2Words Pilot Program Curriculum

ATHLETIC CURRICULUM LESSONS

LESSON 1: ZERO TALENT

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.

Pillar:  Personal Code
Key Topic: Positivity, coachability, preparation, zero talent skills, skill vs talent, natural vs learned ability,

LESSON 2: FIRST FIGHT

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.

Pillar: Grit
Key Topics: competition, growth, grit, determination, opponent, performance anxiety, stress relief, breathing exercise, visualization

LESSON 3: ALL GAS

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.

Pillar: Goals
Key Topics: all in, discipline, effort, hard work, team unity, teamwork, goals, little things

LESSON 4: THE SWAP

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.

Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: pressure, expectations, perfection, become perfect, best yet, growth mindset, mentality, attitude, self-doubt, fear of failure, belief in self

LESSON 5: NO LIES

Telling no lies means being honest with others, but it also means being honest with yourself. When we fail to tell ourselves the truth, we fail to find a way around whatever obstacle made us reach for the excuse in the first place. Whenever a vague excuse like “I don’t have time” or “I don’t have the resources” pops into your mind, give it a hard look and a bright light while you interrogate that excuse to find the truth.

Pillar: Personal Code
Key Topics: truth telling, hard truths, honesty, self-awareness, know where you are, personal code, lying, dishonesty

LESSON 6: DOERS DO

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!

Pillar: Grit
Key Topics: take action, responsibility, do something, grit, determination, toughness, physical toughness, mental toughness, emotional toughness, potential, talent

LESSON 7: EXCELLENCE EVERYWHERE

Excellence is about giving your best moment by moment. It’s about valuing and respecting yourself and your teammates. Excellence everywhere requires that you prepare and put forth effort, both of which require you to be a person of integrity. To be excellent everywhere is really difficult to do, but as with anything else, it helps if you start small.
Excellence everywhere means respecting and valuing yourself and your teammates enough to do what you said you would do. Being excellent doesn’t have to be a big show. Sometimes, the smallest changes make the biggest difference.

Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: growth mindset, excellence, how to be excellent, little things, demand excellence, respect, integrity, preparation, effort

LESSON 8: FIRE FAILURE

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.

Pillar: Goals
Key Topics: Goals, failure, fear of failure, success, definition of failure, fear, little things, small wins, commitment to goals

LESSON 9: 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. 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.

Pillar: Servant Leadership
Key Topics: teamwork, servant leadership, holding back, withholding, honesty, fullness of you to what's in front of you, commitment, hard work, effort, do your best

LESSON 10: POSITIVE PRESSURE

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.

Pillar: Growth Mindset
Key Topics: pressure, you are enough, peer pressure, decision-making, punishment, correction, expectations, growth mindset

ATHLETIC LESSONS MASTER FILES

CAPTAINS COURSE LESSONS

LESSON 1

How Do Leaders Have Hard Conversations?

LESSON 2

What Does It Mean To Be An Over Believer?

LESSON 3

 How Do Leaders Develop Excellence?

LESSON 4

How Do Leaders Build Mental Toughness?

GAME DAY LESSONS

LESSON 1: INTEGRITY

Sports can be both the teacher and the exam for integrity. If our students learn the importance of integrity while playing gaga ball, or traditional dodgeball, then they are more likely to act with integrity in that situation and many others. Integrity works like a muscle. It can be built and strengthened over time. It is the part of our character that guides us to do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

Key Topics:
gaga ball, dodgeball, dodge ball, Israel, Jerusalem, integrity, right and wrong, honesty, truth-telling, gratitude, respect

LESSON 2: TEAMWORK

Manu Ginóbili was a talented professional basketball player, but he was an even better teammate. In basketball, as in life, the most successful teams are the ones who practice great teamwork. Teamwork is the act of working together to achieve a goal that is bigger than any one member of the group. Teams share a vision, and they cooperate with each other to make the vision a reality. Good teamwork requires trust, communication, and empathy, among other things.

Key Topics:
basketball, San Antonio, Texas, United States, NBA, teamwork, relationship skills, collaboration, group work, team goals, goal setting, friendship

LESSON 3: ENCOURAGEMENT

For American Ninja Warrior, players race the clock to complete an extremely challenging obstacle course that is suspended over a pool of ice cold water. The person who completes the course with the best time wins the race. In a solo sport like this, it would seem natural for the players to keep to themselves. But they do just the opposite. Competitors cheer each other on, provide tips for completing the course, and even train together. Instead of ignoring or discouraging their opponents, the ninjas encourage them. That encouragement helps each of them to give their best.

Key Topics:
obstacle course, ninja, Las Vegas, Nevada, America, competition, race, facing fears, encouragement, relationship skills, friendship, giving your best, helping others

LESSON 4: RESPECT

When someone else's best is different from our best, it can be easy to become discouraged that we aren't as good or to become arrogant if we see ourselves as better than others. Either way, the easy route is not the respectful route. Respect means being thankful for our teammates and their skills. That means being thankful for their differences from us. If someone else on our team is faster, stronger, or smarter than we are, that's a good thing! It means our team has a mixture of skills and abilities that will help us all achieve our best.

Key Topics:
respect for others, Oregon, running, track and field, teamwork, celebrating differences, diversity, social awareness, cooperation
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