Remember

Every good Texan knows the saying, Remember the Alamo. When I think about  it of course I remember the famous stand the Texas revolutionaries made and the battle that happened there. I also think about the coaching secret I used on my players. I always told my players what I wanted them to do. Never what I didn’t want them to do. Here are examples.

Instead of telling them, “don’t move when setting a screen”, I would tell them, “stay still when setting a screen.” When a player would drop a pass instead of saying don’t drop the pass, I would say, “we always catch the ball.” The last practice before a game they would always hear, “Be on time.” instead of don’t be late. What registers in the brain is the action I am discussing. What doesn’t register in the brain is the word don’t. If I were to tell myself, don’t think about a giraffe, I would immediately think about a giraffe.

I could tell that my players responded differently to me than most coaches. If you asked them why they would probably say, because he was positive. If you asked them what made me so positive, they probably would not know what it was. It is a very subtle and amazingly effective difference.

As I have said in other posts I would only ask my players to do things that I will do myself. I use this kind of strategy in my own self-talk. Instead of saying to myself “do this before I forget”, I say “do it while I remember”. I did it so often and out loud that my daughters picked up on it and say it regularly. I smile every time I hear it.

It took some effort to view the world this way. Usually things will be phrased in a negative manner. When the 9-11 events are mentioned it is with the phrase “never forget”, instead of “Remember.” That’s just one example. Once I learned to listen for it I was amazed how often the world tells us what not to do instead of what to do.

Like most habits it takes some time to establish. However, once it is established, it takes almost no effort at all to continue. It is easy to remember this subtle and effective difference.

May you have enough today, one moment at a time.