It was a fantastic weekend in Indianapolis at the NCAA March Madness Final Four.
The city of Indianapolis was a great place to visit, the event, the NCAA Final Four, was incredible, and the basketball was superb.
I began reflecting on what I learned over the weekend while sitting in the stands watching the Duke Blue Devils celebrate the National Championship.
5 Things that I Learned when Watching Butler & Duke University While at the 2010 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis
There is No Such Thing as 9 to 5
Butler or Duke never work 9 to 5. Their work, preparation, and planning did not end when 5 o’clock hit. They worked 24/7 to work towards and reach their goal. They could not stop thinking about their purpose and could not stop doing everything they could do to achieve that goal.
What is your goal, and what are you doing daily to reach it?
You Can Never Work Hard Enough
Butler was known as a hard-working defensive team. Defense does not make the highlight reel on TV, but it does lead to success. Good defiance is the result of hard work. Often hard work is not pretty, but it leads to success.
Are you working as hard as you can to reach your goals or to become what you dream of?
Practice, Practice, and Practice
Each player works on their craft over and over again. Suppose the player’s craft is shooting the ball. The player will often shoot 200 shots daily to work on the art of shooting.
What is your craft, and how often are you doing that craft daily to be the best?
It’s a Marathon
It does not happen overnight. It is doing all of the above dailies which lead to success. This is a harsh lesson to learn but a key one to remember.
What are you doing to move slowly and steadily towards your goals?
Being Calm in Stressful Situations
Coach Stevens of Butler University is a calm guy when things are stressful. You could feel the stress during the final four was huge. There was pressure from the university, alums, city, etc. This was the first time he was in the championships, but he was calm. This calmness allowed him to focus on doing a fantastic job.
How do you react to or deal with a stressful situation? Do you crumble, flip out or stay calm?
If you missed it, I did a previous blog post on men’s and women’s basketball injuries in the NCAA. CLICK HERE to read it.
I know this is not my regular kind of blog post on injuries. Being at the final four got me thinking, and I thought it might be nice to do a motivational post.
Take care, and we will talk to you soon.
Rick Kaselj, MS
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