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Don’t Let Yesterday… January 12, 2007

Posted by TimTheFoolMan in anger, Fear, Learning, life, Love, Reflections, Seasons, Success.
3 comments

…be a prison for today.

All of us have had things in our past that were difficult or painful. For me, there is no shortage of bad memories for me to play back in my mind, over and over. However, at some point, if we keep replaying those events in our mind, they become the TV show we hate to watch, but somehow find it on every channel, all day long.

alone

What haunts you? What memories lurk in the shadows, waiting for you to give them life and breath by revisiting them? What do you have to do to “let go” of them?

My experience is that such things, theoretically locked up in yesterday, can be a prison for today, stealing away my life. Fortunately, I have the power to cast off those bonds and chains. I have to find a way to let go.

Moment of College Sports Zen: Local TV Irony January 8, 2007

Posted by TimTheFoolMan in Coaching, Football, Sports, Success.
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Last night, WHAS-TV ran one of those 5-second “Congratulations to UofL and Coach Petrino for winning The Orange Bowl. I had to laugh though.

orange bowl

While the still frame of the team & coach were being displayed under this voice-over, a news blurb was running at the bottom of the screen:

Special Update: Coach Bobby Petrino to leave Louisville as Head Coach to lead the Atlanta Falcons.

I think Petrino’s making a mistake, and would have done well to have discussed this with UofL’s Men’s Basketball coach, Rick Pitino (Pitino had a… shall we say “less than successful” transition from UK to the Boston Celtics). On the other hand, Petrino’s worked in the NFL before (as a quarterback’s coach), so he should know what he’s getting into. In addition, his past behavior has not exactly shown him to be a man who felt obligated to stand by a written contract or his verbal commitment to the community, so this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to the community.

In the end, like it or not, college football is a business, just like the NFL, and the reality of this is that “business ethics” is generally an oxymoron. It’s a lousy message to send young men (both players and recruits), and I wish it weren’t that way, but that doesn’t change the reality.

Art of Failure Part 2: 3 Ways to Learn from Negative Feedback November 10, 2006

Posted by TimTheFoolMan in anger, Coaching, Discipline, Education, Exercise, Family, Football, Learning, Love, Management, Parenting/Children, Self-Worth, Sports, Success, Workplace.
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In the first half of this essay, I talked about ways to give effective negative feedback. This is difficult, because we’re conditioned to be negative in unhealthy and destructive ways, which encourages some to abandon negative communication altogether.

cowher

I’m convinced that negative feedback has been given a bad rap. Regardless of whether it’s in connection with correcting the behavior of children, players, or subordinates, I’ve seen evidence that some of the greatest in any particular field seem to draw inspiration and strength from past failures. Ultimately, where’s the balance? Why is it that negative feedback has such a positive effect on some, but such a negative effect on others? How much is it dependent on the recipient? (more…)