Want to work on something each day that will make your season more successful and make you a better player or coach? Spend time each day working on improving your habits. Coaches talk about habits often. Parents constantly strive to develop good habits in their children. Business people like to say “excellence is a habit”.
Here are a few quotes on habits I got from Denis Waitley’s ezine (ezine@denis waitley.com).
We learn by observation, imitation and repetition.
Habits begin as offhanded remarks, ideas and images. And then, layer upon layer, through practice, they grow from cobwebs into cables that shackle or strengthen our lives.
Habits are like submarines. They run silent and deep.
First we make our habits, then our habits make us.
Habits are like comfortable beds. They are easy to get into, but difficult to get out of.
Winning and losing are both learned habits.
When we are too tired to think, too emotional to decide what is the right thing to do, or when you just react in a situation, it will be your well established habits that will determine what you do.
In Life is Like a Taxi Ride, Lyman MacInnis makes the point that athletes develop habits that are based on superstition. While this can be amusing, it rarely leads to better performance.
Make it a habit to spend time each day reinforcing a strength and making a weakness a little less of a negative in your game. Guaranteed this will lead to more success in your season.