As many of you know I love coaching sports. This fall is my second year as the Cannon Falls Youth Football Coordinator so I help coordinate and coach kids 1st through 6th grade. No doubt there are times that test your patience but overall it is very enjoyable and rewarding. It is fun to see those kids grow over the 6 week season. They improve so much just in that short period by working hard and having fun with the sport.
This week at practice we talked about doing your very best. Not a new concept to most of us, certainly not an earth shattering one but maybe one of the most important keys to success. Success as a spouse, parent, boss, employee, student, child, etc... can be directly linked to the effort and enthusiasm we do it with. As coaches, when we talk with 1st graders about doing their best we have different expectations then with 6th graders. Just as my expectations of life knowledge when talking to a 24 year old and 65 year old are different. Some things you just can't learn from a text book.
No matter the age, the message for all us should be the same. Do your best because that's the most you can do...you can't do better than your best. If we work hard, learn and have fun we will continue to improve and get better and we'll be closer to reaching our full potential for the particular age we are. Our very best becomes better than it was. Easy stuff...right?? Not so fast....
What do we do when we are stuck, coasting, in a fog, sick and tired of being sick and tired, etc..? What do we do when we've been worn down by our boss, employee, neighbor, co-worker, spouse, parent, child, etc...? We've done our very best for as long as we can and now we're coasting, mailing it in, throwing in the towel. We've all had the feeling at one time or the other. The feeling of hopeless can be a depressing one for sure.
I don't pretend to have the answers but I do feel we get out of ruts by going back to the basics. By making things more simple and focusing the the blocking and tackling, instead of the double reverse pass, we slow things down and make things more clear. By making things simple we also start to get some check marks in the win column and create more fun and momentum toward success.
A few examples:
Money issues?....cut up the credit card and use cash or check.
Relationship strained? saying I love you, doing something nice or shutting up (and putting down the phone) and listening can go a long way.
Business slow? Go back and do some of the simple things that worked when things were good.
Jerk for a co-worker or neighbor? Your not a tree, you can move. Heck it might be a good way to downsize or find a job with less stress.
No matter what the rut we're in, simplifying things can often be the answer. On top of that making it simple usually lowers our stress level. We all have that one thing we are struggling with right now. Try making it more simple and approach it with new energy and enthusiasm see if it helps. Blocking and tackling aren't the most exciting things in football but they are essential for the team to have success.
Enjoy the day!
Keith