Your Yes I Can Gold Gift Message
January 21st, 2008 at 9:56 amTurning Failure into
Success
By Mike Tully
The other night at practice, one of our athletes
served a ball under the net. Astonished, I raced
over to ask her what happened.
She was embarrassed, and she replied, "I don't know."
That's when I told her that this answer wouldn't
help her. "It's OK to make a poor serve, but it's
not OK to move on without figuring out what went
wrong."
"It was my toss," she said.
"Perfect," I answered. "Remember, it's OK to make
a poor serve. It's not OK to move on without
figuring out what went wrong."
This formula can help you turn failure into
success. Whenever you fail, take a look at the
failure and see what went wrong. Then try again.
This formula works in every area of life, whether
it's schoolwork, on the job, or in the gym.
Coaches can teach their athletes an enormous life
lesson by emphasizing the concept of the brain as
a self correcting mechanism. So many athletes try
a skill, and then say, "I can't." As coaches, we
can teach them, "Yes, you can, and here's how."
Coaches can show examples by putting this formula
into daily use. For instance, did your practice go
wrong? Then don't have another practice without
analyzing what went wrong. Did a drill not work
properly? Then figure out what went wrong before
using that drill again.
Most of all, stress that answers like "I don't
know" won't help them.
As for the athlete who made the poor serve, she
seemed to serve much better for the rest of the
night. But that's not the point. My real hope is
that she learned a valuable lesson on how to turn
failure into success.
To emphasize: The real failure is failure to learn
from mistakes. The best coaches and athletes do
not make that mistake.
-Mike Tully is a member of the "Yes, I Can!"
coaching staff. You can hear him now on his "Pep
Talk" hotline at (973) 773-2151.
By Mike Tully
The other night at practice, one of our athletes
served a ball under the net. Astonished, I raced
over to ask her what happened.
She was embarrassed, and she replied, "I don't know."
That's when I told her that this answer wouldn't
help her. "It's OK to make a poor serve, but it's
not OK to move on without figuring out what went
wrong."
"It was my toss," she said.
"Perfect," I answered. "Remember, it's OK to make
a poor serve. It's not OK to move on without
figuring out what went wrong."
This formula can help you turn failure into
success. Whenever you fail, take a look at the
failure and see what went wrong. Then try again.
This formula works in every area of life, whether
it's schoolwork, on the job, or in the gym.
Coaches can teach their athletes an enormous life
lesson by emphasizing the concept of the brain as
a self correcting mechanism. So many athletes try
a skill, and then say, "I can't." As coaches, we
can teach them, "Yes, you can, and here's how."
Coaches can show examples by putting this formula
into daily use. For instance, did your practice go
wrong? Then don't have another practice without
analyzing what went wrong. Did a drill not work
properly? Then figure out what went wrong before
using that drill again.
Most of all, stress that answers like "I don't
know" won't help them.
As for the athlete who made the poor serve, she
seemed to serve much better for the rest of the
night. But that's not the point. My real hope is
that she learned a valuable lesson on how to turn
failure into success.
To emphasize: The real failure is failure to learn
from mistakes. The best coaches and athletes do
not make that mistake.
-Mike Tully is a member of the "Yes, I Can!"
coaching staff. You can hear him now on his "Pep
Talk" hotline at (973) 773-2151.