all in an early morning practice. Your heart may be saying “It’s cool. We can drop this. My passion is really sleeping in late anyway.” Your best will change based on circumstances and how you’re feeling, but as long as you’re bringing your best in that moment, every time, you will find success.

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Motivation is important for reaching your goals, but there’s much more to goals than mere achievement. Goals have external results beyond the achievement itself— they teach you about helping others, being intentional in your life, and becoming your best self. As Zig Ziglar said, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” Goals don’t exist separate from the rest of your life. The costs and benefits of achieving your goals touch all aspects. Goals help you purpose your actions, focus your attention, and strengthen your abilities, while also teaching you to help others and live with intentionality.

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The YAC stat in football tells you how many Yards After Contact the receiver made it before going down. The goal isn’t to stop as soon as you get hit; it’s to keep going as far as you can after contact, after the point of resistance. The same applies to your personal goals. There will always be resistance on the path to your goals. That resistance is what helps you to grow; it’s what tells you that you’re going in the right direction. Resistance isn’t a sign that you should quit. It’s your cue that you need to push even harder to see how far you can go. There are three things that will help you keep pushing after contact: self-discipline, humility, and preparation. There will always be resistance on the path to your goals. When you make contact with that resistance, the difference between reaching your goal and missing it lies in what you do after contact.

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A "try" is a tool used in carpentry to ensure the wood is level. The old saying that someone or something is "tried and true" comes from the process of using that tool to level the wood to create a finished piece. You can't level a piece of wood without a painful shearing process, and you can't have tried and true character without going through the process of overcoming adversity. See, adversity reveals the truth about your character, just as a try reveals the levelness of the wood. Adversity will reveal a lot of different things, but three of the most closely related to adversity are humility, integrity, and toughness.

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Tough people win because they never give up. But tough people also win because they are tough enough to accept correction. Acceptance is not most people's default response to correction, though. In fact, it's pretty common to respond from a place of fear and either ignore or forget the correction. So the three ways to respond to correction or critiques are to ignore it, forget it, or accept it. Let's look at each. Tough people find success because they are tough enough to make the trades necessary to accept correction despite fears of being wrong. Acceptance may not be the default response to correction, but it's the only response that's going to help you find success in sports and the game of life.

Description:
You are tested in a lot of ways. Whether it's a test in a classroom setting, a test of physical skill, or a test of your patience, you will face many tests in your life. These tests are important because they tell the truth about where you are in your development. You need the truth of where you are so you can get where you want to be. If you take today's test today and do that every day, you'll build a life of knowing exactly where you are on the path to where you want to be until you get there. You may not like what today's test reveals, but if you take that test, it will provide you with valuable information that will help you reach your goals and dream

Description:
It’s easy to get caught up in the potential. When the talent or skill is there, it’s so easy to think the game is in the bag. But as any athlete can tell you, the game isn’t over until it’s over. And as Tiger Woods said, “Until it happens in the game, it hasn’t happened yet.”

Doers do. When you lose, don’t take that as the end. Do something to create another opportunity. Do something to get a different outcome. Potential is nice, but it’s not a guarantee. There is no guarantee at all. You just have to do what you can to the best of your ability. Don’t just bank on your potential to get you to the success you dream of. Get out there and do!

Life will be like a roller coaster most of the time. There will be great days and horrible days. You will feel awesome and you will feel terrible. Life is chaotic. But when life comes at you, when you are praised, or when you are criticized, do your best to stay steady.

Description:
When adversity comes, you’ll think “this is bad bad.” The shift here is to go from “bad bad” to “good good.” It’s good that adversity is here because it gives us a chance to grow and become better today than we were yesterday. It’s good that adversity is here because without it, we can’t progress. When we make the shift from thinking that this bad bad situation is against us to realizing this good good situation is for us, it changes everything.

Description:
Sometimes in a game, it seems like everything is against you. But then, a game changer steps up, and the momentum shifts back to your team. This happens in life, too. The difference is that in life, the game changer must be you. When you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or when circumstances carry you in a direction you don’t want to go, you can choose to change the game.

When the game tries to get away from you, take that as an invitation to take back control. Instead of giving up and pouting, seek to be a game changer.

Description:
Adversity can be hard and unfortunate, but it can also be a gift. The gift comes from making the choice whether you will be defined or refined by adversity. When you let adversity define you, it boxes you in and limits you. But when you let it refine you, it becomes a tool and a way for you to be more than you already are. To be refined by adversity, you’ve got to forget the loss, remember the lesson, and move forward.

Description:
The common response to adversity, challenges, or bad days is to blame others or to say something like: Why me? This isn't fair! But when we instead decide to be uncommon, we say Thanks to adversity, challenges, and bad days. Life is happening for you, not to you. When you choose to believe that, when you choose to say Thanks for the hardships that come your way, you open yourself up to growth.

Description:
We live in a culture that is quick to quit. It’s so easy to go through life with a “Free-Trial” mentality, where you never have to commit to anything. But commitment isn’t just a tool to be used to help achieve a goal or a stepping stone in your personal journey of more. Commitment is a willingness to bring your best work to a worst case scenario. When you do that, your commitment produces perseverance, growth, service, hard work, and execution.

Description:
Every person you know is either having a bad day, coming out of a bad day, or heading towards a bad day. It's a normal human cycle; bad days happen to everyone. But the question to ask when a bad day comes is not "why me?" or "how is this fair?" or "why does the world hate me?" The question to ask is: So what am I going to do about it?

Description:
Have you ever felt like your thoughts are out of control? Like you just can't stop focusing on the negative and unhelpful thoughts that lead to pressure and stress? In those moments, you can't "control" your thoughts, but you can refocus them. It's going to take effort and willpower, but you can get a handle on your thoughts, no matter how out of control they may seem. In the face of seemingly uncontrollable thoughts, Focus Refocus gives you the power to change your thinking.

Description:
It is possible to live, lead, and compete with no pressure. You just have to choose no pressure. Pressure comes from believing that your best is not enough or believing that giving your best is a consolation prize for when you fail. It's not. Giving your best is the only way you can succeed, and even if you fall short of your goal, no one can expect more of you than your best--not even you. If you want to live and compete with no pressure, then you've got to accept that your best is enough.

Description:
When you face a tough opponent or a difficult drill, there comes a point when you need to dig deep to find the motivation to keep pushing forward. Most people dig down only as far as reward or fear. If you only dig deep enough to reach the shallow motivators of rewards or fear, then you will always reach a point where that's not far enough. That's why it's better to dig deeper than that to begin with. When you dig deep, drill down to the motivators that will actually keep you from throwing in the towel. Those motivators are things like love, passion, and want-to.

Description:
Whether it's rain or shine, your commitments have to remain front and center. You can't throw away your commitments to yourself, your team, or your goals just because it's rainy and things aren't going your way. You can't coast on prior success just because it's sunny and your opponent isn't presenting a challenge. No matter the weather, there will always be temptations to let your commitments slide. But your character will help you remain committed whether it's rain or shine.

Description:
A water bottle is so common that you probably don't think about it much. But like many common, everyday things, there's a lot to be learned from a water bottle, if you're willing to think about it. It can teach you about intention and accident, positivity and negativity, and the cost of your commitments. How can something so ordinary say all of that? In this lesson, you're going to find out.

Description:
Adversity can help you move toward your goals, or it can hold you back. What determines whether adversity moves you forward or backward? You do. How you respond to adversity determines the impact it will have on your progress and goals. Adversity can be a gift if you say Yes to the right things.

Description:
What's the secret to success? What's the shortcut? There isn't one. The only secrets are widely known by the pros, and none of those "secrets" involve shortcuts. As any professional athlete can tell you: Success comes from doing the right things again and again. These are things like focusing on the fundamentals, seeing that the little things are the big things, and being willing to make mistakes along the way. You don't choose to do these things once, and then you're successful. You choose them again and again.

Description:
You will get discouraged because you are human. Sometimes you'll fall short, sometimes people will tell you things you don't want to hear, and sometimes things just won't go your way. Whatever adversity you face, you can overcome it–so long as you do not become discouraged. As long as you press on, even when you want to quit, you will come out the other side closer to where you want to be.

Description:
Whether it’s running, swimming, weight lifting, or any other exercise that requires persistence and endurance to keep going, somewhere during the exercise we feel like we just can’t go another step further. Our legs and arms are shaking, our breathing is labored, and our muscles are screaming at us to please just stop already. We can either accept that we’ve hit our limit and give up, or we can push that little bit further, dig that little bit deeper, and find additional strength we never knew we had. When we refuse to give up at the end of our first wind, a second wind rises up and we discover that we are capable of more than we ever believed.

Description:
If someone asks you to go one mile with them, go two instead. In fact, don't wait for them to ask. As a servant leader, be willing to go the extra mile for others because of who you are, not who the other person is. But before you can go the extra mile, know that you've got to have humility. It is impossible to go the extra mile without being humble. That's because humility is giving the best of me for the best of you, even if it costs me.personal code, call up, see the best in others, going the extra mile, go first, count other first

Description:
Your opponent is not someone across from you. It's someone within you. You are your own greatest opponent. This is especially true when we experience performance anxiety. That anxiety steals your potential and that which you can become. It holds you back from being your best.It's important to state right now that performance anxiety doesn't mean you're a weak-minded person or abnormal. Performance anxiety is a thing that breathing people deal with, so today let's look at some ways to deal with this performance anxiety so you can win the first fight against yourself.

Description:
No matter how chaotic life gets, you have the power to stay steady. When you take responsibility for your actions, you take the power away from your circumstances and you give it to yourself. Life will be like a roller coaster most of the time. There will be great days and horrible days. You will feel awesome and you will feel terrible. Life is chaotic. But when life comes at you, when you are praised, or when you are criticized, do your best to stay steady.

Description:
We live in a fast-paced society. Everything and everyone seems to be moving at the speed of electricity. But sometimes that breakneck pace can actually break our necks, or at least, it can break our goals and dreams. Life is too short to run through it like it's a race. Instead, we need to learn to slow down.When we slow down, we give ourselves the opportunity to give our best to what's right in front of us. That doesn't mean the end goal doesn't matter to us; it just means that we're able to be where our feet are. We need to slow down, so we don't miss receiving something in this moment that will help us reach our goals in a future moment.

When the game tries to get away from you, take that as an invitation to take back control. Instead of giving up and pouting, seek to be a game changer.

Description:
Whether you are driven by praise or pride makes a huge difference in how tough you are. If you are driven by praise, there will come a day when there's not enough praise in the world to get you to do what needs to be done. But if you're driven by pride, your sense of self worth will always be enough to help you overcome the obstacles in front of you. As with anything else, it's a choice. Do you choose to be driven by praise or pride?

When the game tries to get away from you, take that as an invitation to take back control. Instead of giving up and pouting, seek to be a game changer.

TOPIC: GROWTH MINDSET
SUBTOPICS: Competition, Confidence, Coachability, Perspective

These lessons teach students to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and evaluate areas where they can improve. The curriculum also provides methods for growth and learning, particularly learning from one's mistakes. Lessons stress the importance of humility in being willing to ask for help on the journey of learning new things. Students are encouraged to always seek new learning opportunities and remain curious about the world around them. Lessons related to the Growth Mindset Pillar also provide students with ways to help others grow and learn.

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Description:
You can’t control the events in your life – most of the things that happen to you in life will be beyond your control. Events you don’t plan for and outcomes beyond your control are the norm, and out of your hands. But there is one thing you can always control, and that is your response to a given situation. You can always control your response. We call that the R-Factor, and if you want success in the game of life, it might be the most important thing that you have to master in all your life.

Description:
Every great idea the world has ever known began with the question, “What if?”

From Thomas Edison to Dr. King, Kenny Sailors to Mark Zuckerburg, BIG ideas begin with a small question. Sadly, so many people refuse to “risk the if” and settle for the “is.” What is acceptable? What is easy? What is the path of least resistance? But, for those who are willing to risk failure, there is a world of unfathomable possibility– not only in your life, but through your life. IF you can ask the right question.

Description:
Comparison helps no one, in sports or in life. When we compare ourselves to our teammates, classmates, or opponents, all we see is our own deficiencies. That guy has a faster throw than I do. That girl spikes harder than I can. That guy is better in physics than I am. That girl gets more answers right in geometry than I do.It doesn’t matter what someone else does or how much better they do it. What matters is how well we do something and how close that is to our personal best.Competition helps us get better, but comparison just makes us bitter.

Description:
Do you live life with a “one day” mindset, or a “someday” mindset? With a “someday” mindset, it’s far too easy to go into the workout thinking, “this workout is just one of many. It is one of the 300 workouts between now and next season. What is really valuable is my max, or my rank, or how I play when the lights shine brightest.” But with a “one day” mindset you understand one very simple fact: You understand that today is all you have. Your effort is not diluted by a date on the calendar. You only get one chance to do today’s workout...learn today’s classwork...show today’s kindness. You only get one chance to give your all today. Whether you give your best or not, that opportunity is gone. Today is all you have. Do not neglect the work of today. Do not put it off until tomorrow.

Description:
To maximize the impact you can have on the world, yourself and your team, It’s not complicat-ed; it’s as simple as two words: character vs. talent.

Too often we’re disproportionately focused on talent over character. We view talent as the way to make it. We strive to develop our talent; maximize our skill; because we think it’s the thing that will drive us to succeed in life. All the while it’s easy to neglect character.

How many division one athletes do you know who are untalented? You see, at a certain level, talent levels out. To maximize your talent, you have to must maximize your character. The strength of your character will determine the success of your talents.

Description:
It does you no good to be a 5-star athlete if you have 0-star character. Prowess on the field is temporary. Eventually, sports will end. When it does, you will still have the character lessons you learned while playing, and the skills picked up from the lessons will help you throughout your life… or not. Compartmentalizing your life pushes everyone else out so the focus is only on you and what you want out of life. It’s about what you are good at. On the other hand, having a 5-star character requires caring about others. It means leading a life that makes the world a better place. You can’t do that if you’re focused on nothing but being the best at your sport. Stop compartmentalizing. Do this, and you’re on your way to 5-star character.

Description:
Bad days are guaranteed to happen. What’s not guaranteed, is what you do when it does. The way you respond to a bad day determines your success for that day and the following days. Don’t sit and wallow in self-pity. Instead, choose to view the struggle as an opportunity. Bad days will come. When they do, instead of thinking “It shouldn’t be this way,” think “This is a GROWTH day.” To change your bad day to growth, focus on shifting your mentality. Remember that you are still learning, but you are still accountable for your actions.

Description:
In the same way that iron sharpens iron, people sharpen people. The most important role you have on any team is to sharpen your teammates—to make them better. You sharpen each other during the long hours on the track or in the pool, through the heat of the gridiron or the echoing squeaks of the basketball gym. You challenge each other to push farther than you think you can. You compete against one another not to put each other down, but to lift each other ever higher. You handle conflict without taking it personally. But why, when, and how do you do these things?

Description:
You understand the concept of “work in progress” in class when working on a big project, but you might forget that this also transfers to the real world. You are a work in progress, and you always will be because there is no end point for learning. Learning never stops, so long as you choose to stay in progress. When you are in progress, you always have something to celebrate, you learn from your mistakes, and you view others as teachers rather than threats. You get what a work in progress is, but you also have to understand that you are a work in progress. There's a process of growth that everyone has to go through, and learning never stops as long as you choose to stay in progress.

Description:
Whether you win or lose is less important than what you do in the aftermath. How well your team plays the game determines whether you win or lose, but how well you accept and respond to a win or loss determines whether you will be successful in future games and in life. Winning well makes you better at losing, and losing well makes you better at winning. How you deal with a win or a loss directly reflects your growth as a leader and a teammate. Everyone will lose at some point. The questions to ask are: What will you do when you win? What will you do when you lose?

Description:
When things don't go to plan or when we encounter a crisis, there are two primary ways that people respond: by focusing on what they CAN do or focusing on what they CAN'T do. The most successful people answer the question of Can't or Can? with a definite CAN. When you focus on what you can do instead of what you can't do, you'll find out how much more is within your control than you thought. There's a quote from former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt that will help you move from a Can't to a Can mindset: "Do all that you can with all that you have wherever you are." When things go wrong, you can either focus on what you can't do or what you can do. Focusing on what you CAN'T do will leave you stuck in place, a victim of circumstance. But focusing on what you CAN do will help you move forward to reach your goals and dreams despite circumstances.

Description:
The concept of YouTube and confidence for athletes is similar to duct tape and bailing wire for coaches. They are tools with which you can achieve anything. With YouTube and confidence, you can do anything you set your mind to if you are willing to put in the work. YouTube (or the Internet in general) is a good place to find information; that's a valuable tool. But where do you find confidence? Confidence is found through working to make an impact in the lives of others. When you seek to make an impact, you don't worry about failure or setbacks.

Description:
Here is the simple and difficult truth: The only thing standing between you and your goals is the work that you have to do. Achieving your goals is very simple, you just have to do the work that your goals require. But, simple does not mean easy. In fact, the simple work that will get you to your goals will be really difficult.

If you want to reach your goals, you don't need anyone to motivate you or tell you how to do it, you just need to hear and accept the simple and difficult truth, and then go out and do the work required.

That thinking can lead to some dark places in your mind where you start to believe that your best isn’t enough. If you believe your best isn’t enough, you might start to believe that you are not enough. Know this: You are enough just as you are. And, when you do your best yet, whatever that is, that is enough.

Description:
In a world full of common, let’s be uncommon. Let’s think differently and act differently than the norm, especially where it really matters, such as when we see others being devalued or when we speak negatively to ourselves or when we’re stuck after we get knocked down. The norm in those situations is not the way we want to live. We want to create a new norm by being uncommon.

Being uncommon isn’t about being a special snowflake. It’s about going against the grain to do what is right and what is best (for you and the team). The norm isn’t always a bad thing, but when it is, choose to be uncommon.

Description:
Many student-athletes carry heavy loads. These are things that they weren’t meant to carry, yet the burden is dragging them away from their goals and dreams. These burdens are things like pressure to be perfect, fear of failure, and self-doubt. If you are carrying these things, then it’s time for you to make the swap.

Swap the pressure to be perfect for a best yet mindset. Swap the fear of failure for a growth mindset. Swap self-doubt for the belief that you are enough. The swap isn’t necessarily easy to make. But when you make the swap, all those heavy things you’re carrying stop weighing you down. Without that overwhelming load, you can move on to reach your goals, no matter how big they may be.

Description:
Confidence is built, not born. It’s like any skill on the field. Confidence comes from letting go of the outcome because you know that all you can control is your response. Confidence comes from getting reps at things that you aren’t good at and seeing how much you improve over time. And, confidence comes from knowing who you are and living out that identity. If you want to be more confident, these are three things that can help you to build confidence.

Description:
Everyone feels overwhelmed sometimes. The good news is, there’s a pretty simple way to reduce that feeling. We just have to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. See, when we’re having a bad day or dealing with things that other people don’t have to deal with, it’s really easy to get locked in on the struggle. But the struggle is just one small part of your life. If you look at the bigger picture, you’ll see that this struggle is only temporary.

Everyone gets overwhelmed. But that feeling of “too much” can be handled if you remember to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. The struggle will still be real, but it will be more manageable.

Description:
An over believer is someone who believes strongly in something. For example, an over believer in generosity and humility will be guided in how to act based on those beliefs. Growth Follows Belief. What you believe determines what your actions are, and your actions determine what you can do. If you don’t believe that you can accomplish your goals, then you won’t. But you can choose to be an over believer in yourself and your team. You can choose to be an over believer in hope and teamwork. Every day you are an over believer in something, and you get to choose what that is.

Description:
hen you compare yourself to others, your greatness can only be comparative. But when you focus instead on growing and becoming the best that you can be, then you embrace competitive greatness. Competition fuels growth while comparison fuels shame. Shame will hold you back from achieving all that you can achieve, but a growth mindset will propel you forward to do things you can only imagine.

Description:
Most people feel the urge to curse at themselves or say something mean when they mess up. It's so common because our society has bought the lie that we can shame ourselves into growth. But all that negative self talk is really going to do is push us down a dark road. Instead of getting angry and calling yourself a loser or a failure; replace that lie with the truth that you lost or failed, but that the event of failure does not lessen your worth as a person. If you're going to reach your goals and dreams, then you've got to remove the heavy lies of negative self talk and replace them with the truth.

Description:
When you compare yourself to others, that comparison steals your joy in your own accomplishments. Instead of being inspired by what they have achieved, you just start to feel like you will never achieve the same things. Discouragement from comparison can stop you from achieving your dreams, but there's an antidote to discouragement: confidence. When you are confident in your preparation, in your teammates, and in your ability to make an impact, there's no room for discouragement.

Description:
We live in a world of convenience. We try to make everything as easy as possible. Sometimes that's really helpful and great. The problem arises when we think that everything should be easy–including our goals. But resistance is what makes us stronger in the weight room, and it's what makes it possible to achieve our goals. If we are constantly rejecting hard days, hard truths, and hard conversations, then we're rejecting our goals. Instead of saying "no thanks" to hard things, let's learn how to welcome hard.

Description:
We all fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. But, no matter how far you go or how much you achieve, you will never consider yourself big time enough if you compare yourself to others. Instead of comparison, challenge yourself to make where you are the big time. Big Time is a mindset. You are big time when you live big time.

Description:
When we base our confidence on external factors, it will be like our confidence is on a roller coaster. That better-than-you confidence or that scoreboard confidence will keep us going up and down and through loop-the-loops. Roller coaster confidence is not helpful because we cannot rely on it.

Instead, we want to work on developing steady and reliable Process Confidence. Process Confidence comes from knowing who we are, knowing what we need to do, and then doing our work to the best of our ability. Process Confidence will be there for us where scoreboard confidence fails.

Description:
Failure is part of the human experience. You will make mistakes in school, in sports, and in life. Those mistakes do not make you a failure; they present an opportunity for you to learn how to fail better. Failing better means striving to only make the same mistake once, being willing to fail, and using your failure to move forward. When you learn to fail better, you will learn to win more.

Description:
No matter how much weight he was lifting or pushing, professional bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman (now retired) always said the same thing: "Light Weight." A Light Weight mindset helps you expand your mindset for what is possible. When you believe you can achieve more, then you will work at a higher level to achieve it. It is not the belief that gets you there; it is the actions you take based on that belief. But if you don't believe your goal is achievable, you'll never see the actions that will help you reach it. When you face a big, heavy goal, tell yourself: "Light Weight."

Description:
Too often we’re disproportionately focused on talent over character. We view talent as the way to make it. We strive to develop our talent; maximize our skill; because we think it’s the thing that will drive us to succeed in life. All the while it’s easy to neglect character. How many division one athletes do you know who are untalented? You see, at a certain level, talent levels out. To maximize your talent, you must maximize your character. The strength of your character will determine the success of your talents.

Description:
Anger isn’t any more inherently wrong than fire. But like fire, it can be destructive if it’s not kept within boundaries. You have certain rights when it comes to your anger, but those rights can be forfeited if you let your anger control you instead of the other way around. The more you control your anger, the more even-keeled you will be. The more you can be angry without committing any of these anger rights violations, the more even-keeled you will be able to remain. And, the more even your temperament is, the better leader and teammate you will be.

Description:
It does you no good to be a five star athlete if you have zero star character. Prowess on the field is temporary. Eventually, sports will end. When it does, you will still have the character lessons you learned while playing, and the skills picked up from the lessons will help you throughout your life… or not. Having a five star character requires caring about others. It means leading a life that makes the world a better place.

Description:
In the same way that iron sharpens iron, people sharpen people. The most important role you have on any team is to sharpen your teammates—to make them better. You sharpen each other during the long hours on the track or in the pool, through the heat of the gridiron or the echoing squeaks of the basketball gym. As iron sharpens iron, you and your teammates sharpen each other through the challenges you give, the competition you engage in, and the conflicts you overcome together.

Description:
The famous fable of the tortoise and the hare teaches us that consistent work ethic will always beat inconsistent talent. If all you have is great talent with no consistency, then like the hare in the story, you'll end up losing to a tortoise when you should have won no question. Slow and steady progress towards a goal will win over fast but faulty progress. Being slow and steady takes practice. It's a skill you acquire through repetition. To get that practice, follow the ABCs of consistent work ethic: Ask why until you know why, Be bound to the basics, and Charlie Mike.

Description:
Every great idea that’s ever changed the world found its genesis in two words: “What if?” People who choose to ask “what if?” are the brave and the bold. They choose to look beyond what is because they aren’t going to settle for how things have always been. To stop settling for what is, so that you can strive for what could be, ask yourself: “what if?”

Description:
The most important step we will ever take towards reaching a goal is the next step. It doesn’t matter if we’re on step 15 or if we haven’t taken a single step toward the end goal. No matter where we are on the present journey, the most important step is the one we are about to take. Instead of stewing on the past or trying to predict the future, we should be focusing on the one thing we can control: how we handle the next step. Are we going to take the next step with excellence and focus?

Description:
When someone tells you to do your best, does that encourage you? When you realize that you can do nothing better than your best, it can be encouraging. But for many students, and maybe for you, "do your best" isn't encouraging because it translates to "you can't win, so just try not to get beat too badly. "That thinking can lead to some dark places in your mind where you start to believe that your best isn't enough. If you believe your best isn't enough, you might start to believe that you are not enough. Know this: You are enough just as you are. And, when you do your best yet, whatever that is, that is enough.

Description:
Many student-athletes carry heavy loads. These are things that they weren't meant to carry, yet the burden is dragging them away from their goals and dreams. These burdens are things like pressure to be perfect, fear of failure, and self-doubt. If you are carrying these things, then it's time for you to make the swap. Swap the pressure to be perfect for a best yet mindset. Swap the fear of failure for a growth mindset. Swap self-doubt for the belief that you are enough. The swap isn't necessarily easy to make. But when you make the swap, all those heavy things you're carrying stop weighing you down. Without that overwhelming load, you can move on to reach your goals, no matter how big they may be.

Description:
In a world full of common, let's be uncommon. Let's think differently and act differently than the norm, especially where it really matters, such as when we see others being devalued or when we speak negatively to ourselves or when we're stuck after we get knocked down. The norm in those situations is not the way we want to live. We want to create a new norm by being uncommon. Being uncommon isn't about being a special snowflake. It's about going against the grain to do what is right and what is best (for you and the team). The norm isn't always a bad thing, but when it is, choose to be uncommon.

Description:
When you compare yourself to others, your greatness can only be comparative. But when you focus instead on growing and becoming the best that you can be, then you embrace competitive greatness. Competition fuels growth while comparison fuels shame. Shame will hold you back from achieving all that you can achieve, but a growth mindset will propel you forward to do things you can only imagine.

Description:
Coach calls you out because he or she loves you too much to let you be less than your best. And love is the same reason why you should call out your teammates when they aren't meeting the standard. As uncomfortable as it might be, if you truly care about your teammates, if you love your teammates, then you've got to encourage them with a call out when they aren't living to the standard. You've got to speak up.

When the game tries to get away from you, take that as an invitation to take back control. Instead of giving up and pouting, seek to be a game changer.

TOPIC: PERSONAL CODE

SUBTOPICS: Pride, Character, Teamwork, Purpose
These lessons focus on character development in the areas of integrity, responsibility, honesty, gratitude, effort, and accountability, among others. The goal of the lessons is helping students determine how to make the right choices in life based primarily on their family's values and the values of their sports teams. Attention is also given to helping students determine their personal purpose—their reason for doing and being. Other lessons discuss perspective-taking and empathy in dealing with peers and provides advice for dealing with peer pressure.

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Description:
A standard is defined as “a level of quality or attainment.” It’s a measure of accountability that directly influences your impact in sports and in the game of life. When you have low standards, you will have low success. However, the opposite is also true. As the level of your standards increase, so increases your success. That’s because with higher standards, comes a higher level of accountability, training, commitment, grit, and focus on goal achievement. Your success in the game of life is directly related to the standards you hold yourself to.

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Nobody likes making mistakes. They’re embarrassing. They’re uncomfortable. They make you confront the fact that you are not perfect. But, something powerful happens when, instead of shying away from the fear of making mistakes, we embrace mistakes as a welcomed teacher. Mistakes and the discomfort that comes with them can be one of the most powerful tools for our lives, if we let them. But, if all we do is run away from situations where we might make a mistake, we’ll never grow. When we let go of the fear and negative power of making mistakes, there’s no limit to what we can do.

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Character will always overcome reputation. Sometimes that’s hard to believe because the cost has to be paid now, but the reward comes later. It’s a bit like saving for a car or college. We feel the pinch in the present and only have an intangible vision of the future to convince us that we’re doing the right thing by sacrificing now for something better later.Our character will always catch up to our reputation. The things that are true about us on the inside (our character) are always greater than what seems to be true on the outside (our reputation). Besides, it’s draining to live two separate lives. The energy we spend cultivating our reputation would be much better spent cultivating our character.

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To be a champion, you need both internal and external accountability. Internal accountability is the standard you set for yourself based on your own integrity. It’s what makes you take ownership for your actions. It pushes you to prepare to the best of you ability and to put forth your best effort. It drives your commitment to your goals. Accountability, both internal and external, calls us to do the things we know we should be doing.It holds us to a higher standard than we might otherwise reach. Success requires giving your very best, and no one knows your best better than you do. That’s why no one can fully hold you to that standard except you.

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Our body language will communicate things that our words never will. Words can be misun-derstood, misinterpreted, or manipulated, but our body language will always tell the truth. It will always give us away. It’s a universal language.

Your legs are burning, lungs on fire and your primary instinct is to bend over, put your hands on your knees, and catch your breath. At that moment, what does coach say? “Stand tall!” Why? Because when you bend over, you’re communicating much more than you think: “I’m giving up”, “My circumstances are winning”, or even “You can’t count on me.”

But when you decide to stand tall, it communicates to everybody around you that you can be trusted. That you will be there when things get difficult.

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Being dependable means keeping your word, which is simple, but not always easy. It’s simple because it’s black and white that “I said I would do X, so I’m going to do X.” But often, your promises will require more effort and sacrifice than you anticipated. It’s easy to say “Well, I said I would stay late after practice, but now my friends want me to get tacos.” Regardless of the external factors, you have to stick to your commitments if you want to be viewed as trustworthy and dependable.

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Self-AwarenessEveryone has responsibilities or things they are expected to do, but there is always a choice as to whether you do it or not. Often in our daily language, we don’t make it a choice, though. We adopt a “have to” mentality and say, “I have to go to practice” or “I have to go to work.” We turn our responsibilities into obligations, and we deny any role in choosing them. Remember this: you always have a choice. You choose whether to view your responsibilities through a “have to” or “get to” lens, but everyday, you are making that choice.

Description:
You have a lot of teams, though you may not think of them that way. Aside from the obvious sports teams, your family, friends, and classmates are also your teams. The type of teammate you are impacts the people around you. So the big question to ask is: What kind of teammate are you? Regardless of what team you are on, there are four answers to this question: content, compliant, committed, compelled. Let’s dive in. What kind of teammate are you? This questions impacts you as an individual, but it also impacts your team. How you answer this question makes all the difference both on and off the field.

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If someone asks you to go one mile with them, go two instead. In fact, don't wait for them to ask. As a servant leader, be willing to go the extra mile for others because of who you are, not who the other person is. But before you can go the extra mile, know that you've got to have humility. It is impossible to go the extra mile without being humble. That's because humility is giving the best of me for the best of you, even if it costs me. A servant leader will go the extra mile for others, but he or she is only able to do this with humility. A humble heart is a prerequisite for becoming an extra miler.

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We are quick to say that family matters, but sometimes there is a disconnect between our words and our actions. If you really stop and ask yourself if your family matters, what do your actions say in response? Put another way, are you bought in on your family? Again, you may be tempted to just say yes, but what do your actions say? When you pay a price for your family, that is when you buy in. Family isn't just your blood relatives. Family is your team, your friends, and your classmates. Family is your community. Here are a few examples of how your actions might show that your family matters to you.

Description:
Working with a Last Set, Best Set mentality means that you give your all to the last set, even if you're tired and even if you don't want to. It doesn't just apply to the weight room. If you approach everything that you do with the mindset that you are going to finish it out better than you started, you will be unstoppable on or off the field. When your last set is your best set, that applies to everything that you do throughout the day. Instead of taking your prior effort as permission to go easier on the next task, accept the invitation to keep working hard. You are capable of more than you think you are, but you will never get to the more if you do not make your last set your best set.

Instead of focusing on talent and abdicating our responsibility, we can focus on cultivating zero talent skills. These are things like preparation, positivity, and coachability—skills you can learn that don’t require any natural ability or athletic talent.

Description:
When we reach for or try to become something that is not ours, we’ll always lose. Trying to be someone else never works. It’s nacho cheese; it’s not yours. There’s a difference between being inspired by someone’s success and being jealous of that success. When you’re inspired, it pushes you to be your best. When you’re jealous, it pushes you to be like them.

When you try to grab for something that is nacho cheese, you fail twice. You fail at being who you are not, and you fail at being you. Whether you are on the field, in the classroom, or looking in the mirror, your job is to be you. If it’s nacho cheese, don’t try to grab it anyway. Instead, do your job and be the best you that you can be.

Description:
We talk a lot about teamwork because when the individual members of a team come together as a team, then the team works. As Phil Jackson said, “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” There are three conditions for team to work:

• Team works when individuals bring their best for the team.

• Team works when we help others get what they want.

• Team works when we put the team in our work.

The team doesn’t work without teamwork. We have to work together if we’re all going to reach our goals.

Description:
Your motivation for pursuing your goals matters. If you are driven by external factors like praise and recruitment, that’s different from being driven by internal factors like a desire to be your best or to help your team do something great.

External motivation isn’t bad. But it’s not as effective as internal motivation. For one thing, external motivation is frequently based on performance, which is influenced by many factors other than you while internal motivation is based on your core values. When you chase greatness, chase internal greatness first. Be motivated not by what you can get, but by who you are.

Description:
Nobody wants to be a bad teammate, but too often, athletes settle for being a good teammate. What’s wrong with being a good teammate? Good is not enough when great is possible. The difference between being a good teammate or a great teammate is a simple choice, and that choice is love. When you love your teammates, it makes you a better teammate.

Description:
You get great at what you get reps at. If you’re constantly getting reps at eyes down and distracted, then that will be your default response when adversity comes on the path to your goals. With everyone’s eyes down and glued to their phones, it’s easy to think that there isn’t another way to be. But there is. Instead of eyes down and distracted, you can choose to be eyes up and focused. You can choose to be eyes up and present where you are developmentally and physically. And you can choose to be eyes up and truthful when the doubts come.

Description:
When you want something really bad, you're willing to run hard to get it. Running hard may look like actual running in practice, or it might look like studying when you'd rather play video games. Running hard means pursuing what matters in your life. Run hard after your passions. Run hard after your talent. But run hardest after what matters most: your character.

Description:
It's easy to compare yourself to others, but that comparison will lead you to be the wrong size. For example, when you get too big, pride leads the way and then you fall, and when you get too small, you beat yourself. But, when you're the right size, you view yourself accurately. Instead of comparing yourself to others and trying to adjust your size accordingly, let humility and confidence guide you to be the right size.

Description:
The best way to have great teammates is to choose to be a great teammate. Great teammates are both quick and slow. They are quick to listen, to learn, and to love. But they are slow to speak, to anger, and to judge. Pride will try to twist you up so you're quick to speak, to anger, and to judge while being slow to listen, to learn, and to love. But humility will help you put things back where they belong. When you choose to be a great teammate, one who is both quick and slow in the right ways, then you will help your teammates to do the same.

Description:
When you think about love, you might think of it as something sweet and soft, unrelated to goals or the game. But that’s a limited view of love. Love is so much stronger, tougher, and more durable than that sweet and soft viewpoint makes it appear. Love isn’t just something soft and fluffy. Love is tough. It’s tough enough to love somebody at their worst. It’s tough enough to tell them hard truths or push them to do hard things. It’s also tough enough to be on the receiving end of tough love. True love is tough.

Description:
To be a great teammate, you've got to make some commitments. We call these the top ten commitments of a great teammate. The ten items are each important, but if ten is a little much to remember, know that they boil down to one simple idea: WE BEFORE ME.

This also forms a handy mnemonic device for remembering the top ten commitments, which are: Work, Encouragement, Belief, Effort, Friends, Optimism, Respect, Enthusiasm, Motivation, and Effort. If you really want to be a great teammate, just remember: WE BEFORE ME.

Description:
What's the firm foundation that great teams are built upon? Trust and integrity. When those two things are present in every aspect of a team, it serves as a foundation that cannot be shaken. On that firm foundation of trust and integrity, your team can build talent, skill, strategy, and success. A team is made of its individual members. If you want your team to have a firm foundation, then you must have a firm foundation for yourself.

Description:
When you give time and effort in the weight room, you get strength. When you give attention and want-to to the classroom, you get a good education (and good grades). This principle of Get & Give is easy to see in those settings, but what about in your locker room?

What you give as a teammate is what you get in return. If you don't like what you're getting, then you've got to change what you're giving. Get & Give will help you to be the kind of teammate you want to have, so that your teammates can do the same.

Description:
Some people take pride in the wrong things. Some people take pride in nothing. But confidence comes from taking pride in the right things. When you succeed, no matter how big or small the win, take pride in yourself. Pride in yourself will motivate you in a way that shame never could. But to keep pride from turning into entitlement, you have to take pride in your teammates, too. And after you take pride in your success, you've got to get back to work.

Description:
What separates the best from the rest? It's not talent. It's not resources. It is commitment to three things that are solidly within your control. These three separators are choices that you make each day. Do you choose to finish through the line? Do you choose to work to the standard even when it's tough? Do you choose to accept hard coaching? These choices are what will separate you from the competition.

Description:
How you win matters just as much (if not more) than if you win. How you win is a reflection of who you are. You can't win with class and integrity if you don't have class and integrity. Winning in athletics prepares you to win in life. That's why it's important that you learn how to win right.

Description:
It costs nothing to set a goal, but it costs a lot to reach it. Committing to a goal is something to take pride in because so many people don't even make it that far. But setting a goal is not a guarantee of success, and the opportunity to succeed is not free. To actually reach a goal, you have to be willing to pay the opportunity cost of preparation, priorities, and practice.

Description:
Our body language will communicate things that our words never will. Words can be misunderstood, misinterpreted, or manipulated, but our body language will always tell the truth. It will always give us away. It’s a universal language.Your legs are burning, lungs on fire and your primary instinct is to bend over, put your hands on your knees, and catch your breath. At that moment, what does Coach say? “Stand tall!” Why? Because when you decide to stand tall, it communicates to everybody around you that you can be trusted. That you will be there when things get difficult.

Description:
A Do-For will only do things for what they get out of it, such as working hard for the praise. The problem is that eventually what we do the thing for will not be enough. On the flip side, a Do-Right does the right thing because it’s right regardless of where they are or what they will get out of it. To do right requires pride, time, and failure.

When you Do For the reward or praise, it won’t be enough to keep you pushing through the tough times. Instead, wherever you are or what you need to accomplish: Do Right.

Description:
The chicken line is the point at which your fear says you can't go any further. It's the point where you chicken out. Developing the will and courage to pass the chicken line despite your fear will mean the difference between success and failure. That's because everything you want, all of your goals and dreams, is on the other side of your chicken line.

Description:
The best athletes and leaders—the ones that we want to be like—they are the real deal. They are genuine, tough enough to do hard work when it is required, and full of integrity. Being the real deal requires that you be put to the test. It requires that you move beyond the hype and the big talk about what you're going to do, to actually doing it. What the world needs more of is young men and women who are willing to stand up and say "I am the real deal me." Have the courage to be yourself. Have the courage to be the real deal.

Description:
There are thousands of voices out in the world telling you to be someone other than who you are. Some of the voices are external. Other voices are internal. These voices all have one thing in common: They are 100% wrong. You don’t need to be what anyone else tells you to be. And you don’t have to let negative self-talk hold you back from expressing yourself. You are enough.

Description:
In the game of sports and the game of life, there will be critics. You can’t avoid critics entirely, but you can prepare to ensure that the arrows they shoot at you can’t derail you. You prepare by developing a thick skin. You prepare for criticism by holding to your convictions, keeping a solid sense of self independent from success or failure, and seeking the whole truth in the criticism.

Description:
If you want to reach your individual and team goals, you’ve got to be all gas, no brakes. From the locker room to the classroom to your house—the little things always matter. It’s not easy to always be all gas, no brakes. But if you start tapping the brakes on the little things in life, you’re going to end up coming to a screeching halt on the big things.

Description:
Everyone has experienced times when they just didn't feel like doing what they needed to do. Everyone has struggled with the question: How do you do what needs to be done when you don't want to do it? The answer is simple, but not easy: You do what your goals demand, not what your feelings want. You are not alone in the struggle to do what you don't feel like doing. When you don't want to do what you know needs to be done, remember to ask your goals what is required, and then go do that.

Description:
When we place an outsize value on talent, it becomes a convenient excuse for when we lose or fall short of our goals. When the focus is on talent, we lost because how could we possibly compete with the other team's stats and natural talent? When the focus is on skill, we lost because we weren't prepared or we didn't try hard enough or they out-worked us. Either it's not our responsibility so we can't do anything about it or it's fully our responsibility and we can do better next time.Instead of focusing on talent and abdicating our responsibility, we can focus on cultivating zero talent skills. These are things like preparation, positivity, and coachability—skills you can learn that don't require any natural ability or athletic talent.

Description:
Everyone has a responsibility. Only you can take care of your responsibilities as a student, as an athlete, or as a son or daughter. Responsibility means doing what you have been trusted to do. The moment you fail to do your job and someone else tries to do your job for you, there's two jobs that aren't being done. Your team counts on you to do what only you can do. This applies to all areas of life, even when you think you're "just a" freshman, teenager, etc. You have responsibilities that only you can handle. Take responsibility for what you have been trusted to do because only you can do it.

TOPIC: SERVANT LEADERSHIP
SUBTOPICS: Respect, Communication, Love, Service
These lessons emphasize helping others, serving others, and being available to help those in need. In pursuit of this goal, lessons focus on communication skills, relationship building, and understanding diversity. There is also a strong focus on teamwork and being a good team member. Lessons reinforce the idea that being a servant leader also means knowing who you are and playing to your strengths.

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Description:
Who is the most valuable person in your life? You might say your mom, your grandfather, or maybe even your girlfriend or boyfriend. Sure, there’s always an easy answer to that question, but the easy answer may not always be the most accurate. If we zoomed out of your life and looked at the person you value the most, do the most for, and focus on the most, you’d most likely be looking in the mirror. If you want to find success in the game of life, then you must learn to treat every person you meet, from the custodian to the coach that’s recruiting you, the same. Treat every person you meet like they are the most valuable person you’ve ever met.

Description:
“No excuses” might be the most cliche, over-used, and repeated phrase in all of sports. It has been shouted, drilled, and repeated in every locker room from the big apple to the pineapple, plastered on walls, and printed on t-shirts. Yet, as familiar, and self-explanatory as this phrase is, few people (especially high-school students) ever actually put it into practice. In fact, most student athletes do the exact opposite: they give excuse after tired excuse. The reality is, however, that excuses have NEVER ONCE lead to success. Ever. So, if we want to be the kind of men and women that find success, despite our circumstances, we must learn to do more than talk about “No excuses.”

Description:
Our lives are touched by several different traditions. These traditions come from our family, our community, our school, and our team.We have a responsibility to uphold these traditions, but also to enhance them. Tradition doesn’t determine what we do. What we do determines our tradition.The tradition of our sports program may be winning the district championship or making it to state, but that tradition is only carried on by what we do this year. Just because we won last year doesn’t mean we’ll automatically win this year. Just because we win this year doesn’t mean that we’ll automatically win next year.The tradition of our family may be going to college, but that tradition is only carried on by us choosing to do the same and putting in the effort required to get there. Just because our parents went to college doesn’t mean that we will. Just because we go to college doesn’t mean that our children will.

Description:
Everyday, we have a choice to make as to whether we want to impress people or impact people’s lives.When we focus on trying to impress others, we care about our reputations (and ourselves) more than we care about the impact we can have on the lives of others. When we instead focus on trying to have an impact on others, we care about our character and the people we can assist more than we care about the records we can break to gain attention. When we desire to be impactful, our purpose is one of selflessness and striving to make the world a better place because we genuinely care about others.

Description:
Tomorrow’s leaders are built in today’s locker rooms. Playing on our teams are the nurses, teachers, politicians, lawyers, and doctors of the future. But becoming tomorrow’s leaders requires a willingness to assume a leadership role, not just tomorrow, but also today. The best leaders are willing to sacrifice to serve others. They will do the things that no one else does. They want to be right in the mix of the action, not hanging out on the sidelines watching others do all the work for them. They are willing to choose the harder right over the easier wrong. Leaders are willing to pay the higher cost because serving others is so worth it.

Description:
Every person we meet is either going through a struggle, coming out of a struggle, or about to go into a struggle. There’s nothing we can do about that because we can’t control whether we are going to struggle. In a sense, that’s kind of freeing because it means we have no reason to be ashamed that we are struggling.

Overcoming trials and struggle is how we grow into the most complete version of ourselves. Steel doesn’t become one of the hardest workable materials on earth unless it is tempered with fire, and a person doesn’t understand their true inner character without struggle. There is a bright future awaiting us, but we have to go through struggle to get to it.

Description:
True humility is possible when you find your identity not in what you do, but in who you are. Your worth comes not from things like looks, or strength, or brains. Your worth comes from who you are and the reality that there is breath in your lungs. A humble person is someone who is so secure in who they are that their confidence becomes contagious. They become someone that everybody wants to be around. They become a leader that everybody wants to follow. Everywhere they go, they’re so confident in who they are that they just look for other people to lift up and celebrate, never afraid that someone else is coming for them. When you live your life with true humility, you become absolutely undefeatable. You will develop a spirit that is utterly unbreakable.

Description:
Stand firm and face your fears. Or turn and run from them. As tempting as it will be to turn and run, remember this: When you run from your fears your fears will overrun you. So, how do you find the fortitude to face your fears? You find F.A.M.I.L.Y. (Forget About Me I Love You). Turns out, F.A.M.I.L.Y. Is the antidote to fear. Whenever you have people surrounding you who are willing to sacrifice what’s best for them, for what’s best for you, you can face, and overcome any fear. Fear is a part of life. Overcoming fear is part of F.A.M.I.L.Y.

Description:
It’s not fair. Why is this happening to me? These are common thoughts when reality doesn’t meet up with your expectations. Common, but unhelpful. Life isn’t fair. Bad things happen to good people. Everyone makes mistakes. Even if you do everything right, you may still fail, but you have an opportunity to learn from this event and prepare for similar situations in the future. One method for seizing opportunities like this is the OODA Loop, originally developed by U.S. Air Force Col. John Boyd: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act

Description:
A well-known piece of writing advice is “Show; don’t tell.” A fictional character is built through showing them to the audience in bits and pieces throughout a story or book. In the same way, your character is built through small acts each day. When you act with integrity, honesty, self-discipline, and generosity, that shows your character, even when no one else is looking. Just as a fictional character is built through showing their actions, your personal character is built through your actions. Don’t tell me what you’re going to do. Show me by recognizing the difference between intention and demonstration, impacting the attitudes of others through your actions, and combating entitlement in daily life.

Description:
Conflict is guaranteed, but our response to conflict is not. We choose how we respond when someone wrongs us or when reality isn’t meshing with our expectations. It’s important to understand conflict resolution and practice it well because it limits the damage caused to our relationships and helps us move on together. Conflict resolution teaches us when to respond, what to respond with, and how to respond. We choose when, what with, and how we respond to conflict. Let’s be the generation that is overly generous with our forgiveness. Let’s learn to resolve conflict well, so it doesn’t cause further damage to our relationships.

Description:
“Humble warrior” might seem like an oxymoron at first glance, but the definitions of both words mesh really well. Humility is giving the best of me for the best of you, even if it costs me. And a warrior is someone who deploys their talents and energy for the good of others, for a cause greater than self. Warriors act not for their personal good, but for the greater good. Humility gives you the strength to work for others even when it costs you, just as a warrior does.

Description:
During a game, you don't ask the other team for permission to set the tempo because you know that permission will never come. In the same way, you aren't going to get permission from anyone to set the tempo in the locker room, in your education, or in your personal life; you just have to go first and set the tempo for yourself and others. Setting the tempo is about establishing the standard that you are going to uphold. A leader is defined by what they do, not what title they are given or what label is assigned to them. Leaders serve. Don't wait for permission to be a leader. Go first and be a leader. None of us can influence everyone, but we all have influence with someone. At its core, leadership is nothing but influence. So don't wait for permission to use your influence, go first.

Description:
There are many things you could think of when you hear the phrase "second chance." Here's how we like to think of it: A second chance is an opportunity to become who you can become. It's not something to be embarrassed about or to feel unworthy of. It's something to be thankful for. Practice gratitude for second chances. When you make a mistake, when you don't hold the standard, when you let someone down—These are all times when a second chance provides an opportunity for you to become who you can become. When others do those things, that's an opportunity for you to extend the second chance, the opportunity to become who they can become.

The best athletes aren't always the best leaders. They're two different skill sets that require different things of you. You don't have to be the best athlete to be a great leader; you just have to develop your skill to lead.

Description:
The hokey pokey is a fun dance from childhood. But when hokey pokey can be used to describe your commitment, your hard work, or your effort, then it’s not so fun anymore. We all know people who put in their commitment and then when it costs more than they thought it would, they take it out again. You might have even been that person.

At first glance, it makes sense to hold back a bit, to keep some energy or hard work reserved in case you need it later. But, as you probably know, there’s a problem with that. It short changes both you and your teammates. You don’t want to be a hokey pokey.

Description:
It’s not about you. Too often, we hear that and go “yeah, right. Of course it’s about me!” That’s the ego talking. It’s the part of you that thinks only about me, myself, and I. But as a servant leader, you’ve got to learn to make the ego take second place to the team. We before Me. The goal of leadership is not to have other people help you achieve your dreams; the goal is to help others achieve their dreams.

There are three things that happen when you fight for second place: When you fight for second place, you replace entitlement with gratitude. When you fight for second place, you don’t take criticism personally. When you fight for second place, everyone succeeds together as a team.

Description:
When you think of someone who is in charge, what comes to mind? Is it someone who uses their power and authority to make his or her life easier? Is it someone who acts with entitlement because they’ve earned all the perks of life through talent or skill? That’s one type of leader, but maybe they aren’t as in charge as they think they are.

See, being a leader is about more than what perks you get with the position or who you get to boss around. Being a leader is about loving, encouraging, and serving others. That is what you are in charge of: Loving, encouraging, and serving. The more people you love, encourage, and serve, the more of a leader you become.

Description:
A leader doesn’t have to be a speaker or an extrovert. A leader’s actions speak loudly whether they talk aloud or not. Things like showing up prepared and on time, standing tall when you’re tired, and smiling just in general, all tell your teammates more about your leadership abilities than your words ever could. If you want to be a leader, don’t worry so much about speaking loudly with your words; instead, speak loudly with your actions.

Description:
If you want to be a great leader and a great teammate, then you’ve got to lose yourself in service to your team. When you lose your ego and pride and selfishness, you are better able to serve. And the better you serve your teammates, the more you will win their hearts. When you can’t wait to go out and help your teammate become better, then you’ve lost yourself in service.

Description:
When someone gives up, it's usually not because they are incapable of continuing, but because they become discouraged. As Daniel Eckstein said, "Encouragement closes the gap between a person's potential and their self-imposed limitations." To be good teammates, we need to help our teammates close the gap. To do that, we've got to become elite encouragers.

Description:
One of the greatest leadership myths is that once you become a leader, you no longer have to follow. This is a lie because the best leaders remember what it was like to follow first. Your strength as a leader does not come from your position; it comes from your ability to bring together and work within the team. When you remember what it was like to follow first, it will make you a better leader.

Description:
A team is stronger as a unit than the sum of its individual players. Or at least, it can be–so long as the team trusts one another. A team that has trust will go much farther than a group of individuals who don't trust each other. If you want to build trust on your team, it's going to take three things: time, truth, and testing.

Description:
When we hear the phrase "one up" most of us will think about competing against others to show that we're better than them. But what if we flip that? What if, instead of trying to one up each other, we tried to lift one up every day? What if instead of viewing competition as a chance to best someone, we saw it as an opportunity to give our best to someone?

The short answer is: you would become a better team. That's what will happen if you and your teammates work on using competition, encouragement, and connection to build each other up, rather than stepping over one another.

Description:
Do your actions communicate that you are committed to your teammates as a friend or fan? A fan's support goes up or down depending on how things are going in the game. They don't have any skin in the game. A friend is there for you through thick and thin. They care more about you than they do about your performance. To build a great team, you've got to be committed to one another as friends.

Description:
Everybody leads at some level, including you. We all lead, but we don't all lead our teammates towards the goal. So the question to ask is: Am I a leader worth following? You make the choice for how you will lead, whether you promote enthusiasm, positivity, and passion through your leadership or negativity, apathy, and a lack of accountability. When everyone on the team takes ownership for their leadership, it helps the whole team move forward. But first each team member has to decide: What kind of leader are you going to be?

Description:
If you're interested in rugby, then you've heard of the New Zealand All Blacks. They are three-time Rugby World Cup champions, and they've won 77% of the games that they've played. The All Blacks have been successful for many reasons, but what really sets them apart is their dedication to a simple mantra: Sweep the sheds.

This means the team is committed to doing what needs to be done, no matter how small the task. No one is exempt from sweeping the sheds. To be a shed sweeper is to have the mindset that if you want to be great at the big things, then you have to be great at the small things, too.

Description:
We all do things that are not helpful to our team. We usually don't mean to do it, and we may not even realize that we are doing it. That's why we need to be able to call out and be called out by our teammates. But as helpful as call-outs are, they aren't necessarily easy. That's where the phrase "Not helpful" becomes helpful. If you see a teammate complaining, comparing, cutting corners, or being cocky, just say "Hey, that's not helpful," and then tell them what would be helpful.

Description:
If you don't connect your leadership in sports to leadership in life, then what have you really learned? How to play a game really well. Sure it's fun, and your friends right now are impressed by your skills, but what's that going to leave you with in the future? The point of being a leader for your team is not just to get better at throwing a ball; the point is to learn how to lead well long after your playing days are over. The Big Three actions to take your leadership beyond sports, are to love, encourage, and serve your teammates.

Description:
When you think of a leader, you might picture someone who does the right thing and sets a good example for others, but that's not all there is to leadership. In fact, those two things have more to do with handling your own business than leading others. So, what actually sets leaders apart? When leaders see something, they say so. The main difference between being a teammate and being a team leader is that leaders speak up and say so at key moments.

Description:
Excellence means giving the best of you, to whatever is in front of you, always. When you identify your best AND give it, again and again, you enter the Excellence Loop. Excellence is not about perfection or comparison. Excellence is a mentality that focuses on you and your choices. When you choose excellence, you either win or you learn; you never lose.

Description:
One of the hardest parts of leadership is that sometimes you'll lead in the right direction, and people will try to go their own way instead. In that moment, you have to choose to either give up on leadership or to lead anyway. You aren't a leader because other people follow you; you're a leader because you lead. Whether or not people follow from the start, lead anyway.

Description:
In the same way that iron sharpens iron, people sharpen people. The most important role you have on any team is to sharpen your teammates—to make them better. You sharpen each other during the long hours on the track or in the pool, through the heat of the gridiron or the echoing squeaks of the basketball gym. As iron sharpens iron, you and your teammates sharpen each other through the challenges you give, the competition you engage in, and the conflicts you overcome together.

Description:
Humility, or meekness, sometimes gets a bad rap because so many people think meekness and weakness are synonyms. And nobody wants to be weak. Despite the rhyming, meekness and weakness are in no way related. In fact, to practice meekness, you cannot be weak. Only the strong can be truly humble because humility requires self-confidence and security in who you are. When you live your life with true humility, you elevate and celebrate your teammates, and you demonstrate an inner strength that can’t be beaten.

Description:
Tomorrow’s leaders are built in today’s locker rooms. The young people playing on your teams are the nurses, teachers, politicians, lawyers, and doctors of the future. But becoming tomorrow’s leaders requires a willingness to assume a leadership role—not just tomorrow, but also today.Our athletes can be the leaders who are willing to get in it and take care of business. The leaders who jump right in to help others become their best selves. They’re already leaders because they are athletes, but if they are willing to get in it, then they will be leaders worth following.

Description:
Pressure is meant to catapult you forward, not to crush you. The difference lies in how you choose to view and use pressure in your life. Pressure by itself is neutral. It is your choices which change that neutral state to a positive or a negative. This includes the pressure of both internal and external forces, and it includes the pressure that you place on others.

Description:
“Humble warrior” might seem like an oxymoron at first glance, but the definitions of both words mesh really well. Humility is giving the best of me for the best of you, even if it costs me. And a warrior is someone who deploys their talents and energy for the good of others, for a cause greater than self. Warriors act not for their personal good, but for the greater good.Humility gives you the strength to work for others even when it costs you, just as a warrior does.

Description:
You don't have to be a great athlete to be a great leader. They are separate skills. Make no mistake, leadership is a skill. It's something that you can learn, just like you learned how to throw a ball or jump a hurdle.The best athletes aren't always the best leaders. They're two different skill sets that require different things of you. You don't have to be the best athlete to be a great leader; you just have to develop your skill to lead.

Description:
Character matters because character wins. Character is not a consolation prize. It's not the thing you get because you weren't talented enough to be a champion. It's the thing that allows you to become a champion at all. If you want to win on the field and in life, you must win in your character first. There are three reasons this is true:

1.Character is a talent amplifier.

2.Character is your foundation.

3.Character is the truth about who you are.

Description:
It's not about you. Too often, we hear that and go "yeah, right. Of course it's about me!" That's the ego talking. It's the part of you that thinks only about me, myself, and I. But as a servant leader, you've got to learn to make the ego take second place to the team. We before Me. The goal of leadership is not to have other people help you achieve your dreams; the goal is to help others achieve their dreams. There are three things that happen when you fight for second place: When you fight for second place, you replace entitlement with gratitude. When you fight for second place, you don't take criticism personally. When you fight for second place, everyone succeeds together as a team.

Description:

When you think of someone who is in charge, what comes to mind? Is it someone who uses their power and authority to make his or her life easier? Is it someone who acts with entitlement because they’ve earned all the perks of life through talent or skill? That’s one type of leader, but maybe they aren’t as in charge as they think they are.

TOPIC: WORK ETHIC

SUBTOPICS: Commitment, Accountability, Discipline, Rest
These lessons explain why it is preferable to give total effort and how to overcome a lack of desire to work. Lessons focus on the benefits of hard work without downplaying that things will be difficult. The curriculum prepares students for facing tough challenges and obstacles in the way of achieving their goals through perseverance and steadfast resolve to work hard even when success is not guaranteed. Lessons encourage students to be high-achieving.

Click to view/close lessons in this topic

Description:
We’ve all heard the saying, “When opportunity knocks, you better open the door.” That phrase claims if you’re not in the right place at the right time, you’ll miss your shot. Let’s get one thing straight: opportunity it not a unicorn. It’s not rare, and it’s definitely not a once in a lifetime chance. Opportunity is everywhere. The question is not, when will opportunity knock? The real question is, what doors am I building for opportunity to knock on? The more doors you build, the more opportunities you will have. The people that believe opportunity is a matter of luck haven’t picked up a hammer to make their own way. They’ve complained more than they’ve constructed.

Description:
When is the game really won? Is it when you run up the scoreboard? When the clock ticks out to zero? When you stride a few inches longer than your opponent? While all those are technically true, they don’t tell the whole story. A more complete story is, if you want to outscore your opponent on Friday night, you’ve gotta outwork them Saturday-Thursday. Victory is not simply had on the playing field, it’s had on the practice field. If you want to win in the game, you’ve got to win in practice. The math is rough, but in general, you will only spend around 8 percent of your time in a sport in the game. You’ll spend somewhere around 92 percent of your time practicing, watching film, working on the fundamentals, honing mental skills, and lifting in the weight room. That’s why we say: Prior Preparation Permits Proper Performance.

Description:
Discipline gives us the impetus to move forward and keep improving. We can imagine laying on a beach without a care all day, but at the end of that day, what has that gained us for the next day? On the other hand, if we spend that day in the weightroom or the classroom, putting our time and energy into enhancing our bodies and our minds, the next day brings new and better things.If we discipline ourselves to do the things we don’t want to do today, we will get the things we do want tomorrow.

Description:
“Don’t wait for success to come your way because if you do, it will never happen.”

- Coach Mackey

We are not passive participants in our futures. We are active creators. That’s not to say that opportunity and chance don’t play some role. But opportunity is useless if we don’t know what to do with it when it appears. We have to set the intention to prepare for those opportunities, and that is when we will find success. That ability to take advantage of opportunities depends on how hard we’ve worked to prepare for them. So the next time someone tells us “good luck,” we should replace that idea with “hard work.”

Description:
Champions don’t just win championships. Too often, people believe they can “hack” their way to champion status but cutting out the “fluff” and only focusing their efforts on making the “big changes” they see champions make. While there is no doubt value in learning from the greats --after all, success leaves clues-- we must learn about all the champions do, not just the big things. It will always be the commitment to and execution of the unseen and difficult fine tuning that separates the best, from rest. If you want to reach your goals in sports or in life, you’ve got to commit yourself to the small, incremental, fine tuning. This week, and every other, let’s commit to steady, consistent, incremental growth. To the Plus One.

Description:
The secret to success is simple. It’s the thing that everybody is trying to avoid.The thing that everybody is trying to figure out a way around. The secret to success is hard work.

But nobody can want hard work for you. Only you can decide that you want it.If you don’t want it, you’ll never choose it. But if you let the roots of hard workgrow in you, they’ll blossom into a deep WHY. And with a deep enough WHY,you can accomplish any HOW.

Description:
Leaders are careful about what they commit to. They don’t commit to every good thing that is out there.

There will always be more to do or achieve, but leaders aren’t interested in more for the sake of more; they are interested in achieving their next goal, and nothing more. Leaders know that enough is enough, and they don’t make commitments that don’t help move them forward.

Description:
The first five minutes after waking up set the tempo for the rest of your day. It works the same way for the first five minutes of practice, the first five minutes of class or family time or hanging out with your friends. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth bringing the first five mentality to it. That means preparing well, arriving well, and doing your job. The first five minutes set the tempo, not just of your morning, but of everything you do. Whatever you’re doing, the first five mentality can improve it.

Description:
The integrity gap is the gap between what is proclaimed and what actually is. It’s the space between your team’s stated values and the actual way those values come to life every day. For example, you would never let an opponent come in and trash your locker room; yet, you accept your teammate’s trashy talk and attitude there, and you look the other way because you don't want anyone to shine a light on the ways that you aren't ideal teammates. As leaders, teammates, and coaches we’ve got to close the G.A.P.

Description:
You can come up with all kinds of reasons to procrastinate and to put today's work off until tomorrow. But today's finish line is tomorrow's starting line. Where you stopped yesterday is where you start today. You can come up with all kinds of reasons for why you can put off today's work until tomorrow, but that negative progress is cumulative, just as positive forward movement is cumulative. If you put off today's work for tomorrow, you will find it still waiting for you tomorrow. Maybe worry is holding you back from doing today's work, such as worry about performing well or worry about missing out on something more fun. Worry won't get you anywhere, though. The only way to make progress, the only way to consistently keep moving forward towards your goals and dreams, is to do today's work today.

Description:
The famous fable of the tortoise and the hare teaches us that consistent work ethic will always beat inconsistent talent. If all you have is great talent with no consistency, then like the hare in the story, you'll end up losing to a tortoise when you should have won no question. Slow and steady progress towards a goal will win over fast but faulty progress. The hare lost to the tortoise because consistent hard work will always beat inconsistent talent. Follow the ABCs of consistent work ethic and you'll see how slow and steady wins the race.

Description:
Before a new gym can host the sporting events you love, it has to be built. There's a long process to get from empty patch of ground to shiny gym, and it involves a very dirty process of growing. In the same way, there's a long, dirty process between where you are now and where you want to be. This isn't meant to be discouraging. If anything, be encouraged that you’re still in the process of reaching your goals. You're growing, learning, and improving every day. But you have to be willing to do the dirty jobs to ultimately reach the shiny dream. Before a gym can host games, there are a lot of dirty jobs that have to be done to build the place. In the same way, you have to do the dirty jobs to build the skills and character needed to reach your goals and dreams.

Description:
What’s your superpower? The greatest power you can have is the strength to take responsibility. When you take responsibility, it doesn’t matter what you lack in talent or resources because taking responsibility puts the power to change your situation into your hands. As Marvel’s Uncle Ben said in so many versions of Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.” But the reverse is also true: With great responsibility comes great power.

There are three main ways that taking responsibility transforms your life: It helps you own your mistakes.It helps you learn how to learn. And It helps you do your job.The ability to take responsibility is a superpower that will transform the way we act. Let’s take responsibility today.

Description:

If you want to reach your individual and team goals, you’ve got to be all gas, no brakes. From the locker room to the classroom to your house—the little things always matter. It’s not easy to always be all gas, no brakes. But if you start tapping the brakes on the little things in life, you’re going to end up coming to a screeching halt on the big things.

Description:
We can’t become our best if we don’t give our best. Giving our best requires that we lock in. That means giving our eyes, our attention, to what is right in front of us. When we’re locked in, we aren’t distracted by outside things. To lock in, we have to walk through a ritual that will help us go from distracted and dazed to locked in like a laser.

Your ritual will look different from Coach Mackey’s ritual, or from your teammates’ and coaches’ rituals. It’s a very personal thing. But this guide can help you in developing your personal ritual. To lock in, you’ve got to develop a ritual that works for you to move you from distracted to focused.

When we slow down, we give ourselves the opportunity to give our best to what’s right in front of us. That doesn’t mean the end goal doesn’t matter to us; it just means that we’re able to be where our feet are. We need to slow down, so we don’t miss receiving something in this moment that will help us reach our goals in a future moment.

Description:
We all have different things that help us to get fired up to do something difficult. Maybe it’s a song, a secret handshake with a workout buddy, or a chant. Whatever it is, you probably already know that thing can fail you. Sometimes, when you really don’t want to do what you need to do, the secret motivation sauce doesn’t work, and you’re left asking: How do I find motivation to do what I don’t want to do?

The answer is choosing your standards over your feelings. Or in a single word: discipline.

Description:
Life is fast-paced. Sometimes the pace is so fast that you think you don’t have time to rest. But if you don’t take the time to rest and recover, then you won’t make it for the long haul. Think about a truck going down the highway. If you don’t stop for gas sometimes, you’re going to end up on the side of the road unable to continue. If you’re going to make it for the long haul, you’ve got to take time to rest.

Description:
A lot of people spend more time looking for a secret sauce or a cheat code to success than they do working towards the success they seek. The truth is: there is no cheat code. The only secret sauce you will find for success is a blend of hard work and consistency. When you show up day after day to put in the required and unrequired work, you earn your success. That’s the secret sauce for success: consistent hard work.

Description:
We live in a world that's obsessed with being THE best. And that can make you forget that what really matters is being YOUR best. Comparison to others and expecting perfection from yourself are traps that will try to prevent you from achieving your best. But your best is enough to reach your goals and dreams, so long as you consistently do the required and unrequired work.

Description:
If you feel like you're stuck on a hamster wheel, working really hard but not getting anywhere, then you need the 3 E's in your life. Set high Expectations for yourself and pair them with Encouragement from friends, family, and teammates. Allow your coach and your teammates to call you out, so they can Equip you to use the Encouragement and meet the Expectations. If you want off the hamster wheel, remember the 3 E's: Expectation, Encouragement, and Equipping.

Description:
Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? It may sound like a silly question, but it has some serious implications for your success on the field and in the game of life. Every day, you must ask yourself: “Did I set the temperature of my life, or did others set it for me? Did I let positive influences into my life, or did I hang with people who lead me away from my goals?" Only you can decide whether you’ll be a thermostat who influences those around them or a thermometer who picks the right influences to have around them.

Description:
Good coaches know to take time outs when the game is getting out of control. Time outs give your team a chance to breathe, and they create an opportunity to interrupt the (usually negative) flow of the game, so you can get your focus back where it needs to be. There's no game clock in life, but we can and should use time outs in life, too.

If you feel like the game of life is getting out of control, it’s probably the right moment to take a time out. Whether you have a couple of days or a couple of seconds to do it, use the time out to step back, take a breath, and ask hard questions. Then, when you’re prepared, get back in the game.

Description:
The person in the driver's seat determines where the bus is going. So what's in the driver's seat of your life? Letting fear or rewards drive is exhausting because the trip never ends; there's always a new fear in the rearview mirror or a new reward on the horizon. When you let love and gratitude drive the bus instead, you'll find success because you already have it. Where you go and in what time frame depends on who's driving the bus. When you think about your goals and dreams, who (or what) is in the driver's seat?

Description:
If you aren't pushing yourself to do the best you can, what are you waiting for? If you aren't leading your team, what are you waiting for? When you wait to push yourself or to act like a leader, you are paving the way for entitlement to enter your life. Entitlement dilutes your talent, causes you to compare yourself to others, and makes mole hills into mountains. To avoid entitlement, stop waiting and start working.

Description:
Being a student-athlete is hard. But then, life is hard, too. In the game of life, there are going to be obstacles and difficulties, just like there are in sports. Through coaching, we can learn how to show up to any challenges we meet and then rise above them all. And if we can do it in sports, we can do it in life.

Just show up. It sounds simple, but it can be really hard. You'll win half of your battles just by showing up in sports and in life. But for the other half, the really difficult battles, then how you show up matters.

Description:
You know that all you can give is your best, and you know that your best on one day won't always be the same as your best on another day. But how do you know when you've given your best?

It's more of an art than a science, but a helpful tool is the One More mindset. When you commit to fighting for One More until you have nothing left to give, then you will know you've done your best. And in the process, you'll reach the hard reps that count most. Your best will get better every time you commit to One More.

Description:
It's pretty easy to give total effort on a good day, when you're excited about what you're doing, and when your whole team is giving their best together. But life isn't always like that. There will be bad days. There will be days when you don't want to work. There will be days when you're the only one who does want to work. These situations will happen throughout your life–not just in sports. Don't let your effort be determined by your feelings or the environment. Give total effort regardless.

Description:
If you walk through life with no skin in the game, then there's nothing to anchor you when the going gets tough. If you want to succeed in sports and in life, then you have to pay the cost of your commitments; you have to take responsibility for your actions. In other words, you have to own it.

Description:
No matter how many times you're told that hard work is a good thing and that it pays off in the end, you'll still find yourself fighting against excuses, procrastination, and doubt, which all discourage hard work. When you face these de-motivators, remember: Hard work works.

Description:
Everybody feels like there just aren't enough hours in the day sometimes. When you feel overwhelmed by your schedule, you can't create more time, but you can ensure that the time you have is well spent. Spending time well means you get more out of that time than you put into it, like when you spend time outside of your comfort zone, serving others, or resting.

Description:
We’ve all heard the saying, “When opportunity knocks, you better open the door.” That phrase claims if you’re not in the right place at the right time, you’ll miss your shot. Let’s get one thing straight: opportunity is not a unicorn. It’s not rare, and it’s definitely not a once in a lifetime chance. Opportunity is everywhere. The question is not, when will opportunity knock? The real question is, what doors am I building for opportunity to knock on? The more doors you build, the more opportunities you will have. The people that believe opportunity is a matter of luck haven’t picked up a hammer to make their own way. They’ve complained more than they’ve constructed.

Description:
Whether it’s before a game, a big exam, or a job interview, people like to use the phrase “good luck” to show that they wish us the best. The problem with that phrase is that it hints that we aren’t really the masters of our own success. “Good luck” says we aren’t really in control of whether or not we win the game, pass the test, or get the job offer. The truth is, we are in control. We control how much time we spend practicing drills and running plays before game, how hard we push to get faster, better, and stronger. We are not passive participants in our futures. We are active creators.

Description:
Preparation. Integrity. Effort. PIE. We are the only ones who can control those three key ingredients to excellence. Excellence is not defined by points or any other game stat. It is defined by our preparation and effort, which hinges on our integrity. When we prepare well, and when we give our best effort, it shows that we are acting with integrity. Those three things are what qualify us to execute on our goals and dreams.

Don’t let the hard work steal the joy; instead let the joy fuel the hard work.

Description:
When we think about competition, we probably think about competing against another person or multiple people. Running a race, playing monopoly, or eating hotdogs are all competitions against another person. But even when we participate in a competition with others, there’s always one competitor that we should be striving to beat, more than any other: ourselves. When we focus on competing with another person, we just have to be as good as them, or slightly better than they are. That limits how good we actually are or should be. When we focus on competing with ourselves, there’s no limit to how great we can become.

Description:
The greatest lie that you will hear in your life is that success is given. Success is not owed to you. Your goals are not supposed to be easy to achieve. You are not entitled to success simply because you have the right "fill in the blank," or have amassed the right stats, or come from the right part of town. Turns out, even if you are given more than others, you still have to choose what to do with what you’ve been given. Success is never given. It is always chosen, always earned.

Description:
Look at the best in professional sports: Tom Brady, Lebron James, Alex Morgan. If you ask them what the secret to their success is—the secret to the championships, endorsement deals, and complete mastery of their game—their answers would all be the same: it’s all about hard work. The best work is hard work. Choose to be your best today and work hard!

Description:
You will only spend eight percent of your time competing. But, you spend 92 percent of your time practicing, watching film, working on the fundamentals and lifting in the weight room. If you want to outscore your opponent on Friday night, you’ve got to outwork them Saturday through Thursday. Victory isn’t just for the playing field; it's also found on the practice field. If you want to win in the game, you’ve got to win in practice.Remember the Five "P"s: Prior Preparation Permits Proper Performance.

Description:
Internet celebrities, musicians, and pro athletes have given us a skewed view of what it means to be successful. So often, those big careers make it seem like success just happens overnight. It doesn’t work that way, though. Success isn’t something that just happens. Overnight success takes years to achieve. It starts with small steps that lead to bigger things. Overnight success is a long game with a lengthy build up and a big finish.

Description:
It’s easy to say “Never give up.” It’s a lot harder to back it up. It’s hard to refuse to quit when the sun is blazing overhead, or you’re sinking into the mud, or you hurt all over. It’s hard to stand firm in your belief that you can achieve your goals. It gets tempting to just let it go, to just pick an easier dream.You are worth so much more than that, though. You are worth the struggle. You are worth the fight to keep going. Nothing is impossible if you keep trying because success always lies in trying just one more time. Stand firm behind your dreams and keep chasing them because you are worth it.

Description:
Every morning you have to make the choice to either rise and whine or rise and grind. The morning is going to come whether you like it or not, but how you choose to greet the morning will determine how the rest of your day goes. Rise and whine is all about excuses and complaining--neither of which will get you anywhere. But rise and grind is all about getting up and doing the work anyway, which is the only way to succeed. The rise and grind mindset doesn't just apply to the morning, though. When your mindset is rise and grind, that translates to making your whole day better.

Description:
What's your superpower? The greatest power you can have is the strength to take responsibility. When you take responsibility, it doesn't matter what you lack in talent or resources because taking responsibility puts the power to change your situation into your hands. As Marvel's Uncle Ben said in so many versions of Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." But the reverse is also true: With great responsibility comes great power. There are three main ways that taking responsibility transforms your life: It helps you own your mistakes. It helps you learn how to learn. And It helps you do your job.The ability to take responsibility is a superpower that will transform the way we act. Let's take responsibility today.

The answer is choosing your standards over your feelings. Or in a single word: discipline.

Description:
You know that all you can give is your best, and you know that your best on one day won't always be the same as your best on another day. But how do you know when you've given your best?

The answer is choosing your standards over your feelings. Or in a single word: discipline.

2Words is a video-based, character development curriculum. It’s designed for coaches and written for secondary athletes across all sports.

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2W Content Playbook

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HOW TO USE THE PLAYBOOK

SEASON 1

Become Perfect • View Week 6 Key Topics: growth not perfection; learning from mistakes; consequences; WISDOM; gratitude; strength; creating opportunity; perspective; intention

Purposed Pain • View Week 12 Key Topics: integrity; struggle; focus forward; communication; pain; control anger;

Focus Forward • View Week 16 Key Topics: grit; tenacity; perspective; focus forward; goal-setting; perseverance

You Choose • View Week 35 Key Topics: decisions; responsibility; choice; personal development; impact; coaching beyond the game

SEASON 2

On Purpose • View Week 5 Key Topics: 168 hours; efficiency; family; narrative; action; preparation

All In • View Week 7 Key Topics: trust; if/then mindset; building trust; remaining calm

Deeper Alignment • View Week 14 Key Topics: purpose; alignment; FAMILY

Thunder vs Lightning • View Week 36 Key Topics: work; praise; casting vision; action; goals; growth mindset; empty gym; influence; impact

SEASON 3

Opportunity Costs • View Week 2 Key Topics: preparation; 5 Ps; stages of grief; disappointment; important vs urgent; long shelf life skills

Why Goals? • View Week 14 Key Topics: goal setting; intentionality; goals; achievement; focus; purpose; others-centered leadership

Main Thing • View Week 19 Key Topics: main thing; core values; purpose; motivation; distractions; roadblocks; overcome; high standards

One Click • View Week 28 Key Topics: family values; off course; standard bearer; little things; mistakes; set the example; course correct

SEASON 4

New Normal • View Week 5 Key Topics: goals

Rent's Due • View Week 17 Key Topics: goals

Aim Small • View Week 32 Key Topics: daily work, hard work, goals, focus on the little things, focus on the goal

SEASON 5

Right or Wrong • View Week 2 Key Topics: focus forward, learning from mistakes, toughness, skill vs talent, being a good teammate

Like or Love • View Week 15 Key Topics: Servant leadership, like, love, sacrifice, commitment, tough love, forgiveness, trust, teamwork, transformational coaching

Rise and Grind • View Week 16 Key Topics: grit, preparation, toughness, attitude, perspective, mindset, morning routine, stop whining, no excuses, want to

Faith or Fear • View Week 35 Key Topics: faith, fear, failure, anxiety, perseverance, future, present, success

SEASON 6

Take Five • View Week 2 Key Topics: anger management, controlling emotions, constructive anger, frustration, count the eyes, disagreement, breathing exercises

Get Smart • View Week 8 Key Topics: asking for help, helping others, strength, weakness, mental health, mental wellness, mental illness, support, feedback

Unrequired Work • View Week 14 Key Topics: work, goals, unrequired work, required work, mandatory work, hard work, champion, mindset, talent, character, going the extra mile

Control Freak • View Week 24 Key Topics: control the controllables, let go, effort, focus, preparation, 5 Ps, your best

One Thing • View Week 26 Key Topics: one day, future-tripping, goals, success, mindset, overnight success, next step, little things, focus

Little Things • View Week 32 Key Topics: consistency, little things, next step, small step, big goal, little moments, action, goals, discipline, trust

SEASON 7

Championship Accountability • View Week 4 Key Topics: champion, accountability, responsibility, internal and external accountability, standards, integrity, ownership, effort, holding others accountable, support network, goals

Be Here • View Week 9 Key Topics: be present, be where your feet are, future tripping, can’t change the past, mental game, mental health, growth, goals, improvement, mindfulness, overwhelmed, stress, pressure

Rocking Chair • View Week 15 Key Topics: self-management, stop waiting, initiative, motivation, worry, anxiety, overthinking, coachability, next step

Be Right • View Week 23 Key Topics: responsible decision-making, social media, character development, reputation, integrity, commitment, hard work, ethics, appearance vs reality, self reflection

Plain Sight • View Week 29 Key Topics: secret sauce, shortcut to success, perspective, process, goals, hard work, support, plan, commitment

Five No's • View Week 35 Key Topics: excuses, complaining, lies, entitlement, hokey pokey, all in, positivity, hard work, responsibility, reliability, commitment, telling the truth, not helpful, teamwork, grit, high standards

SEASON 8

Commitment Wins • View Week 2 Key Topics: commitment, challenge, perseverance, growth, take action, success, tenacity, grit, struggle, consistency

Start Small • View Week 8 Key Topics: next step, little things, goals, responsible decision-making, progress, consistency, stay steady, celebrate you, truth teller, honesty

Messy Middle • View Week 15 Key Topics: growing up, progress, long-term goals, preparation, work ethic, consistency, discipline, gratitude, competition, be present, grit

Track 2 Curriulums

// SEASON 1

Let Go • View Week 6 Key Topics: let go, overcome, pride, helping others, savor the moment, goals

Purposed Pain • View Week 12 Key Topics: content, complicit, compelled, committed, team culture, casting a vision, celebrate, personal code

Step Up • View Week 16 Key Topics: modiha, motivation, discipline, habit, hardship, struggle, overcome, goal-setting, servant leadership, positive pressure, goals

All In • View Week 24 Key Topics: trust, if/then mindset, building trust, remaining calm, emotion regulation, truth, goals, all in, total effort

Attack Mode • View Week 30 Key Topics: clear objectives, attack mode, focus, goals, never give up, mindset, effort, worth it

Thunder vs Lightning • View Week 36 Key Topics: hard work, praise, casting vision, action, goals, empty gym, influence, impact, thunder vs lightning

// SEASON 2

Go Pro • View Week 3 Key Topics: grit, tenacity, perspective, focus forward, goal-setting, perseverance, goals, professional, amateur, mindset, grit, champion mentality, grow up, hard work

Build Confidence • View Week 10 Key Topics: confidence, self-confidence, competition, building confidence, skills, get reps, surrender the outcome, preparation, effort, 5 Ps, goals

Family First • View Week 15 Key Topics: growth mindset, goals, alignment, family goals, personal goals, mudita, your role, FAMILY

One Minute • View Week 22 Key Topics: time management, change, beyonce time, control the controllables, have to vs get to, goals

Fire Failure • View Week 26 Key Topics: failure, fear of failure, success, definition of failure, fear, little things, small wins, commitment to goals

Take Action • View Week 35 Key Topics: focus forward, letting go of mistakes, entitlement, action steps, goal setting, unearned praise

// SEASON 3

Take Five • View Week 2 Key Topics: Growth mindset, total effort, competition, value, respect, FAMILY, Forget About Me I Love You, caring for others

Get Smart • View Week 8 Key Topics: asking for help, helping others, strength, weakness, mental health, mental wellness, mental illness, support, feedback

Unrequired Work • View Week 14 Key Topics: work, goals, unrequired work, required work, mandatory work, hard work, champion, mindset, talent, character, going the extra mile

Control Freak • View Week 24 Key Topics: control the controllables, let go, effort, focus, preparation, 5 Ps, your best

One Thing • View Week 26 Key Topics: one day, future-tripping, goals, success, mindset, overnight success, next step, little things, focus

Little Things • View Week 32 Key Topics: consistency, little things, next step, small step, big goal, little moments, action, goals, discipline, trust

// SEASON 4

Championship Accountability • View Week 4 Key Topics: champion, accountability, responsibility, internal and external accountability, standards, integrity, ownership, effort, holding others accountable, support network, goals

Be Here • View Week 9 Key Topics: be present, be where your feet are, future tripping, can’t change the past, mental game, mental health, growth, goals, improvement, mindfulness, overwhelmed, stress, pressure

Rocking Chair • View Week 15 Key Topics: self-management, stop waiting, initiative, motivation, worry, anxiety, overthinking, coachability, next step

Plain Sight • View Week 29 Key Topics: secret sauce, shortcut to success, perspective, process, goals, hard work, support, plan, commitment

Track 3 Curriulums

/// SEASON 1

Take Five • View Week 2 Key Topics: anger management, controlling emotions, constructive anger, frustration, count the eyes, disagreement, breathing exercises

Get Smart • View Week 8 Key Topics: asking for help, helping others, strength, weakness, mental health, mental wellness, mental illness, support, feedback

Unrequired Work • View Week 14 Key Topics: work, goals, unrequired work, required work, mandatory work, hard work, champion, mindset, talent, character, going the extra mile

SEASON 1

Sacrifice Required • View Week 2 Key Topics: leaders set the example; willing sacrifice; work now to reap rewards later; sacrifice for family; greater purpose

Guaranteed Struggle • View Week 18 Key Topics: struggle; pain; coping mechanisms; overcome;

Become Perfect • View Week 6
Key Topics: growth not perfection; learning from mistakes; consequences; WISDOM; gratitude; strength; creating opportunity; perspective; intention

Purposed Pain • View Week 12
Key Topics: integrity; struggle; focus forward; communication; pain; control anger;

Focus Forward • View Week 16
Key Topics: grit; tenacity; perspective; focus forward; goal-setting; perseverance

You Choose • View Week 35
Key Topics: decisions; responsibility; choice; personal development; impact; coaching beyond the game

On Purpose • View Week 5
Key Topics: 168 hours; efficiency; family; narrative; action; preparation

All In • View Week 7
Key Topics: trust; if/then mindset; building trust; remaining calm

Deeper Alignment • View Week 14
Key Topics: purpose; alignment; FAMILY

Thunder vs Lightning • View Week 36
Key Topics: work; praise; casting vision; action; goals; growth mindset; empty gym; influence; impact

Opportunity Costs • View Week 2
Key Topics: preparation; 5 Ps; stages of grief; disappointment; important vs urgent; long shelf life skills

Why Goals? • View Week 14
Key Topics: goal setting; intentionality; goals; achievement; focus; purpose; others-centered leadership

Main Thing • View Week 19
Key Topics: main thing; core values; purpose; motivation; distractions; roadblocks; overcome; high standards

One Click • View Week 28
Key Topics: family values; off course; standard bearer; little things; mistakes; set the example; course correct

New Normal • View Week 5
Key Topics: goals

Rent's Due • View Week 17
Key Topics: goals

Aim Small • View Week 32
Key Topics: daily work, hard work, goals, focus on the little things, focus on the goal

Right or Wrong • View Week 2
Key Topics: focus forward, learning from mistakes, toughness, skill vs talent, being a good teammate

Like or Love • View Week 15
Key Topics: Servant leadership, like, love, sacrifice, commitment, tough love, forgiveness, trust, teamwork, transformational coaching

Rise and Grind • View Week 16
Key Topics: grit, preparation, toughness, attitude, perspective, mindset, morning routine, stop whining, no excuses, want to

Faith or Fear • View Week 35
Key Topics: faith, fear, failure, anxiety, perseverance, future, present, success

Take Five • View Week 2
Key Topics: anger management, controlling emotions, constructive anger, frustration, count the eyes, disagreement, breathing exercises

Get Smart • View Week 8
Key Topics: asking for help, helping others, strength, weakness, mental health, mental wellness, mental illness, support, feedback

Unrequired Work • View Week 14
Key Topics: work, goals, unrequired work, required work, mandatory work, hard work, champion, mindset, talent, character, going the extra mile

Control Freak • View Week 24
Key Topics: control the controllables, let go, effort, focus, preparation, 5 Ps, your best

One Thing • View Week 26
Key Topics: one day, future-tripping, goals, success, mindset, overnight success, next step, little things, focus

Little Things • View Week 32
Key Topics: consistency, little things, next step, small step, big goal, little moments, action, goals, discipline, trust

Championship Accountability • View Week 4
Key Topics: champion, accountability, responsibility, internal and external accountability, standards, integrity, ownership, effort, holding others accountable, support network, goals

Be Here • View Week 9
Key Topics: be present, be where your feet are, future tripping, can’t change the past, mental game, mental health, growth, goals, improvement, mindfulness, overwhelmed, stress, pressure

Rocking Chair • View Week 15
Key Topics: self-management, stop waiting, initiative, motivation, worry, anxiety, overthinking, coachability, next step

Be Right • View Week 23
Key Topics: responsible decision-making, social media, character development, reputation, integrity, commitment, hard work, ethics, appearance vs reality, self reflection

Plain Sight • View Week 29
Key Topics: secret sauce, shortcut to success, perspective, process, goals, hard work, support, plan, commitment

Five No's • View Week 35
Key Topics: excuses, complaining, lies, entitlement, hokey pokey, all in, positivity, hard work, responsibility, reliability, commitment, telling the truth, not helpful, teamwork, grit, high standards

Commitment Wins • View Week 2
Key Topics: commitment, challenge, perseverance, growth, take action, success, tenacity, grit, struggle, consistency

Start Small • View Week 8
Key Topics: next step, little things, goals, responsible decision-making, progress, consistency, stay steady, celebrate you, truth teller, honesty

Messy Middle • View Week 15
Key Topics: growing up, progress, long-term goals, preparation, work ethic, consistency, discipline, gratitude, competition, be present, grit

Let Go • View Week 6
Key Topics: let go, overcome, pride, helping others, savor the moment, goals

Purposed Pain • View Week 12
Key Topics: content, complicit, compelled, committed, team culture, casting a vision, celebrate, personal code

Step Up • View Week 16
Key Topics: modiha, motivation, discipline, habit, hardship, struggle, overcome, goal-setting, servant leadership, positive pressure, goals

All In • View Week 24
Key Topics: trust, if/then mindset, building trust, remaining calm, emotion regulation, truth, goals, all in, total effort

Attack Mode • View Week 30
Key Topics: clear objectives, attack mode, focus, goals, never give up, mindset, effort, worth it

Thunder vs Lightning • View Week 36
Key Topics: hard work, praise, casting vision, action, goals, empty gym, influence, impact, thunder vs lightning

Go Pro • View Week 3
Key Topics: grit, tenacity, perspective, focus forward, goal-setting, perseverance, goals, professional, amateur, mindset, grit, champion mentality, grow up, hard work

Build Confidence • View Week 10
Key Topics: confidence, self-confidence, competition, building confidence, skills, get reps, surrender the outcome, preparation, effort, 5 Ps, goals

Family First • View Week 15
Key Topics: growth mindset, goals, alignment, family goals, personal goals, mudita, your role, FAMILY

One Minute • View Week 22
Key Topics: time management, change, beyonce time, control the controllables, have to vs get to, goals

Fire Failure • View Week 26
Key Topics: failure, fear of failure, success, definition of failure, fear, little things, small wins, commitment to goals

Take Action • View Week 35
Key Topics: focus forward, letting go of mistakes, entitlement, action steps, goal setting, unearned praise

Take Five • View Week 2
Key Topics: Growth mindset, total effort, competition, value, respect, FAMILY, Forget About Me I Love You, caring for others

Get Smart • View Week 8
Key Topics: asking for help, helping others, strength, weakness, mental health, mental wellness, mental illness, support, feedback

Unrequired Work • View Week 14
Key Topics: work, goals, unrequired work, required work, mandatory work, hard work, champion, mindset, talent, character, going the extra mile

Control Freak • View Week 24
Key Topics: control the controllables, let go, effort, focus, preparation, 5 Ps, your best

One Thing • View Week 26
Key Topics: one day, future-tripping, goals, success, mindset, overnight success, next step, little things, focus

Little Things • View Week 32
Key Topics: consistency, little things, next step, small step, big goal, little moments, action, goals, discipline, trust

Championship Accountability • View Week 4
Key Topics: champion, accountability, responsibility, internal and external accountability, standards, integrity, ownership, effort, holding others accountable, support network, goals

Be Here • View Week 9
Key Topics: be present, be where your feet are, future tripping, can’t change the past, mental game, mental health, growth, goals, improvement, mindfulness, overwhelmed, stress, pressure

Rocking Chair • View Week 15
Key Topics: self-management, stop waiting, initiative, motivation, worry, anxiety, overthinking, coachability, next step

Plain Sight • View Week 29
Key Topics: secret sauce, shortcut to success, perspective, process, goals, hard work, support, plan, commitment

Take Five • View Week 2
Key Topics: anger management, controlling emotions, constructive anger, frustration, count the eyes, disagreement, breathing exercises

Get Smart • View Week 8
Key Topics: asking for help, helping others, strength, weakness, mental health, mental wellness, mental illness, support, feedback

Unrequired Work • View Week 14
Key Topics: work, goals, unrequired work, required work, mandatory work, hard work, champion, mindset, talent, character, going the extra mile

Sacrifice Required • View Week 2
Key Topics: leaders set the example; willing sacrifice; work now to reap rewards later; sacrifice for family; greater purpose

Guaranteed Struggle • View Week 18
Key Topics: struggle; pain; coping mechanisms; overcome;

Charlie Mike • View Week 31
Key Topics: no excuses; stand firm; don't quit; grit; priority

Second Wind • View Week 4
Key Topics: perseverance; four Cs of parenting; positivity; consistency

Dare Greatly • View Week 19
Key Topics: fear of failure; process; outcome; results; seeking perfection; success; struggle; what gets rewarded gets repeated; be better than good enough; failure is an event not a person; criticism

Attitude & Action • View Week 28
Key Topics: attitude; belief; trust; reaction vs response; extra attention; open door; personal development; 7 Cs; commitment; care; culture; consistency; communication

X Factor • View Week 32
Key Topics: hard work; work ethic; grit; character; humility; belief

Reset Button • View Week 5
Key Topics: reset; expectation vs. reality

Bring It • View Week 10
Key Topics: effort; giving your best; bring it; impact; remove obstacles; support; motivate; encourage

Tough Love • View Week 13
Key Topics: tough love; discipline; blind spots; growth mindset

After Contact • View Week 31
Key Topics: tenacity; resilience; stand firm; how to be tough; how to be gritty; encouraging others; TUFF

Tried and True • View Week 4
Key Topics: grit

Tough Enough • View Week 14
Key Topics: grit

Today's Test • View Week 23
Key Topics: tried and true; tested; progress; goals; action steps; grit; overcoming obstacles

Doers Do • View Week 20
Key Topics: take action, responsibility, do something, grit, determination, toughness, physical toughness, mental toughness, emotional toughness, potential, talent

Stay Steady • View Week 26
Key Topics: steadfast, reliable, even-keeled, chaos, hard times, praise, criticism, good days, bad days, responsibility

Good Good • View Week 5
Key Topics: adversity, obstacles, growth, failure, challenges, mindset, attitude, grit, determination, overcoming adversity, setbacks

Game Changer • View Week 7
Key Topics: change the game, momentum shift, attitude, mindset, take action, take responsibility, control the controllables, total effort

Defined or Refined • View Week 13
Key Topics: work, goals, unrequired work, required work, mandatory work, hard work, champion, mindset, talent, character, going the extra mile

Say Thanks • View Week 25
Key Topics: adversity, challenges, what to do with a bad day, be uncommon, gratitude, life is for you, hardship, overcoming obstacles, grit, growth through adversity

Commitment Counts • View Week 34
Key Topics: commitment, alignment, boundaries, how to set boundaries, commitment cost, promises, keeping your word, hard work