Simple Steps To Success

WowCoach(tm)
DeskTopCoaching
May 28, 2001

In this Issue:
1.  Quote of the Week
2.  The Top 10 Secrets to Success
3.  If I Had My Child To Raise Again
4.  Coach Wooden - The Best Man I Know
5.  Coaching Tip

Welcome to the weekly edition of DeskTopCoaching. This
newsletter is designed to bring coaching into YOUR life.  Through
thought provoking articles, strong questions, and requests for weekly
action, we will bring a coaching slant to your life.

How do we make changes in our lives?  One step at a time!
Participate in the concepts of the newsletter and watch the shifts
begin to happen.

Our network grows by your referrals.  Please feel free to send
copies of the newsletter to friends and colleagues.

Have a wonderful week.

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"A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear, who
has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have
always known you could be."         ~ Tom Landry

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The Top 10 Steps to Success
by Philip Humbert

There is a wonderful quote from Jonathan Winters, "I
couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it."
I love that!  If you want success, sooner or later you
have to take action and go for it!

Too often we try to schedule success.  We try to plan it
for after we buy a home or get a raise or for that proverbial
"someday".  Well, life doesn't work that way.  The truth is
that every day is the perfect day to do the right thing,
to pursue your dreams, to take action, to begin.

The question is, "How?"  I'm often asked about the
details of where to begin and how to take action.  No
responsible adult wants to make an abrupt and poorly
thought-out decision.  Here are my Top 10 steps for
creating the life you truly want:

1.  Start by clarifying the dream.  Dream it big, dream it
often, and always in living color!  Imagine the problems,
the benefits, the skills you'll need and the people you'll
meet along the way.  Dream often and dream the details.

2.  Create a plan.  What will your dream cost?  How will
it work?  How long will it take?  Who will help you get
there?  How will you solve the challenges, over-come the
obstacles, and become the person you'll need to become to
reach your goal?

3.  Reach out.  We live in an amazing time.  You can
write, phone, fax or email just about anyone on earth!
Consult with experts.  Talk to people who have achieved
whatever you want to achieve.  Truly successful people are
usually delighted to show others the way.  Make the calls.

4.  Tell others.  There is no substitute for talking about
your dreams.  Saying the words makes them powerful.  Talk
about where you want to go, what you want to do, and who
you will become.  And as a benefit, you'll discover people
who will help you along the way.

5.  Take action!  No matter what your dream, there is a
step you can take today.  If you are serious, there is
someone you can call or write.  There is a book you can
read, or some action that will start you on the path.
Steven Spielberg snuck onto movie lots as a teenager, just
to look around.  What action will you take today?

6.  Buy a calendar.  Deadlines can be risky because if we
miss our schedule we may think we have "failed".  That's
crazy, but sometimes we tell ourselves crazy stuff.  More
importantly, schedules add structure and give us a map to
follow.  Use a calendar to challenge yourself.

7.  Eliminate distractions.  This is a tough one, and a
favorite excuse of the "almost successful".  Successful
people eliminate the distractions of life.  Combine
errands, delegate tasks, hire people to do the things you
don't want to do.  Simplify your life and never waste time.

8.  Invest wisely.  Successful people understand that
their dreams will require an investment of time or money
or energy and they are prepared to pay the price.
Whatever your dream, it will require some risk, and some
investment.  Make the investment.

9.  Create room for success.  All of us are doing
something every moment of every day, and making your
dreams come true will require some adjustments.  Whether
it's adjusting your schedule, your finances, or your use
of energy, you'll have to make room for success.

10.  Have a mentor.  Whether you hire a professional coach
or find a local expert, successful people have coaches.
There are very few "self made" successes!  We all need
someone to believe in us, someone to encourage, challenge
and applaud us.  Develop a close, working relationship
with a coach who can show you the way to your dreams!

Success is no accident.  Success is always the result of
our best efforts.  It's the result of investing time,
energy, careful thought, and hard work.  It's the result
of taking action, getting started, making mistakes,
learning from them and trying again.  There is simply no
better time to start than today.

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If I Had My Child To Raise Again
(author unknown)

If I Had My Child To Raise Again
I'd build self-esteem first and the house later.

I'd finger paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch,  and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less and know to care more.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.

I'd stop playing serious and seriously play.
I would run through the fields and gaze at more stars.

I'd do more hugging and less tugging.
I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.
I would be firm less often,  and affirm much more.

I'd model less about the love of power,  and more about the power of love."

Sometimes we spend so much time trying to get where we're going,  we too
often miss out on where we've been and ignore where we are.  I don't know
about you,  but my kids are growing up fast,  and in the excitement of
massive success,  I wonder if I've paid enough attention to the real reasons
I work this hard?

Whether or not you are blessed with children of your own,  there are
important aspects of your life that must be balanced against the drive for
success.  This is not to say that you shouldn't strive for excellence -- of
course,  bring everything to the table.  Just remember that success itself
may not be enough in the long run -- it's the love we share that leads to
the fulfillment that makes life worth living.
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Coach Wooden - the Best Man I Know
(from the 52 best stories)

On Tuesday the best man I know will do what he always
does on the 21st of the month. He'll sit down and pen a
love letter to his best girl. He'll say how much he misses
her and loves her and can't wait to see her again.

Then he'll fold it once, slide it in a little envelope and
walk into his bedroom. He'll go to the stack of love letters
sitting there on her pillow, untie the yellow ribbon, place
the new one on top and tie the ribbon again. The stack
will be 180 letters high then, because Tuesday is 15 years
to the day since Nellie, his beloved wife of 53 years, died.

In her memory, he sleeps only on his half of the bed, only
on his pillow, only on top of the sheets, never between,
with just the old bedspread they shared to keep him warm.

There's never been a finer man in American sports than
John Wooden, or a finer coach. He won 10 NCAA basketball
championships at UCLA, the last in 1975. Nobody has ever
come within six of him.

He won 88 straight games between January 30, 1971, and
January 17, 1974.

Nobody has come within 42 since.

So, sometimes, when the Basketball Madness gets to
be too much -- too many players trying to make Sports
Center, too few players trying to make assists, too
few coaches willing to be mentors, too many freshmen
with out-of-wedlock kids, too few freshmen who will
stay in school long enough to become men -- I like
to go see Coach Wooden.

I visit him in his little condo in Encino, 20 minutes
northwest of Los Angeles, and hear him say things like
"Gracious sakes alive!" and tell stories about teaching
"Lewis" the hook shot. Lewis Alcindor, that is.who became
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

There has never been another coach like Wooden, quiet
as an April snow and square as a game of checkers; loyal
to one woman, one school, one way; walking around
campus in his sensible shoes and Jimmy Stewart morals.

He'd spend a half hour the first day of practice teaching
his men how to put on a sock. "Wrinkles can lead to
blisters," he'd warn.

These huge players would sneak looks at one another and
roll their eyes. Eventually, they'd do it right. "Good,"
he'd say. "And now for the other foot."

Of the 180 players who played for him, Wooden knows the
whereabouts of 172. Of course, it's not hard when most
of them call, checking on his health, secretly hoping
to hear some of his simple life lessons so that they can
write them on the lunch bags of their kids, who will roll
their eyes.

"Discipline yourself, and others won't need to," Coach
would say. "Never lie, never cheat, never steal," and
"Earn the right to be proud and confident."

If you played for him, you played by his rules: Never
score without acknowledging a teammate. One word of
profanity, and you're done for the day. Treat your
opponent with respect.

He believed in hopelessly out-of-date stuff that never
did anything but win championships. No dribbling behind
the back or through the legs. "There's no need," he'd say.

No UCLA basketball number was retired under his watch.
"What about the fellows who wore that number before?
Didn't they contribute to the team?" he'd say.

No long hair, no facial hair. "They take too long to dry,
and you could catch cold leaving the gym," he'd say. That
one drove his players bonkers.

One day, All-America center Bill Walton showed up with
a full beard. "It's my right," he insisted. Wooden asked
if he believed that strongly. Walton said he did.

"That's good, Bill," Coach said. "I admire people who
have strong beliefs and stick by them, I really do.
We're going to miss you."

Walton shaved it right then and there. Now Walton calls
once a week to tell Coach he loves him.

It's always too soon when you have to leave the condo
and go back out into the real world, where the rules are
so much grayer and the teams so much worse.

As Wooden shows you to the door, you take one last look
around. The framed report cards of his great-grandkids.
The boxes of jelly beans peeking out from under the favorite
wooden chair. The dozens of pictures of Nellie.

He's almost 90 now. You think a little more hunched over
than last time. Steps a little smaller. You hope it's not
the last time you see him.

He smiles. "I'm not afraid to die," he says. "Death is my
only chance to be with her again."

Problem is, we still need him here.

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Coaching Tip:

The Principle of Kaizen continues this week in the newsletter.  What are
the simple steps to success, to bringing coaching into your life?  You can
see the stories this week reflect simple, and sometimes old fashioned
ideas.  Coach Wooden reflects that those simple messages have impacted
the lives of his players, their families, and all those around them.
Simple, and old fashioned, can have life altering effects!

What will you change today?

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Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. Permission is
granted to reproduce or distribute this newsletter as
long as this copyright notice and full information about
contacting the  author is attached. This newsletter is
produced by Dr. Janice Hughes B.Sc., M.Sc., D.C.

Dr. Janice Hughes is a Chiropractor who focuses on
health and wellness. She runs a private practice,
Whole Body Health, in Brantford, Ontario. She has created
an integrative health model which provides a group of
professionals partnering to provide lifestyle coaching
and education. Dr. Hughes is also a Coach who works
with individuals, teams or organizations who are
committed to getting ahead, changing direction or
simply growing.

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