SEASON 9 - LESSONS 1-18
WEEKLY LESSONS
WEEK 1: GREAT EXPECTATIONS
For great expectations to build you up and bring out the best in you, they must come from a place of love, passion, and want-to. If you're trying to live up to great expectations that you aren't passionate about or don't want, then they will just become pressure that weighs you down. Pressure leads to burnout, but great expectations encourage you to show up and give your best day after day.
Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics:
expectations, higher standards, set the example, passion, want-to, agency, you choose, positive pressure, encouragement, motivation, confidence, belief, character, self-awareness, personal code
WEEK 2: HAVE FUN
Having fun does not prevent you from winning, and having fun is not a consolation prize for losing. In fact, the things that lead you to win are the things that make playing sports the most fun. The more that you improve each day, compete with teammates and opponents, and build meaningful relationships with your team, the more fun you will have AND the more that you will win.
Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: fun work, hard work, effort, improvement, building relationships, competition, perspective, growth mindset, consistency, self-management, how to win
Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: fun work, hard work, effort, improvement, building relationships, competition, perspective, growth mindset, consistency, self-management, how to win
WEEK 3: WHOLE TRUTH
Do you want to LOOK like you're going to reach your goals, or do you want to actually REACH them? To reach your goals and dreams, you must be willing to hear and speak the whole truth. It's easy to tell half-truths or versions of the truth that leave out the bits you don't like. But if you can't look at the whole truth, even when it's hard, then it’s always going to look like success is on the way without ever being in reach.
Pillar: Goals
Key Topic: truth-teller, coachability, trust, hard truths, success, honesty, integrity, accountability, goals, self-management
Pillar: Goals
Key Topic: truth-teller, coachability, trust, hard truths, success, honesty, integrity, accountability, goals, self-management
WEEK 4: BOUNCE BACK
When you get knocked down, how you get up matters. If you bounce back angry about falling, or if you bounce back ready to make the same mistake again, then getting knocked down did not benefit you. To find success after a fall, you have to bounce back BETTER than before. That means you get up smarter, stronger, and more grateful.
Pillar: Grit
Key Topic: grit, attitude, responsible decision-making, knocked down, get up, improvement, learning from mistakes, failure, resilience, toughness, tenacity, thankful, gratitude
Pillar: Grit
Key Topic: grit, attitude, responsible decision-making, knocked down, get up, improvement, learning from mistakes, failure, resilience, toughness, tenacity, thankful, gratitude
WEEK 5: GOOD ENOUGH
How do you know if your work is good enough? You start by breaking that into two smaller questions: What is good? and What is enough? Good work requires preparation, coachability, and effort. The way to know if you've done enough good work is to measure your progress. When you measure how you have prepared well, received coaching, and given great effort, then you can be confident that your work is good enough.
Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: growth mindset, self-awareness, confidence, coachability, preparation, effort, discipline, measure progress, improvement, hard work, learning
Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: growth mindset, self-awareness, confidence, coachability, preparation, effort, discipline, measure progress, improvement, hard work, learning
WEEK 6: EMBRACE DISCIPLINE
The way that you motivate yourself when you don't feel like it or don't want to is to embrace discipline. Discipline helps you to say No in service of a greater Yes. Discipline helps you to do what you must today so you can get what you want tomorrow. When you embrace discipline, you align your work with your goals, and then you get it done.
Pillar: Work Ethic
Key Topics: work ethic, discipline, self-management, motivation, effort, commitment, accountability, self-respect, procrastination, want-to
Pillar: Work Ethic
Key Topics: work ethic, discipline, self-management, motivation, effort, commitment, accountability, self-respect, procrastination, want-to
WEEK 7: HOKEY POKEY
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. Don’t be a hokey pokey.
Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics: teamwork, personal code, holding back, withholding, honesty, commitment, hard work, effort, your best, social awareness, character, count the cost, sacrifice, call out
Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics: teamwork, personal code, holding back, withholding, honesty, commitment, hard work, effort, your best, social awareness, character, count the cost, sacrifice, call out
WEEK 8: TIMING MATTERS
How you spend your time matters. What you do and when you do it impacts your personal success and the success of your team. They say the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, but the next best time is today. That's because growth takes time. If you want to grow to be the best you can be, then you should start today.
Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics: hard conversations, bad day, call out teammates, teamwork, servant leadership, communication, social awareness, bounce back, right time, go first, hard work, procrastination
Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics: hard conversations, bad day, call out teammates, teamwork, servant leadership, communication, social awareness, bounce back, right time, go first, hard work, procrastination
WEEK 9: OPPORTUNITY COST
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.
Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics: commitment, personal code, opportunity knocks, sacrifice, price of success, commitment costs, preparation, priorities, practice, 5 Ps, say Yes, hard work
Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics: commitment, personal code, opportunity knocks, sacrifice, price of success, commitment costs, preparation, priorities, practice, 5 Ps, say Yes, hard work
WEEK 10: AGAIN & AGAIN
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.
Pillar: Grit
Key Topics: grit, secret sauce, shortcut to success, pro advice, choices, habits, back to basics, focus on the fundamentals, little things, fail forward, learning from mistakes
Pillar: Grit
Key Topics: grit, secret sauce, shortcut to success, pro advice, choices, habits, back to basics, focus on the fundamentals, little things, fail forward, learning from mistakes
WEEK 11: EXCELLENCE IS
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.
Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics: choice, decisions, choose excellence, excellence loop, motivation, your best, servant leadership, agency, responsibility
Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics: choice, decisions, choose excellence, excellence loop, motivation, your best, servant leadership, agency, responsibility
WEEK 12: WORK WORKS
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.
Pillar: Work Ethic
Key Topics: hard work, work ethic, commitment, consistency, procrastination, excuses, discouragement, motivation, effort, long-term goals, doubt, belief
Pillar: Work Ethic
Key Topics: hard work, work ethic, commitment, consistency, procrastination, excuses, discouragement, motivation, effort, long-term goals, doubt, belief
WEEK 13: BETTER & DIFFERENT
To be better is to improve the tangible skills and learn the knowledge that you need to become elite in your chosen field. To be different is to develop the intangible character traits that will amplify your skills and separate you from the rest. Better & Different is a game plan that can be applied to any area of your life. Be Better. Be Different.
Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics:progress, improvement, learning, coachability, champion mindset, elite mindset, separators, growth mindset, toughness, discipline, integrity
Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics:progress, improvement, learning, coachability, champion mindset, elite mindset, separators, growth mindset, toughness, discipline, integrity
WEEK 14: LEAD ANYWAY
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.
Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics: servant leadership, And Lead, responsibility, setting the example, standards, empathy, compassion, helping others, service, honesty, vulnerability, hard conversations, building relationships
Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics: servant leadership, And Lead, responsibility, setting the example, standards, empathy, compassion, helping others, service, honesty, vulnerability, hard conversations, building relationships
WEEK 15: MESSY MIDDLE
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.
Pillar: Grit
Key Topics: growing up, progress, long-term goals, preparation, work ethic, consistency, discipline, gratitude, competition, be present, grit
Pillar: Grit
Key Topics: growing up, progress, long-term goals, preparation, work ethic, consistency, discipline, gratitude, competition, be present, grit
WEEK 16: WELL SPENT
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.
Pillar: Work Ethic
Key Topics: work ethic, time management, overwhelmed, stress, comfort zone, rest, relaxation, service, serving others, overcoming challenges, self-improvement
Pillar: Work Ethic
Key Topics: work ethic, time management, overwhelmed, stress, comfort zone, rest, relaxation, service, serving others, overcoming challenges, self-improvement
WEEK 17: PRESS ON
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.
Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: growth mindset, adversity, challenges, overcoming obstacles, discouragement, encouragement, perseverance, toughness, discipline, criticism, failure, learning from mistakes
Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: growth mindset, adversity, challenges, overcoming obstacles, discouragement, encouragement, perseverance, toughness, discipline, criticism, failure, learning from mistakes
WEEK 18: GIVE MORE
It's easy to hear the words "give more" and swap them for "do more." But when you think you have to DO more so you can be your best, you’ll just get overwhelmed and worn out. It's impossible to say Yes to everything, and trying will only leave you with less to show for your actions. Give More is not about what you can DO, it's about what you can GIVE.
Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics: serving others, respect, time, space to grow, be here, choices, teamwork, team building, fail well, learning from mistakes, speak up, personal code
Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics: serving others, respect, time, space to grow, be here, choices, teamwork, team building, fail well, learning from mistakes, speak up, personal code
MASTER PDF FILE DOWNLOADS
(COMING SOON)
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
Copyright © 2025