Difference Maker

I thought it was a great observation when I was told by a coaching friend that he believed that God places reading material in front of you as you need it or slightly before you need it. He claimed this is true of both Scripture and casual reading material. I have seen that to be true for me so far over the summer.

The first step was just to read more. Since I arrived in Montgomery I had found myself watching alot of RedBox movies. I guess it was to try to shut my mind down for a couple of hours from thinking about basketball or from thinking about how much I missed my family back in Houston. About three weeks ago I got to the point where I was starting to watch movies just for the sake of watching them. They weren't even any good. Then I would look at my watch and get mad at myself for wasting 2 and a half hours of my life.

So I started reading. I am on my fourth book in those three weeks. I started with "The Long Snapper" by Jeffrey Marx, then I got "Beyond Basketball" by Coach K, then I read "The Gold Standard" by Coach K. The last of those three books is one that I felt that God put in front of me as I am building a team. It takes you behind the coaching scenes and into personal conversations and team meetings of the 2008 Gold-Medal winning USA Olympic Basketball Team. In the book, Coach K discusses roles, leadership, team standards, and a myriad of other topics related to building a championship team. I look forward to utilizing some of the ideas with my new team.

However, the idea that is on my heart today comes from a book that I am currently reading called, "Difference Maker" by John Maxwell. He talks in the book about a person's attitude. He suggests that many people believe it is the most important element in success. Maxwell disagrees. He believes that being competent is the most important element, but that a great attitude is the difference maker between great and average. I think this is an important point for our team this year. I think I have developed a roster full of kids with a great attitude. I think that they are all competent to varying degrees. We are going to need to continue to improve our competence this summer and next fall to improve our chances of being successful. The great thing about improved competence is that it also leads to improved confidence. Then with improved confidence the positive attitude increases. You can see the cycle, but it all goes back to the idea that we need to work hard to get better. That is where it starts.

Biblically speaking, God put the words of Jesus in my heart from Luke 9:23 when Jesus says"...If anyone would come after me, he must DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross daily and follow me." So I ask, deny myself from what? Fun? Types of food? Recreation? Time on the computer? RedBox movies? It requires self-evaluation to figure it out and probably more study into my tendencies toward sin. I need to be willing to take an honest look at my life and work hard to get better in the areas that GOD would have me be successful. I suspect that He is not going to check my winning percentage at His holy gates.

Coach

"The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work"
-Vince Lombardi