Every new season brings up the question: what are my athletic goals for this
year? And do I need goals anyway?
Your current desires represent the next stage in your evolution. What you want -- right now -- is moving you to the next phase in your development.
This is why winning matters. To attain your goals, you must become an athlete worthy of them.
To win, you must be a highly skilled athlete with excellent fundamentals.
You must have an intense work ethic. You must build trust and harmony with
your coaches and teammates. You need to know how to perform at your best under pressure.
Every time you fail in one of these areas, you question your abilities as a human being. You feel bitter, distrustful, and angry. Continued losing undermines your self-esteem and self-respect.
Most human misery stems from not realizing our deepest aspirations. There is much suppressed sadness in the heart over broken dreams and relationships.
There is a simple exercise that can transform your entire year in sport.
Take out a fresh piece of paper and record 10 goals for the next 12 months. Let yourself dream a little. What technical skills do you want to improve? Do you want to be a better leader or more gracious teammate? Do you want to shine in a final game or race?
Next, chose your most important goal,and place it at the top of the list. For the next year, protect this goal like you would your own child. It is a dream that matters to you,and deserves to be cherished. Take action every day towards it,
no matter how small.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Rattling your opponents cage!
Has a coach, teammate or rival ever been rude to you? Or worse, refuse to pass to you? If so, you know how much people can rattle your cage. No matter how mentally tough you are, you're still a human being...which means the energy of other people affects you. When Michael Jordan attended his first all-star game as a rookie, NBA star Isiah Thomas of Detroit froze him out.
Why?
Because Michael didn't say hello to him in an elevator. Actually, Michael was petrified of coming across as cocky.
The elevator was full of older, star players and Michael was intimidated. But Isiah, angry about being snubbed, tried to embarrass Michael by not passing him the ball. It hurt Michael terribly. He was completely disillusioned.
Finally he decided what to do:
"I knew that everything happened for a purpose and I could either learn from it or fight it. I decided to do both. The next night we played Detroit at home and I played like I was possessed. We beat the Pistons in a very physical game."
When people freeze you out, the first thing you need to do is find out WHY. If you were selfish, cocky, or downright narcissistic, you can apologize. But if you didn't do anything wrong - and they are simply being small - then you have a choice. You can crawl to them mentally. Or you can tap into your natural desire for vengeance.
See, underneath the athlete's competitive instinct is the desire for vengeance, to get even. It's totally natural.
Express it in a constructive way, like Michael did, and you can tap into it as a source of strengh. If you turn vengeance inward on yourself, you'll simply implode.
You'll get depressed and become passive. That's why when you are wronged, you need to harness your vengeance for maximum performance. Later, you can talk to this person, if appropriate. But I recommend taking care of business first. And that means winning.
You don't play angry.
Angry is out of control. You will not like your results if you play angry. Instead, you play determined.
Resolute and focused. With an iron will.
Why?
Because Michael didn't say hello to him in an elevator. Actually, Michael was petrified of coming across as cocky.
The elevator was full of older, star players and Michael was intimidated. But Isiah, angry about being snubbed, tried to embarrass Michael by not passing him the ball. It hurt Michael terribly. He was completely disillusioned.
Finally he decided what to do:
"I knew that everything happened for a purpose and I could either learn from it or fight it. I decided to do both. The next night we played Detroit at home and I played like I was possessed. We beat the Pistons in a very physical game."
When people freeze you out, the first thing you need to do is find out WHY. If you were selfish, cocky, or downright narcissistic, you can apologize. But if you didn't do anything wrong - and they are simply being small - then you have a choice. You can crawl to them mentally. Or you can tap into your natural desire for vengeance.
See, underneath the athlete's competitive instinct is the desire for vengeance, to get even. It's totally natural.
Express it in a constructive way, like Michael did, and you can tap into it as a source of strengh. If you turn vengeance inward on yourself, you'll simply implode.
You'll get depressed and become passive. That's why when you are wronged, you need to harness your vengeance for maximum performance. Later, you can talk to this person, if appropriate. But I recommend taking care of business first. And that means winning.
You don't play angry.
Angry is out of control. You will not like your results if you play angry. Instead, you play determined.
Resolute and focused. With an iron will.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Cheers, to your High Performance team!
A team needs to know where it is going, and why it is meaningful to get there.
A lot has been made of vision, purpose, mission etc.. but for me it doesn’t exactly fit what we now know about teams. Most sports teams will create goals for the season, ‘where they want to go’ – however very few will be able to say why they want to achieve that goal, and even fewer will have a meaningful reason attached to the goal. The why is critical as it raises the importance or specialness of the goal and that energy can be used to up the intensity and commitment in and out of game time.
To maximise the performance of any team, you need to understand team dynamics and how team dynamics can support or hinder performance.
Because every high performance team is unique, for me there is no generic unifying model of what to do, how to do it or any sorts of measurements that can be consistently applied. This area has been fascinating to me, and so currently we are looking to see if we can create exactly that - a high performance team model…. watch this space. (If there is already such a model, I would love to hear about it – please let me know) However if you get a handle on the things that affect team dynamics, it will help with your awareness of what is going on.
People – add one extra person to your squad or management team, or take one away and the dynamics shift and change – not always for the better. Some people in high performance sport believe that the one secret to success is having as many of your (fit) top players on the field together as possible, playing for as much time as possible. This makes sense, but the concept is often abused with star players playing through serious injury and underperforming or worsening their injury.
Leadership – a critical piece, a change of leadership or even the empowering of leaders within your side can dramatically improve team dynamics.
The work that is done – dynamics change from pre-season to in-season, to knock out stages, to tournaments. Understanding that means that as a coach or player your approach needs to be flexible.
The amount of team the team has been together – as team’s mature, things change. Trust and comfort is often a result of a team staying together, provided that strong leadership ensure there were no rifts or divisions in the team. What works for a team in its first year, may not necessarily work as well again. Teams need to be aware of what makes them successful, whilst at the same time re-examining their processes when appropriate.
The system the team is in (and the systems they create) – The people around the team, the other teams that are related to the team, the administration or club management, or even school administration all has an affect on a team. There are other systems: supporters, press, family, friends and loved ones, and so the list goes on. Sometimes the affect from a system is subtle, sometimes it is significant. Most of the time this affect is almost ‘accidental’ in that it wasn’t planned, so the chances of this affect being positive is a lot slimmer than if it was a purposeful affect.
For example a 1st team at school makes a point of visiting a junior teams locker room to tell them that they believe in them and support them fully vs the 1st team rugby players arriving late in the day, with plenty of time before their match, but missing a lot of their junior sides playing.
To your high performance team!
A lot has been made of vision, purpose, mission etc.. but for me it doesn’t exactly fit what we now know about teams. Most sports teams will create goals for the season, ‘where they want to go’ – however very few will be able to say why they want to achieve that goal, and even fewer will have a meaningful reason attached to the goal. The why is critical as it raises the importance or specialness of the goal and that energy can be used to up the intensity and commitment in and out of game time.
To maximise the performance of any team, you need to understand team dynamics and how team dynamics can support or hinder performance.
Because every high performance team is unique, for me there is no generic unifying model of what to do, how to do it or any sorts of measurements that can be consistently applied. This area has been fascinating to me, and so currently we are looking to see if we can create exactly that - a high performance team model…. watch this space. (If there is already such a model, I would love to hear about it – please let me know) However if you get a handle on the things that affect team dynamics, it will help with your awareness of what is going on.
People – add one extra person to your squad or management team, or take one away and the dynamics shift and change – not always for the better. Some people in high performance sport believe that the one secret to success is having as many of your (fit) top players on the field together as possible, playing for as much time as possible. This makes sense, but the concept is often abused with star players playing through serious injury and underperforming or worsening their injury.
Leadership – a critical piece, a change of leadership or even the empowering of leaders within your side can dramatically improve team dynamics.
The work that is done – dynamics change from pre-season to in-season, to knock out stages, to tournaments. Understanding that means that as a coach or player your approach needs to be flexible.
The amount of team the team has been together – as team’s mature, things change. Trust and comfort is often a result of a team staying together, provided that strong leadership ensure there were no rifts or divisions in the team. What works for a team in its first year, may not necessarily work as well again. Teams need to be aware of what makes them successful, whilst at the same time re-examining their processes when appropriate.
The system the team is in (and the systems they create) – The people around the team, the other teams that are related to the team, the administration or club management, or even school administration all has an affect on a team. There are other systems: supporters, press, family, friends and loved ones, and so the list goes on. Sometimes the affect from a system is subtle, sometimes it is significant. Most of the time this affect is almost ‘accidental’ in that it wasn’t planned, so the chances of this affect being positive is a lot slimmer than if it was a purposeful affect.
For example a 1st team at school makes a point of visiting a junior teams locker room to tell them that they believe in them and support them fully vs the 1st team rugby players arriving late in the day, with plenty of time before their match, but missing a lot of their junior sides playing.
To your high performance team!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Teachers as equal
I swear… to hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents. To make him partner in my livelihood – when he is in need of money to share mine with him. To consider his family as my own brothers and to teach them this art, if they want to learn it – without fee or indenture.Hippocrates on Teachers and Teaching
Imagine if all the learners we taught could have the sentiments expressed by the quote above? To be held equal to the family members and then to share all our worldly possessions without asking for a fee! Wow! As the first group of matriculants leave the school and begin their journey on a road less familiar to them, I wonder who will need our support on this trek and who will return with praises of thanks for giving them the tools to cope and make the correct decisions along the road?
Children are like miniature adults. They are people with their own feelings, their own personalities, and their own preferences. So the question begs to be asked: How would you feel if the school governing body of our school forced you to share?
Pretend you just got a new car. It's a brand new “merc”, and all of your neighbours want to take a spin in your car. Socialism would dictate that you do not have a right to something so wonderful and that you must share with your colleagues. And oh yeah, now that you have a new car, you do not need that old one anymore. You will have to give that one away for free to a fellow teacher who does not have one.
Well, fortunately this is not a socialistic society, and if our government tried to play that game with us, we would be up in arms. We would be toi-toi-ing on the streets, yelling, "What about my rights?"
Sharing is not really a generous offer unless you do it because you want to, and forcing anyone does not help them learn to share. It only steals away the joy of giving. I would like to believe that with the school and its journey into the next year that we all look at what it is that we are willing to share with each other, the learners and the people we meet in and around the school. Share the positive moments the successes and fun stories about the learners.
Mouth marketing has always been an interest of mine and I believe in the power of verbal communication. The mathematicians would be able to work out just how many people we could reach through each one on the staff talking to 10 people about the school. I believe it is 10 to the power of 3 for every staff member if it is a positive comment and 10 to the power of 5 for a negative comment.
Have an awesome weekend!
Imagine if all the learners we taught could have the sentiments expressed by the quote above? To be held equal to the family members and then to share all our worldly possessions without asking for a fee! Wow! As the first group of matriculants leave the school and begin their journey on a road less familiar to them, I wonder who will need our support on this trek and who will return with praises of thanks for giving them the tools to cope and make the correct decisions along the road?
Children are like miniature adults. They are people with their own feelings, their own personalities, and their own preferences. So the question begs to be asked: How would you feel if the school governing body of our school forced you to share?
Pretend you just got a new car. It's a brand new “merc”, and all of your neighbours want to take a spin in your car. Socialism would dictate that you do not have a right to something so wonderful and that you must share with your colleagues. And oh yeah, now that you have a new car, you do not need that old one anymore. You will have to give that one away for free to a fellow teacher who does not have one.
Well, fortunately this is not a socialistic society, and if our government tried to play that game with us, we would be up in arms. We would be toi-toi-ing on the streets, yelling, "What about my rights?"
Sharing is not really a generous offer unless you do it because you want to, and forcing anyone does not help them learn to share. It only steals away the joy of giving. I would like to believe that with the school and its journey into the next year that we all look at what it is that we are willing to share with each other, the learners and the people we meet in and around the school. Share the positive moments the successes and fun stories about the learners.
Mouth marketing has always been an interest of mine and I believe in the power of verbal communication. The mathematicians would be able to work out just how many people we could reach through each one on the staff talking to 10 people about the school. I believe it is 10 to the power of 3 for every staff member if it is a positive comment and 10 to the power of 5 for a negative comment.
Have an awesome weekend!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Become a highly effective leader!
What does the future hold for you and your career at Western Cape Sport School? Most of us ponder this question from time to time… "When I get time, I'm going to get back into shape/play the piano/find someone famous ". But in reality, what we want tends to evolve and change throughout each day of our lives.
As we learn and gain experience, we find our strengths and build our skills. When we stumble, we find new ways to cope and adapt. As we find success, we extend our ambitions. And so, as we change and grow, we shape our futures. Setting personal goals is a powerful process, and I would like to use your goals for motivating change within the school to turn the original vision of the Western Cape Sport School into reality.
More than this, sharing our goals can be incredibly motivating to each other, and as you get into the habit of setting, sharing and achieving your personal goals, you'll find that your self-confidence builds and those around you develop a similar sense of accomplishment. The Western Cape Sport School’s Goals are set on a number of different levels: First we need to create the "big picture" of what we want to do with the school, and what large-scale goals we want to achieve. Secondly, we need to break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that each one of us must hit so that we can reach our shared goals. Finally, once we have a plan, we can start working to achieve it.
We start this process with discovering everyone’s “Goals”, and work down to the things we can do today to start moving towards them.
We need to develop the idea of a "boundary less organization." This means that everyone is free to brainstorm and think of ideas - instead of waiting for someone "higher up" in the bureaucracy to think of them first. As a team you have been "turned loose," and I promise to listen to ideas from anyone in the school. Everyone from the learners, to the non-educating staff, to senior managers, you have my attention - if you have something to say or a new idea that might make the school better, ‘just talk’.
Let us all stay true to our passions and what we know is right.
As we learn and gain experience, we find our strengths and build our skills. When we stumble, we find new ways to cope and adapt. As we find success, we extend our ambitions. And so, as we change and grow, we shape our futures. Setting personal goals is a powerful process, and I would like to use your goals for motivating change within the school to turn the original vision of the Western Cape Sport School into reality.
More than this, sharing our goals can be incredibly motivating to each other, and as you get into the habit of setting, sharing and achieving your personal goals, you'll find that your self-confidence builds and those around you develop a similar sense of accomplishment. The Western Cape Sport School’s Goals are set on a number of different levels: First we need to create the "big picture" of what we want to do with the school, and what large-scale goals we want to achieve. Secondly, we need to break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that each one of us must hit so that we can reach our shared goals. Finally, once we have a plan, we can start working to achieve it.
We start this process with discovering everyone’s “Goals”, and work down to the things we can do today to start moving towards them.
We need to develop the idea of a "boundary less organization." This means that everyone is free to brainstorm and think of ideas - instead of waiting for someone "higher up" in the bureaucracy to think of them first. As a team you have been "turned loose," and I promise to listen to ideas from anyone in the school. Everyone from the learners, to the non-educating staff, to senior managers, you have my attention - if you have something to say or a new idea that might make the school better, ‘just talk’.
Let us all stay true to our passions and what we know is right.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Lessons learnt from a life in learning
“There is no greater undertaking than exists in schools”(Sean Friedenthal)
Whether it is a minister or a missionary, whose position and profession exclude a certain group of people; nobody has the group of people to work with that teachers do. It is a privilege to have the involvement with people and the influence on the future that teachers do.
Habits of excellent teachers
1. Believe in people
2. Take risks on the growing edge
3. Keep learning
4. Plan thoroughly
5. Nurture your faith
6. Use findings of the latest neuroscience research
7. Reflect
How to maintain discipline in classrooms
• Create an ethos that celebrates what is good rather than just punishing what is bad.
Learners who are on the cusp of either good or bad behaviour will lean towards the side which you give most attention to (i.e. if more of your attention is on punishment of what is bad, they will lean towards that to get your attention)
• What you condone, you authorize to exist.
• What you want from kids, you have to give to them in return and more so.
How to engage young people
• Get them involved in the learning process.
• Assuming basic education (literacy and numeracy) is in place, focus more on emotional education.
Measuring success in teaching:
• In the short term, measurable results such as final marks and matric results are the only way.
• True success in teaching is measured in the thirst for further learning that you have cultivated in your students.
• An important lesson to teach kids is to imbue them with the tendency to selfless service to their community.
Lessons learned from a life in teaching:
• We need to teach children to deal with failure correctly
• Don’t move too quickly in your career to seek promotion, because this results in too much lateral movement.
• Teaching can consume you and it is important to work together with the people in your life to create some sort of balance to deal with this
• Teamwork in teaching is essential, since it builds the capacity of yourself and the entire institution.
Good education systems have:
• The best people as teachers
• Good training for teachers and principals
• Good support for mediocre students
• Good maths and science programs
An effective Governing body:
• Is supportive of the school, but not controlling.
• Involved in fundraising, but not demanding.
• Should not attempt to micro-manage a school, because this undermines everyone in a leadership position within the school
• Has a role of oversight and monitoring, not undermining.
• Puts in place a good succession plan for all leadership positions in the school to ensure a seamless takeover of duties!
Rest a little, thank you for your support!
Whether it is a minister or a missionary, whose position and profession exclude a certain group of people; nobody has the group of people to work with that teachers do. It is a privilege to have the involvement with people and the influence on the future that teachers do.
Habits of excellent teachers
1. Believe in people
2. Take risks on the growing edge
3. Keep learning
4. Plan thoroughly
5. Nurture your faith
6. Use findings of the latest neuroscience research
7. Reflect
How to maintain discipline in classrooms
• Create an ethos that celebrates what is good rather than just punishing what is bad.
Learners who are on the cusp of either good or bad behaviour will lean towards the side which you give most attention to (i.e. if more of your attention is on punishment of what is bad, they will lean towards that to get your attention)
• What you condone, you authorize to exist.
• What you want from kids, you have to give to them in return and more so.
How to engage young people
• Get them involved in the learning process.
• Assuming basic education (literacy and numeracy) is in place, focus more on emotional education.
Measuring success in teaching:
• In the short term, measurable results such as final marks and matric results are the only way.
• True success in teaching is measured in the thirst for further learning that you have cultivated in your students.
• An important lesson to teach kids is to imbue them with the tendency to selfless service to their community.
Lessons learned from a life in teaching:
• We need to teach children to deal with failure correctly
• Don’t move too quickly in your career to seek promotion, because this results in too much lateral movement.
• Teaching can consume you and it is important to work together with the people in your life to create some sort of balance to deal with this
• Teamwork in teaching is essential, since it builds the capacity of yourself and the entire institution.
Good education systems have:
• The best people as teachers
• Good training for teachers and principals
• Good support for mediocre students
• Good maths and science programs
An effective Governing body:
• Is supportive of the school, but not controlling.
• Involved in fundraising, but not demanding.
• Should not attempt to micro-manage a school, because this undermines everyone in a leadership position within the school
• Has a role of oversight and monitoring, not undermining.
• Puts in place a good succession plan for all leadership positions in the school to ensure a seamless takeover of duties!
Rest a little, thank you for your support!
Do learners really need teachers?
With the wage strike still ongoing and more than half the teaching staff exercising their right to protest at the Western Cape Sport School, I thought I might begin with a question or two today, just to get those here thinking about things. Let’s begin by asking whether the learners really do require the attention of teachers, and confinement in school, in order to learn. In other words, are teachers really necessary?
Even more radically, some news paper writers have suggested that young people may be their own best teachers. For example, they say research on the process of acquiring a language indicates that we learn, not by being taught by others, but from everyday experience – by listening to others, trying out patterns of words, and eventually discarding ones that don’t seem to work.
Teachers are ordinary but unique people who become teachers for different reasons, have different teaching objectives, and work in different circumstances, against a background of unequal educational provision.
I believe the impulse to teach is fundamentally humane and represents a desire to share what you value and to empower others. I began teaching when I was twenty-five and my students were thirteen years old. Now I’m forty-something and those youngsters are in their thirties. There’s not as much difference between forty-something and thirty, as between twenty five and twelve. I believe your students ‘catch up’ with you and quite often end up knowing more than you do. It’s wonderful to witness that continuous growth at the same time as you’re taking on another group of learners. You can see and feel your students grow, and that finally is the
reason to teach and the reward of teaching.
To all the staff at Western Cape Sport School, whether you were here or not whether you felt the need to strike or not... Your time and effort placed in educating the learners is appreciated by me and the community we serve.
Have a little break this weekend and return to the school ready to continue with the sterling work you already do.
Even more radically, some news paper writers have suggested that young people may be their own best teachers. For example, they say research on the process of acquiring a language indicates that we learn, not by being taught by others, but from everyday experience – by listening to others, trying out patterns of words, and eventually discarding ones that don’t seem to work.
Teachers are ordinary but unique people who become teachers for different reasons, have different teaching objectives, and work in different circumstances, against a background of unequal educational provision.
I believe the impulse to teach is fundamentally humane and represents a desire to share what you value and to empower others. I began teaching when I was twenty-five and my students were thirteen years old. Now I’m forty-something and those youngsters are in their thirties. There’s not as much difference between forty-something and thirty, as between twenty five and twelve. I believe your students ‘catch up’ with you and quite often end up knowing more than you do. It’s wonderful to witness that continuous growth at the same time as you’re taking on another group of learners. You can see and feel your students grow, and that finally is the
reason to teach and the reward of teaching.
To all the staff at Western Cape Sport School, whether you were here or not whether you felt the need to strike or not... Your time and effort placed in educating the learners is appreciated by me and the community we serve.
Have a little break this weekend and return to the school ready to continue with the sterling work you already do.
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