Pregame Speech (September 2004)

Thoughts, stories, examples and ideas on challenging your team to perform at their highest level possible.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

Hope
By Catherine Pulsifer

Hope is one of the prime differences between successful people and those who can only see failure.

Successful people have hope because they can clearly see their goals.

People who only see failure have no hope because they see no light, they set no goals, and they see nothing accomplished.

Successful people see alternatives and are willing to try different ways. People who only see failure are unable to see another way and give up to easily.

As per the Proverb above, with hope you are halfway to where you want to go; by setting your goals, and taking the action to achieve them, you will see your hope turn into your reality!

QUOTES FOR THE MONTH

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all."
Emily Dickenson

"There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen

"There are no hopeless situations, there are only men who have grown helpless about them."
Clare Boothe Luce

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream."
Martin Luther King, Jr

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."
Dale Carnegie

THE PERSON IN THE GLASS

If you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you a champion for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that person has to say.
For it isn't your father, or mother, or brother,
Who upon you their judgment will pass.
The person whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass…
He or she is the one to please-never mind all the rest!
For he or she is with you right up to the end.
And you've passed your most difficult test,
If the person in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back, as you pass,
But your final reward will be headache or tears,
If you've cheated the person in the glass.

Wishing and Hoping
by Nan S. Russell

Years after Disneyland was built, after the completion of Walt Disney World, the story goes that someone went up to Mike Vance, Creative Director for Walt Disney Studios and said, "Isn’t it too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?" Without pausing, he replied, "But he did see it, that’s why it’s here."

If any outside figure influenced my life early on, it was Walt Disney. Maybe because when I was five, my favorite uncle took me to a wondrous new place called Disneyland. Maybe because I grew up in Southern California, visiting it every year or two, watching a man’s vision come to life and grow. Or maybe because I learned that "when you wish upon a star, it makes no difference who you are." Growing up on the Wonderful World of Disney, I learned how to dream.

But as I got older I realized it wasn’t just the dreaming and wishing that made the dreams possible. It was the doing. Like a Dusty Springfield song counsels, "Wishin' and hopin' -- And thinkin' and prayin' -- Plannin' and dreamin' -- Each night of his charms -- That won't get you into his arms."

In my experience wishing and hoping are poor strategies for making dreams come true, yet that’s how many people approach work, often surprised at their results. They wish they could make more money. They hope they’ll get promoted or offered a more interesting job. They wish someone will notice how hard they work. They hope the work environment improves, their boss comes to her senses, the problem goes away or someone else solves it.

Their chance of winning at working is right up there with becoming a millionaire on Vegas slots or holding the winning lottery ticket. And while it’s not true the ostrich hides in the sand, many of us do, wondering why we never land our dreams. Olympic athletics don’t get that way by wishing and hoping. Nor do great musicians, actors, chefs, architects, teachers, lawyers, parents, or business people. And I know I’ll never get my first book published by wishing it so.

Dreams can come true, but there is a secret. They’re realized through the magic of persistence, determination, commitment, passion, practice, focus and hard work. They happen a step at a time, manifested over years, not weeks. While wishing and hoping makes you a dreamer, acting and doing makes you someone who can turn dreams into reality. Want your work dreams to come true? Make them.