Sunday, November 16, 2008

Football and the Gettysburg Address

I was given a book this weekend: The Winners Manual by Jim Tressel. Of course I had to start it before finishing the others in my stack.

I was sold on it before I even got to the first chapter. In the Prologue it told about the Winners Manual which is given to each Ohio State football player and coach when they enter a new year at OSU. Here's an excerpt:

"Today, the Winners Manual that we give our players and coaches begins with a tribute to our country and includes the Pledge of Allegiance and a section on the importance of the American Flag. We even print the text of the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln."
How refreshing; this is how they start their first day of training camp.

And the very first thing listed at the top of Chapter 1 is:

If you do the things you need to do
When you need to do them,
Someday you can do the things you want to do
When you want to do them!
I can see that there will be many lessons I can learn from Coach Tressel. Thanks to Heartbeats of Licking County for this wonderful gift!

2 comments:

Vicky said...

You always have something very interesting to read. Thank you for sharing!

Researcher- Tracy Forester said...

My brother called me today to chat about this and that. In our conversation he recommended a book and I thought It fitting to include it here. Whenever a book title includes the word, “Motivate” you can always count me in. We all need a jump start from time to time. I have included one person’s review of the book.

100 Ways to Motivate Yourself (Hardcover)
by Steven Chandler


Depressed procrastinators beware, May 28, 2004

I've had depression for over ten years - a disease that saps you of the motivation even to get out of bed - with heavy doses of anxiety over the things I had to do, wanted to do, "should" do... in fact, I was pretty much consistently overwhelmed and driven by fear. This book didn't fix that problem - meds and cognitive therapy books did - but this book was GREAT to read while procrastinating. After a couple of chapters, I'd lurch off my butt and get going. (Not an easy task with fatigued depression.)
But this book had an unexpected side effect. Not only did it motivate me short-term, it gave me lots of long-term help. Steve Chandler's outgoing and fearless philosophies have etched themselves into my brain over countless re-readings. It's not just a "motivation" book - it's a book about living life to the fullest. Some of the tips have nothing to do with motivation, per se - like singing to get a great confident speaking voice, getting over social embarrassment, and finding what you love to do. In fact, I think those chapters outnumber his motivational pep talks. That would be a negative selling point, if it hadn't had such a great overall effect.
There are also several chapters about planning. I swear, before I'd read this book I hardly ever wrote a list. Now, I've got them stuffed all over the place. Writing lists is a *little* motivational... but overall, I think it's done more for my career. I'm coming up with more and more creative ideas to make money.
I wanted a kick in the pants, but what I got was an attitude adjustment. Oh well... thanks, Steve.