Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Wooden's Secret of Success -- Skill


At the heart of the pyramid we find the 11th secret of success. It is not an accident that “skill” is right in the middle. Look at all that surrounds it. With “alertness” and “initiative” holding it up, sandwiched in between “condition” and “team spirit”, and the foundation for the second tier of the pyramid, “skill” is truly the heart of it all. Symbolically, it is truly our heart and soul that pushes us to improve our skill. It is through positive conditioning that we tell ourselves we want to improve, we want to be better. We are inspired by our team and create purpose for all we do.
For Wooden, he believed skill meant being able to execute all parts of your job.  For instance, he had great shooters but they couldn’t get open fast enough to make a basket. Then he had other players who could move fast but couldn’t shoot a lick. True skill means you are able to both- quickly and effectively. One would think that someone with experience and more practice would be able to do this, but that isn’t always the case. Wooden said that although he valued experience, he would rather have someone with a lot of skill and little experience than a lot of experience and a little skill.
Why might he feel this way? Experience creates fear….experience means doubts…experience means wisdom, but it could also mean limiting your desire to learn more.
So, how can we use our skills and experience to make us more successful people?  In your lives I think it goes back to your ability to create specific goals and your ability to visualize. True visualization is not an easy task.
There are a few things that I have learned that I think make people truly “skillful”.
The first is to be a great listener. That means, when you have a lot to say listen to someone else first. Listening is a skill.
The second is to remain quick in your decisions. I don’t mean you walk into a restaurant and you know what you want before you sit down type of decisions, but maybe that’s the best example. When you know what you want and stick to your decisions, your actions will follow. There is no second guessing when you know what you are doing is right.
The next skill is the process of visualization. To do it well is no easy feat. Often we think visualization is only necessary in the sports’ world as we visualize ourselves throwing our arms to the sky in a moment of victory or scoring the winning goal in the championship game. But to truly visualize means knowing what your mind and body must do to get the desired result. Preparation is key. Knowing your desired outcome through all aspects of the race, the presentation, the homework assignment, the job interview is paramount.
I am somewhat of a news junkie. I love to read news, I love to watch news and I love to study the role of the media. While studying to be a journalist I began to understand that I needed to concern myself more with acquiring the skill of knowing my desired outcome in developing a story rather than solely on my writing style, length of copy, word choice, etc. What I needed to do is understand that if I wanted to create a story full of emotion, connection and compassion I would have to make sure my questions led me in that direction. I would need to learn to observe, listen, hear and understand my subject better than I ever thought. When learning about our great newscasters of today I came to understand that most  of them create 100’s of questions to develop stories rich in detail and emotion. Watch the great newscasters, they know what they want when they approach someone. They don’t waver, they are quick to decide what to ask next and they truly listen. They listen for what we want to hear more about and what will draw their audience into the news.

Consider how this connects to your practice of visualization. Do you use your mind so that your body will follow? Do you listen to the needs of what is best for you, for the team? Do you see your goals through your mind’s eye, or do you watch yourself as if you were someone else? Do you remain specific, clear and focused on what you want to achieve? Does every decision you make reflect the journey you want to take to become a more successful person?
I have actually taken a couple of classes in the art of helping athletes visualize successfully. It is a hard practice and one that takes experience to understand how to execute effectively.  I often find the explanations a bit daunting, but I came across these and thought they were the most clear. I can not encourage you to practice this enough. It works in everything you do. Know what you want to get out of every experience.
The keys to effective visualization:
Visualize what you want- not what you don’t want.
See the outcome as if it was already complete.
Fill your visualization with vivid detail and rich emotion.
Repeat your visualization consistently.
Infuse your visualizations with people you love and care about.
                                                 
The last SKILL is that of “letting go”. Wooden felt that 95% of his job was done in practice. He had to feel confident that his players were ready for every game situation based on their success in practice. When they got to the game he “let go” as a coach, putting all trust and faith in his team. When you get to a race, how much faith do you carry with you? How ready, prepared, and complete do you feel physically AND mentally?
Here is a great quote to guide you through these thoughts, “Letting go is a product of faith. Faith enables you to feel complete today, yet strive for more tomorrow.”
Written by Coach Clendenen

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Wooden's Secret of Success: Condition


Well, we are moving on up! Look back at the previous secrets to the pyramid and see how we keep building, working and pushing forward. As a team, I recognize you are taking on the initiative to do more for each other. You are recognizing the little things that need to be done to help our team improve. Remember, when the little things are done right that “big” things just fall into place.

The third tier on the pyramid is an interesting one when you look at it from left to right. Wooden says that it is the heart of the pyramid. When we look at secret #10 we see that it seems to sit atop “self-control” and “alertness” nicely. The second and third tiers are linked by “adaptability” to any situation. With self-control, we have to keep our mind in check so that our actions remain sound and respected. With alertness, we need to use our mind again to remain open to learning new things and taking on the challenge to do so with a sense of purpose and eagerness.

Notice how each secret to success starts with an individual’s mind and belief system. By training our mind the body will follow- not the other way around. For this week, we discover that “conditioning” is more than remaining fit and strong on race day. It is recognizing our conditioned responses to events as they arise. In other words, our mind seems to remain trapped in “familiarity.” This can be good and bad. Of course familiarity brings comfort and security, but familiarity can also bring you down. Your mind is used to knowing bad things can happen so we create mental blocks or use the negative situation as a defense mechanism. It is or becomes bad because you believe it can or could be bad.

Think of your racing, if you have had a bad race on a particular course, you already go into a new race on the same course with conditioned mental block. Something bad has happened there before, so it may as well happen again to you now. On a weekly basis, you have had a hard week at practice and your legs are tired. You have had homework each night and you are mentally drained. Your sleep habits haven’t been perfect, but you’ve survived. You actually don’t feel THAT bad, but then coach says it, “You need to do a two-a-day before the next race.” “You need to do an eight miler” the FRIDAY before the SATURDAY meet. “You need to run the morning of the race.”

What?

Your conditioned response is: “No, not me.” “What? I need to run fast, I can’t run a two-a-day!” “I will die if he makes me run that.”

You have conditioned your mind to believe that you may fail. You may not achieve what you wanted to achieve on that given day.

What if your new conditioned response looked something like this, “Sweet. Bring it on. It will be good to see what I can do with more miles under my belt.”

Remember your goals. Remember your team goals. Remember your future goals. Do you want to feel amazing in September knowing there are so many more miles to be logged, so many more chances to improve, so many more team experiences to be had?

Wooden says this about conditioning. “Supreme physical condition accompanied by mental and moral conditioning is foremost. Performance diminishes immediately when condition is insufficient.” For each of us, physical conditioning is different. What works for some may not work for others. To train to be a great doctor takes different training than being a great teacher or landscaper or restaurant manager. To be mentally sound is the same for all. It is a belief WITHIN us all that recognizes mental, emotional and spiritual conditioning should be balanced with our physical conditioning in order to achieve success.

Spend time each day thinking about your most negative beliefs. Write them down. Turn them into a positive. Write those down. Tape them up around your room. Instead of, “I’m not going to die at the end of the race,” change it to, “I am going to look ahead and make my legs fly.” “I am going to take three deep breaths and chase the person in front of me. “I am going to be a champion.”

Train your mind. Practice positive self talk in practice, in the classroom, in your relationships. Meditate. Breathe. Visualize you being better than you are today. Imagine the possibilities!

Read the following sentence one time through quickly.
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT
OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY
COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS OF EXPERTS

Now, read the sentence one time through counting the times you see the letter F.
Before reading further, do that now.

Now, how many F’s did you count?
(I counted three)

Now read it again, counting the number of times you read the word of.
Now how many f’s do you see?

This little exercise shows the power of mental conditioning or mental “blind spots.” When we were little, we were taught to say “of” like “ov. “ Our mind is trained to ignore the f in of.
Condition is defined as “characterized by a consistent pattern of behavior.”

We rely on memory instead of using alertness and understanding. If we were conditioned at such an early age to miss the “f’s” what else are we missing? How are old conditioning, familiar patterns and blind spots affecting us now?

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Wooden's Secret of Success: Intentness


The final link on the second tier of The Pyramid of Success is “Intentness.” The first and second tier is linked by “sincerity.” When we look below intentness, we see enthusiasm. When we combine all three, we see that we should remain diligent and persevere, but we must do so with an element of energy and sincerity that is sometimes hard to achieve when life is full of setbacks and adversities.

When we look at some of the great athletes of our time, we assume that the path to greatness was an easy one. Rarely do we see the hours of toil on the practice field or tears in working through an injury or the exhaustion from hours of travel, practice, game time and a life where a normal routine is often hard to find. Through the media we always seem more aware of the glamorous side of sports. We see the arms raised overhead in victory, the embrace with coach and family, the stoic face as they seem to effortlessly push themselves or their team to championships.

I am sure that if we did see the majority of our winning teams and athletes road to victory it would be marked with more setbacks than success. It is with reflection that we see how hard it is to remain true to the course when faced with adversity.

Wooden says that “the road to real achievement takes time, a long time, but you do not give up. You may have setbacks. You may have to start over. You may have to change your method. You may have to go around, or over, or under. You may have to back up and get another start. But you do not quit. You stay the course. To do that, you must have intentness.” Some of you have suffered through physical setbacks, but all of you have suffered through mental hurdles. How have you worked through those mental demons? Or, have you?

As a reminder to earlier discussions, Wooden began coaching basketball at UCLA in 1948. When he arrived there from Indiana he didn’t have a real gym, he was given a limited budget, but he was given the expectation to reach the top of the NCAA. Fifteen years later, the Bruins won their first National Championship. We don’t seem to have a lot of patience these days for teams who are expected to win. Can you imagine if Wooden had coached in today’s era? He probably would have been fired and the dynasty of winning 10 national championships in 12 years could have been lost.

Wooden makes reference to a couple of people he admires for their intentness through adversity. First, there was Lewis Alcindor- now known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Wooden said that despite his amazing skills and talent on the court, the press, the country and the life of a seven foot tall man worked against him. Kareem had to endure racism around the country and criticism from the media saying he was more of a “spectacle” than a person. Wooden insists Kareem was never rude and through it all remained in control and intent on helping his team win. During Kareem’s days a “no dunk” rule was put in place. Wooden believes that this rule and his intent to change to make himself better is what helped Kareem develop the deft skills and maneuvers around the basket that made him one of the best players of all time.

The other person that Wooden idolized was Abraham Lincoln who said, “Almost everyone can handle adversity. But, to test a person’s true character, give him power.”

Lincoln is known as one of America’s greatest presidents. Here is a brief summary of his career.

Failed in business 1831
Defeated for legislature 1832
Failed in business again 1833
Elected to legislature 1834
Sweetheart died 1835
Had nervous breakdown 1836
Defeated for speaker 1838
Defeated for elector 1840
Defeated for congressional nomination 1841
Elected to Congress 1846
Defeated for Congress 1848
Defeated for Senate 1855
Defeated for Vice President 1856
Defeated for Senate 1859
Elected President of the United States 1860

You each become more successful the more chances you give yourself at failure.
Don’t quit.
Written by Leisha Clendenen

Thursday, September 9, 2010

What to Eat Before a Hard Run or Race


A few of you new runners have already experienced the stomach upset that comes when running, especially on Saturday mornings. Here's an article from Kristy Richardson, a registered nutritionist (she also gave a presentation to our team last year) on what runners should eat before a run:

Pre-Workout Nutrition
August 20, 2010,
Do you avoid food prior to your workouts because of abdominal discomfort or digestive issues? To avoid these problems, make sure your pre-training nutrition is low in fat and fiber and focuses on high carbohydrate foods.

Ready-to-eat cereal, low fat milk and a banana
Yogurt and fruit
Egg whites, toast and berries
English muffin, peanut butter and a banana
Bagel, light cream cheese and a piece of fruit

If you are not used to eating before a workout, start with something small that is high in carbohydrates and well tolerated.
Half of a banana
1 cup of low fat yogurt
½ cup of cooked cereal (e.g. cream of wheat or oatmeal)
1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal

As you develop a tolerance for pre-workout nutrition, you should be able to gradually increase the amount.

If you’re still having digestive trouble, try a liquid meal.
Gatorade Nutrition Shake
Ensure
Boost
Slim-Fast
Carnation Instant Breakfast

It might take a few tries before you find the pre-workout nutrition that’s right for you. Find comfort in the fact that the effort you put in will pay off in the long run. Proper nutrition before your workout will help you optimize glycogen stores, improve energy levels, avoid hunger, and may even assist in muscle building.

This information was brought to you by OC Nutrition, Your Trusted Source for Health & Nutrition Advice. OC Nutrition offers nutrition counseling services over the phone or in person in Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange, Anaheim Hills, Chino, Glendora and Long Beach. If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please contact:
Kristy L. Richardson, MS, MPH, RD, CSSD, CHESRegistered Dietitian & Exercise Physiologist
(949) 933-6788kristy@ocnutrition.com
www.ocnutrition.com

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Wooden's Secret of Success - Initiative


As we move toward the right on the second level of the pyramid, we come to “initiative”. With initiative in the middle, we see how it stands on top of loyalty and cooperation and towards the right hand link of “sincerity”. When we combine all of these values together, we continue to see how Wooden promotes the idea of remaining a noble, strong, and fearless individual while we do our best for the sake of others. In taking initiative he says we should, “Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it.” In looking at all the blocks, we must be sincere in our efforts to be our best while serving the team.

Wooden believed that a person’s character should be paramount to winning and if you don’t think and act like a leader then the team would suffer. While we may all not be natural leaders, we may affect others’ actions, thoughts and beliefs in ways we never realized. By not recognizing our unique abilities to sincerely help and lead others, we are not taking initiative. Wooden does say that we must “cultivate” this trait, in others words it can take time. While it may take time, you may realize you are taking initiative without recognizing it.

Do you throw away trash that you see left behind without any recognition or thanks? Do you wear a watch to practice, have good eating habits, stretch well vs. going through the motions, avoid people that take you away from being the best you can be? If the answer is “yes” to any of these, then you are showing initiative. You are acting as a role model for others even if they don’t acknowledge it. You are helping yourself and your team.

However, in taking these actions, there is very little risk involved. There is no chance of failing. It is in that fear of failure that we decide to never take action. We become stuck and unwilling to take action because the results could be less than perfect. If you can keep in mind that we are not and never will be perfect, you can perhaps free up your mind and body to achieve any type of goal.

One of John Wooden’s team managers was quoted as saying he would have to go into the gym ticket booth on game night to see who the team was playing that day. Wooden would never talk about an opponent, he never prepared his teams to go against any one team, but challenged them each to take initiative to be their best no matter who the opponent. “Respect your opponent, but never fear them. You have nothing to fear if you have prepared to the best of your ability.” By taking the initiative to do more than what you thought possible, physically and emotionally, you are improving yourself and thus improving our team.
In the book “Beyond Success”, the author Brian Dibiro says that when you take initiative, you are taking action. However, it is “the difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know. “ We know what it takes to succeed, but it is our ability to take initiative (the doing) that helps you lead a more noble life and become a more inspiring teammate. You can do more, even when nobody is looking. The end result will speak for itself. What do you want your results to be?
“Remember this your lifetime through- Tomorrow there will be more to do.- And failure waits for all who stay-With some success made yesterday. Tomorrow you must try once more- And even harder than before.”

Written by Leisha Clendenen