We love winners because winners make us better. We’ve said many times, we don’t care who we work with. We don’t care if you’re young or old. We don’t care if you’re good or not. All of that is still true. But the more we learn, and the more people we’re around, there is one thing that we want. We want to work with winners. Winners aren’t all talented. Winners aren’t all athletic. Not all winners score 25 points a game. By the way, just because you can score 25 points a game, doesn’t make you a winner. Just because you win, doesn’t make you a winner. It’s so much more than that.
The Real Diamonds
Real winners are hard to find. We find ourselves trying to teach people how to be winners more than anything else. Whether it’s basketball or music or cooking, winners are the kind of people we want to be around because they make us better. And selfishly, that’s all we want. We just want to be our best. Winners take everything that we have to offer and demand more because all they care about is getting better. Winners don’t let anything stand in their way of what they want. They know exactly what they want and they go after it. That’s who we want to be around. No excuses. Result-driven. Winners.
Is the process important? Yes. We still cherish every step as another opportunity to improve. Is the goal the end? Never. Because there’s always the next goal and the next one. Will we always win? No. Will it always be pretty? Nope. Do we care? Not at all. Because every win is a win and every loss is too, because we’ll learn from it and get better.
Do You…?
Winners crave the truth. Winners use the truth to drive themselves. They don’t shy away from it. They aren’t scared of it. In addition, They are scared if they don’t get the truth. They understand that truth is their roadmap to greatness.
Everyone says they are a winner. Everyone wants to win. The truth is that 95% of people don’t want to do what it takes to win. They aren’t willing to lose in order to win, or they aren’t willing to make the sacrifices that it takes to be a winner. They aren’t willing to get their hands dirty.
It’s still true. We’ll work with anyone. We know that most people we work with probably won’t even play in high school much less college or any level higher than that. We know that we won’t work with everyone forever. It’s not really even about basketball.
We hope that when you leave us, you know what it takes to win at something, at anything. We hope that you understand to be great at anything, you have to sacrifice. To win at the highest level, you have to give up something. You have to lose. How much are you willing to lose in order to win?
Now or Later?
Most people are so worried about winning that they would rather win in the moment and lose in the long run. They want a quick fix. The instant gratification of that short term is what most people can’t say no to. We want to work with the people who are willing to lose now to win in the long run. They know what they want and they’ll do whatever it takes to get it. Part of it is knowing to say no to anything that gets in the way of what they really want. They know how to say no to all of the other things that come along that don’t help them with what they want.
Being a winner can seem selfish. Being a winner might be a bit manipulative. You know you can’t do it by yourself. You know you need others to help you. The real key for winners is to surround themselves with other winners. Winners feed off of each other. The symbiotic relationship between winners is addictive and rewarding. Winners love giving to other winners because it helps everyone win more.
Who’s in Your Circle?
If you want to be a winner and you’re trying to figure it out, we’ll help. Just remember, we might hurt your feelings. We will probably not tell you what you want to hear all the time. We’ll probably tell you that a lot of your decisions probably aren’t in line with what you say you want. After that the choice is yours. Remember, it’s not because we don’t care about you. In fact, it’s just the opposite. We care about you a lot. We just don’t care about your feelings.
Just remember, we don’t really care what decision you make. It’s your life, not ours. You have to do what’s best for you based on what you want. If you decide to come back, and we find out that your choices don’t line up with your words, we’ll remind you. You will always win at something. The question is are you going to win at what you say you want? Are you going to win at that instant gratification that makes you feel better right now but doesn’t help you in the long run?