In the spring of 2015 I had the honor of being one of two speakers at the Greater Middlesex Conference Sportsmanship Banquet. A banquet room at the Edison Pines Manor was filled to capacity with student-athletes from all 36 member schools, their parents, coaches, and school administrators. What do you say to a room full of student-athletes that have already demonstrated a unique ability to rise above their competitive circumstances? [...read the rest of the introduction and part 1 here...]
Don’t forget that life is RECIPROCAL. Whatever you put in, you will get back.
Phil Jackson once said that what he loved most about coaching was fully investing himself in something. Have you ever interacted with someone that showed unusual investment and concern for what they were involved in? My first experience with a person like that was at my first summer job. I worked on the closing crew for a Burger King and his name was Ken. Ken cared so much about how fast he made burgers, how clean he kept his counter top, and how many customers he served well. He was all in. All. In. Most of us on the crew were high school students or teens out of high school with little to no direction, but when Ken was on shift with us, we all worked a little harder and paid a little closer attention to detail. Ken was all in on Burger King and as a result, when he was around, we were all in too.
Some may question the rationality of being ‘all in’ on a part-time summer job, or or being ‘all in’ while riding the bench for a team. Consider it this way: if you were to throw a handful of watermelon seeds into some soil in your backyard, chances are you would get watermelons eventually. Not every seed would produce a watermelon, but the less seeds you threw down, the less chances you have of producing watermelons (and who doesn’t love cold, juicy watermelon during the summer months?) I believe you get back in direct proportion to what you put in. You want a big return on life? You better be prepared to be ‘all in’ on every situation. I believe that life has a way of working out for those that work at life.
Don’t forget that life is RECIPROCAL. Whatever you put in, you will get back.
Phil Jackson once said that what he loved most about coaching was fully investing himself in something. Have you ever interacted with someone that showed unusual investment and concern for what they were involved in? My first experience with a person like that was at my first summer job. I worked on the closing crew for a Burger King and his name was Ken. Ken cared so much about how fast he made burgers, how clean he kept his counter top, and how many customers he served well. He was all in. All. In. Most of us on the crew were high school students or teens out of high school with little to no direction, but when Ken was on shift with us, we all worked a little harder and paid a little closer attention to detail. Ken was all in on Burger King and as a result, when he was around, we were all in too.
Some may question the rationality of being ‘all in’ on a part-time summer job, or or being ‘all in’ while riding the bench for a team. Consider it this way: if you were to throw a handful of watermelon seeds into some soil in your backyard, chances are you would get watermelons eventually. Not every seed would produce a watermelon, but the less seeds you threw down, the less chances you have of producing watermelons (and who doesn’t love cold, juicy watermelon during the summer months?) I believe you get back in direct proportion to what you put in. You want a big return on life? You better be prepared to be ‘all in’ on every situation. I believe that life has a way of working out for those that work at life.
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