See how your team does on this quiz…

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for Best Actor and Actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series Winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remembers the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They’re the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Now here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers or coaches who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worth while.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name a half dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier? The lesson? The people who make a difference in your life aren’t the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They’re the ones who care.

Written by Chris Widener (www.chriswidener.com)

Of course by now we are all becoming aware of DNA. It is the source code that determines who we are. When we look at DNA we can see what a person will look like, what diseases they may come down with, etc. This has been a tremendous breakthrough for scientists and will continue to be so for some time, I think.

This got me to thinking about what makes up those who are top achievers. Is there a “DNA” to them? Obviously, all top achievers wouldn’t have the same literal DNA but what about a figurative DNA? Is there a common “gene” that they all have? Are there common “genes” perhaps? I think so!

If we could get right down to it, I think these are the genes we would find in the DNA of top achievers:

A predisposition to setting high, lofty goals. Top achievers are people who won’t and can’t settle for the status quo. They see average as a place they want to keep in the rear-view mirror. Instead, they continually look for ways to stretch themselves, to get better, to do better, to be better! They set their sights on goals that others have never even thought of. They want to shoot so high that even if they miss, they go higher than everyone else. This is what makes them top achievers.

An ability to focus intently upon reaching their desired destination. Many people can set high goals, but just as many people get sidetracked by one thing or another on their way to those goals. High, lofty goals usually take a while to get there so there will always be plenty of time to be tempted to stray away from the road that is taking you to those goals. Often, those things that sidetrack people are good things, but not the best things. Top achievers do not get sidetracked. They stay focused. They know where they are going. They have an ability to say “no” to the good things in order to get to the best things.

The willingness to personally sacrifice in order to get to their goal. When the going gets tough, many people quit. When the going get tough personally, most people quit. When the going gets tough for top achievers, they remind themselves of the high. lofty goals they have set for themselves. They remind themselves of what an accomplishment it will be for them and that the reward is worth pushing through the momentary trials. They are willing to sacrifice personally in the short-term in order to get the reward and the prize long-term. Keeping their eyes on the big picture enables them to persevere through any personal pain they may experience.

A predisposition to tenacity. Tenacity is the ability to “keep on going.” Tough times? Keep on going! Financial troubles? Keep on going! People are suspect? Keep on going! You look like a dreamer? Keep on going! Tired? Keep on going! Want to quit and take it easy? Keep on going! Just remember this: Keep on going! The prize is ahead! Many people quit just before they were to get the reward, so keep on going!

The ability to see available resources and to use them accordingly. Those who are top achievers know that they cannot be lone-rangers on the way to the top. No one makes it by himself or herself. Top achievers recognize their weaknesses – the weaknesses that if they don’t cover will keep them from becoming a top achiever! They see their resources and they work to get them into a helping position so they can continue the route to becoming a top achiever. And they don’t use them, they utilize them. There is a big difference! People, finances, etc are all brought in to help by the top achiever.

A desire to help others achieve more for themselves as well. The top achiever knows that they can make a difference for others by becoming a top achiever. They know that the wealth they make can feed the hungry. They know that the position of influence they achieve can open a door for someone who may not normally get a chance. True top achievers look at how they can bring many with them, not how they can leave many in the dust. People are helped by the top achiever, not trampled upon!

I think if we could get to the DNA of top achievers, the things we talked about above would be at the core and fiber of their beings. What about you? Did you recognize yourself at all? I hope so! The good news about the DNA we are talking about today as opposed to real DNA is that you can go out and work on top achiever DNA whereas you are stuck with real DNA. So if you lack a little in the above-mentioned areas, take heart – you can get better and work on them so that you can become a top achiever!

Go get ‘em, tiger!

Chris Widener, is a successful businessman, author, speaker and television host.

He has authored over 450 articles and nine books, including a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-seller. He has produced over 85 CDs and DVDs on leadership, motivation and success.

Chris Widener is the past host of the national interview show – Made For Success and past co-host of True Performance with Zig Ziglar. Chris is also a writer for SUCCESS magazine.

I found this list to share with your players on Mayville State University Women’s Basketball Coach Dennis Hutter’s site www.coachhutter.com.

My hope is that you can make some adaptations to the document that fit your team’s standards and ideals and share it with your players, no matter what your sport.

The ABC’s of Comets Basketball

Attitude – An Attitude of Gratitude, writing thank you notes once a week to someone who has helped you.

Balance – The ability to be successful in life while dealing with your basketball, academic and personal life.

Commitment – What every player understands is necessary to become the player and team we want to be.

Discipline – Doing the right thing, at the right time, every time you do it, no matter who is watching.

Excellence – What we achieve every day through effort, energy, execution and emphasis on the little things.

Family – What we are, we are more than a team we are a Family.

Greatness –What we strive for everyday from on the floor to in the classroom to in our personal lives.

Honor – Understanding the opportunity they have to play sports.

Integrity – Handling all situations with a positive mental, physical and emotional state of mind.

Journey – It is not the finish line, it is everything done in the time heading to the finish line.

Knowledge – Upperclassmen passing down the culture of our program to the new players.

Leadership – Every player on our team has a leadership responsibility, and that is your Example.

Motivation – What will make you the player that you want to be, intrinsic motivation cannot be taught.

N.B.A. – Next Best Action.

Opportunity – What every player gets being a part of our family, from Varsity to Junior Varsity.

Pride – Understanding what/who you are playing for, and giving everything you have for that cause.

Quality – The product produced by doing the right things.

Respect – The manner in which we treat all people. We care about people.

Servanthood – Giving back to the people who helped you get to where you are.

Tenacity – Our Attitude whenever we step on the floor.

Unselfishness – Being able to take the attention off of ourselves and put it on our teammates.

Victory – What we strive for every time we step on the floor. Not just on the scoreboard.

WIN – What’s Important Now?

Xample – It’s not the Main thing, it’s the ONLY thing!

Youth – Interacting with youth around the area through camps, helping at their school and games.

Zeal – The way in which we approach every situation.

These are 37 of the 366 daily motivational thoughts for coaches to share with their players that we have compiled.

If you are interested in the entire list of 366 thoughts, you can download it at the bottom of the page.

I hope that there are several thoughts here that you can either use or give some thought to and tweak so that they become your won and fit what your athletes need to hear.

Toughness is a skill and can be practiced and improved like all other skills.

You should always want your coach to be critical. It gives you an opportunity to learn and to overcome adversity.

The more things you can do, the harder you are to keep out of the lineup.

You either get better or we get worse. You don’t stay the same, so we have to use every practice and workout to get better.

Concentrate on effort and execution; the results will take care of themselves.

No excuses, no explanations. You can either have results, or you can have excuses, not both.

Buy in or buy a ticket.

Good players give second efforts, great players give 3rd, 4th, and 5th efforts in both practices and games.

The only way for an individual athlete to improve is to work at an uncomfortable pace in practice and during their improvement season workouts. If you aren’t uncomfortable, chances are you aren’t improving.

“There is do and do not, there is no try.” Yoda in Star Wars

A player’s goal every practice should be to improve yourself for the benefit of the team.

Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.

“Don’t mistake routine for commitment.” Don’t just show up, but give it everything you’ve got, every single time.

“Anyone who doesn’t make mistakes isn’t working hard enough.”

There are two pains in life, the pain of discipline, and the pain of regret. Take your choice.

Your energy level is controlled by your thoughts. Make a concentrated effort to think thoughts that increase your energy level.

We rate ability in people by what they finish, not what they start.

Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires and how smart and hard they are willing to work to reach their potential.

“Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.” Michelangelo

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together”. Hard means with effort, determination and courage; Smart means with proper execution and poise, Together means unselfishly, trusting your teammates and doing everything possible not to let them down.

“We all need a daily check up from the neck up to avoid stinkin’ thinkin’ which ultimately leads to hardening of the attitudes.” Zig Ziglar

“Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.” Epectetus

You don’t have to be bad to change. All too often, people resist change because they assume it means they were not OK to begin with.

It takes a minimum of 21 days of conscious repetition before anything becomes a habit. That means when you are learning or improving a skill, you must stick with it for at least 21 practice sessions or you will not see any improvement.

If you think small things don’t matter, think of the last game you lost by one point.

Teamwork: The fuel that produces uncommon results in common people.

Good enough is neither.

R.E.P.S.- Repetition Elevates Personal Skills.

“A person really doesn’t become whole, until he or she becomes a part of something that’s bigger than himself.” Jim Valvano

“Effort is only effort when it begins to hurt.” Jose Ortega y Gassett

“Your toughest competition in life is anyone who is willing to work harder than you.”

“The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get from it, but what they become by it.” John Ruskin

Life is like a bucket of water. We are a part of the whole. But how big is the hole that is left when we take away a large cup of water? The hole suddenly fills up and…life goes. The nature of life is that there is always someone who can and will take your place, when you think you are irreplaceable.

It’s not the hours you put in, it’s what you put in the hours.

Victory or defeat is not determined at the moment of crisis, but rather in the long and unspectacular period of preparation.

“When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” Jacob August Riis

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.