What Are You Selling Today Son?

In Today's Post--While Citing SHAKESPEARE--Paul Reveals The Best Coaches In America And Why--And More Importantly--What, We All Can Learn From One Of Them!  

For All Players', Coaches AND Parents--THIS IS A MUST READ!!


By Paul Lubanski

I believe the two best coaches in all of the sporting-world today reside within college football.

Nick Saban and Urban Meyer.

Listen, you may not like them personally but what they accomplish year-in and year-out is nothing short of miraculous.

What makes them so successful is not a secret. Both know strategy and can inspire. A simple formula--indeed. There are just so few that manage to do both at the highest of levels.

They can.


For the balance of this column, I will focus on Saban in particular, because I have spent the most time studying precisely what makes him tick. More importantly, how he prods his players to respond so consistently--and WIN.

And there is a lesson contained within what I have discovered. One for all of us--players, coaches and business people-in-general.

You know the old adage about successful people are always "selling" themselves whenever/wherever they are 24 hours a day?

It revolves around the following mandate: You must always be presenting yourself to the outside world in the best possible light because "you just never know" whom of importance may be watching/listening.

Nick Saban believes in this idea and has figured out a way transfer this belief system to his players and at the same time-motivate them on a daily basis to internalize and embrace the notion.

So here is how he does it...

EVERY day at practice he stands just outside of the tunnel leading onto the practice field and while his players run around him he shouts the identical refrain: "What are you selling today son?"

Translation: what are you going to show me on the practice playing field today to EARN playing time?

Very powerful message indeed--if you ask me. Mainly because he is delivering it to the ENTIRE team. In other words, regardless of whether you starred in last Saturday's win or not, you are EXPECTED to EARN your on-field upcoming game-time predicated upon what you do in TODAY'S practice.

As I stated before, I believe that his message is one that transcends athletic competition and if you take the time to stop and ponder--wears extremely well in all facets of our lives.

I will leave you with this:

Shakespeare has been quoted as saying: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."

If true,  it should be obvious that some of us become LARGER players that end up receiving more "stage" time than others.

Why?

Because we EARNED it in practice or in our personal, day-to-day living habits.

I encourage you to strive to become one of those aforementioned (LARGER) individuals and the opportunity to compete or coach on the junior, college or professional level is far more likely.

All The Best,

Paul Lubanski

Paul's delightful children's book "Bonky, a Moose and the Magic Hockey Stick" is available by visiting www.amazon.com  --A terrific potential Christmas gift or stocking stuffer for the young hockey-lover in you life...Paul be will reading from the book and delivering a short presentation at the Farmington Community Library on December 27th...the public is invited.

You can connect direct with Paul via Facebook Page or Twitter @ holdfasttodream or by his youth hockey consulting company he heads in partnership with the Chicago Area Youth Hockey Blog---the name is "PPP" Consulting--Paul's Puck Pathway's--see PPP Tab on the top of our Home Page for information.

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