by Alan Stein
19. May 2008 05:57
I strongly believe that showing pride in yourself and in your work is a much underappreciated notion in today’s society and many people think you should only have pride in a glamorous or high profile job. That is BS. I have so much respect for anyone, in any line of work that takes great pride in doing their job to the absolute best of their ability. Regardless of what you do for a living, committing yourself to excellence and embracing your role within your company, organization, family or team is vital to being successful.
There is a gentleman who works outside of the facility I train who takes great pride in his work. He washes and details cars in the parking lot and he does an outstanding job. He is always positive, enthusiastic, and full of energy… even at 6am! That is very hard to find. He treats each and every customer as if they are his only customer and cleans and details each car as if it was his own. He takes great pride in his work and it shows. This gentleman is, and will continue to be, very successful in life.
As far as basketball, you should take pride in your work too. You should approach every workout and every practice with same vigor as my man detailing cars. You should commit yourself to excellence, every rep of every drill. You should imagine a top level college or NBA coach is watching your entire workout or practice and then give the same effort and focus as if they were. You should also embrace your role on your team, as there are no unimportant roles. Even if you are the 15th man, you should embrace that role and take pride in your job – making the others members of your team better and supporting the players who do play more. I have known dozens of “15th men” who have gone on to be very successful people, in basketball and in life.
If you would like to contact me about this blog, the MVP DVD, my training and/or camps and clinics, please email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I will respond as quickly as possible!
Train hard. Train smart.
Alan Stein, CCS, CSCS