SEASON 8 - LESSONS 19-36

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WEEKLY LESSONS

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WEEK 19: WAKE UP

A lot of people sleep through life. They may look wide awake, but they're completely disconnected from the world around them as they just go through the motions of living. But everyone has to wake up eventually. If you wake up by choice, it's going to be uncomfortable. But if you wait for life to wake you up, it's going to be painful. Don't wait for life to wake you up. Choose to wake up to responsibility and reality. Choose to wake up to right now.

Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics:
responsibility, facing reality, be here, presence, self-awareness, accountability, character, choices, entitlement, personal code, procrastination
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WEEK 20: ALL FAILURE

Getting things wrong is how you learn to get things right. That's why failure will make up many of the steps on your path to success. Not all failure is created equally, though, and some failures are scarier than others. All failure can teach you how to become the leader, athlete, student, and person that you want to become, but only if you’re willing to learn from it.

Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics:
failure, learning from mistakes, responsible decision-making, good risks, growth mindset, overcoming obstacles, truth, character, preparation
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WEEK 21: UNDER PRESSURE

Playing a sport comes with a certain level of pressure attached, as does life in general. The purpose of that pressure is to reveal the truth of who you are as an athlete, a leader, and a person. Some people are crushed by the truth, but some are catapulted to success by it. The difference lies in what they do with the truth that the pressure of their position reveals.

Pillar: Grit
Key Topics:
pressure, expectations, standards, truth, character, self-management, grit, attitude, support, competition, distraction, be here
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WEEK 22: TEAM FIRST

Striving to be first team means you want to be the best ON the team, while striving to be Team First means you want to be your best FOR the team. The best leaders are Team First, not first team. That's because being a great leader has nothing to do with your talent on the field and everything to do with your talent as a leader. People follow leaders they trust. To be a trustworthy leader, you've got to be team first.

Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics:
service, servant leadership, relationship skills, trust, trustworthy, character vs talent, go first, empathy, respect, mudita, teamwork, goal alignment
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WEEK 23: GET HIRED

It takes few skills and little experience to get hired for the freshman team, but it takes a lot more to get hired as a team captain. The same is true for paid jobs–getting hired as a convenience store clerk requires less experience and fewer specialized skills than getting hired as a head coach. No matter the position you're trying to get hired for, there are certain skills that will always help you succeed, including: work ethic, consistency, discipline, and humility.

Pillar: Goals
Key Topics:
goals, success, consistency, discipline, humility, work ethic, hard work, long-term, commitment, team work, again and again, self-management, transferable skills
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WEEK 24: LITTLE QUITS

Missing your goals happens slowly, and then all at once. It starts with a little quit here or there, like mentally zoning out in the classroom or skipping a few reps in the weight room. You think these things don't matter because they're so small, but with each little quit, you get closer to missing your goal. Every choice you make is either a little quit or a little commitment.

Pillar: Work Ethic
Key Topics:
work ethic, responsible decision-making, commitment, sacrifice, overcoming obstacles, one more, focus, your best, effort
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WEEK 25: INNER GAME

The outer game is where you test your skills against your opponents' skills on the field. The inner game is where you face off with your own mind. When you win the inner game, you gain the ability to control your mind so it can't run away with you. Your inner game will affect, and even determine, your outer game. The ways that you talk to yourself, see yourself, and compete all influence your ability to win the inner game.

Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics:
growth mindset, self-awareness, competition, self-image, perspective, self talk, you vs you, positivity, pressure, right size, focus, learning from mistakes, visualization
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WEEK 26: FLUSH IT

While helping the baseball team at Cal State Fullerton learn to move on from mistakes, Dr. Ken Ravissa placed a toilet in the dugout. The idea was that after players made a mistake on the pitch, they would come back to the dugout and flush it away. It might sound silly, but this worked! The team performed significantly better after having the physical reminder to let go of their mistakes. Even if you don't have a toilet in the dugout, there are other ways to flush it after you make a mistake.

Pillar: Goals
Key Topics:
goals, self-management, learning from mistakes, let go, perspective, focus, positivity, inner game, own it
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WEEK 27: CHAMPIONSHIP RELATIONSHIPS

The higher you rise in any field, the more that talent will level out, and the only thing that can separate you as an individual will be your character. What separates talented teams from the rest is their relationships. The teams with championship relationships win championships. No one wins alone. If you want to form championship relationships with your teammates, then there are a few things you'll want to start doing today.

Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics:
servant leadership, relationship skills, communication, valuing others, respect, service, teamwork, self care, building trust, friend or fan
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WEEK 28: KNOW YOURSELF

Do you know the real you? Who you are is not just what you like or what you hope will be true about you. It's deeper than that. To know yourself, means you know things like your purpose and desired outcome, motivations and discouragements, and strengths and weaknesses. Clarity and confidence come when you know yourself on this deeper level.

Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics:
personal code, self awareness, purpose, motivation, discouragement, encouragement, desire outcome, why and what, stengths and weaknesses, self reflection
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WEEK 29: GOOD NEWS

Life is hard. You will lose. You will fall short of your goals. The goals that you do achieve will take longer to reach and cost more than you expected. But don't start throwing a pity party because all of that is actually Good News. At least, it is if you choose for it to be. Whether or not a situation is Good News depends more on your perspective than your circumstances. No matter what adversity or challenge you face, it can be Good News if you choose to see it that way.

Pillar: Grit
Key Topics:
Grit, attitude, self management, perseverance, bad news, bad day, perspective, mindset, count the cost, sacrifice, long-term goals, hard work, learning from mistakes
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WEEK 30: COACHED UP

When you make a mistake, you can figure out how to fix it by trial and error eventually, but it's much easier if you have a coach around to teach you instead. Learning from mistakes is faster and easier when you have a more experienced person helping you to see where you went wrong and how you can get it right. Your coach is willing to coach you up, but for that to happen, you have to be willing to be coached up.

Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: growth mindset, coachability, responsible decision-making, choice, learning from mistakes, coachable, choose to learn, mentor, experience, teaching, anger management, listening skills, follow up, relationship skills
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WEEK 31: MONKEY BARS

When you swing across the monkey bars, the only way to keep moving forward is to let go of the bar behind you, so you can grab the one ahead of you. If you don't let go of the bar behind you, you will eventually fall. The same is true as you move through life. The only way to keep moving toward your goals and dreams is to let go of the past. If you don't let go, the past will eventually pull you down.

Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics:
letting go, learning from mistakes, reality vs expectation, focus forward, your best, personal record, perseverance, flush it, growth mindset, perspective
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WEEK 32: SECOND YES

When you join a sports team or choose a class to take, that decision is the first Yes. The first Yes is important because it's the one that gets you started. But once you start, there will come a time when you have to choose whether or not to give a second Yes. The first Yes gets you inside, but the second Yes keeps you there. The first Yes matters, but the second Yes makes all the difference.

Pillar: Work Ethic
Key Topics:
commitment, work ethic, count the cost, sacrifice, hard work, self-management, discipline, accountability, purpose, reward, motivation
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WEEK 33: LONG GAME

When you see Before & After images on social media, they don't tell the whole story. Those posts make it seem like the wrecked room was cleaned or the intricate costume was created in a snap of someone's fingers, but in reality, it took hours or even days of hard work. When you take on a big project or goal, you can't just snap your fingers and it's done. You have to play the long game.

Pillar: Grit
Key Topics:
perseverance, grit, self-management, overcoming obstacles, long-term goals, overnight success, tenacity, toughness, sacrifice, hard work, pride, humility, celebrate
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WEEK 34: NEW RULES

Your smartphone and apps require regular updates to function properly. If you go too long without updating, things won't work as they should--if they work at all. The same can be said for life. If you don't occasionally update the rules, then you're going to run into problems. Put another way, if you don't like what you're getting out of your life, then you need some new rules for what you're putting into it.

Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics:
personal code, self awareness, rules, higher standard, accountability, character, relationships, friendship, influence, self-talk, positivity, negativity, social skills,

MORE LESSONS COMING SOON!

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WEEK 35: USE MATH

Every problem, goal, or task is just a math equation to be solved. You take what you know and use it to solve for what you don't know. There are a lot of unknowns in life, but when you remember to use math, you can clear a lot of that uncertainty. Math can remind you and your teammates to focus forward, motivate you to practice consistently, and help you to recover more fully.

Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics:
communication, servant leadership, social awareness, relationships, focus forward, finish strong, aggregation of marginal gains, one percent better, level up, motivation, recovery, rest, energy refill, leverage, self-care, encouragement
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WEEK 36: COMPETITIVE CHARACTER

You might know how to play, but that doesn't mean you know how to win. And knowing how to win doesn't necessarily mean you know how to compete. The best competitors and the winners are those who develop a competitive character. Lots of people have potential or talent, and everyone can practice. But only those who add tenacity, toughness, and purpose will develop the competitive character required to turn potential into achievement.

Pillar: Goals
Key Topics:
consistency, goals, self-management, character, competition, winning, success, potential, hard work, higher standards, expectations, be present, mindfulness, situational awareness, no excuses, procrastination

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Meet COACH MACKEY

Stephen Mackey, CEO & Founder

Stephen Mackey is a player development coach, keynote speaker, Wall Street Journal best-selling author, and founder of 2Words Character Development, one of the top Leadership and character curriculums in the country. Building on the Six Pillars of a Championship Character – Toughness, Integrity, Belief, Excellence, Effort, and Service – Mackey equips teams and organizations to elevate their performance by building a culture of character.
Patrick Jones - Course author