TUNNEY-SIDE-OF-THE-STREET

#100 November 20 2006
Welcome to this week's message from the Tunney-Side-Of-The-Street. You are encouraged to share this with fellow workers, family and friends.

After further review -

"Keep your chin up" my Dad often said to me when our T*E*A*M lost or when I struck out, missed a free throw, dropped a pass or did poorly on a test in school. It was his way of saying not to focus on a failure by getting down on yourself, but keep your hopes up for better things to come. Opportunities always like ahead of you; not behind you.

As a way of focusing. Dad also said, "Success begets success". When you win/are successful, you fill your heart, mind and spirit with joy, enthusiasm and confidence. When you lose or have a set back, and think about that loss/failure, you tend to get down on yourself. Failure begets failure. Legendary Green Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardi said, "Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing".

So that brings us to Bobby Knight, Texas Tech Basketball coach, who recently physically (key word) lifted the chin of his player, Michael Prince, who came off the court during a game with his head down. What was Coach Knight thinking? To physically abuse a player is not the way to coach! Knight, advocate of the "old school", believes that sometimes you just have to get your players attention!

Bobby Knight, of course, has been known to use physical force in the past. As Head basketball Coach at Indiana University, he put his hand(s) on players, screamed at officials, and even threw a chair across the basketball floor during a game. The media have a field day with Knight's antics. While his coaching style might not be ideal or one that could be said to be a role model, Coach Knight was emphasizing to his player not to focus on the mistake but "just keep playing and you'll be ok". It was an encouraging "chin lift", not physically abusive.

Comparing that incident to the recent political campaigns locally and across the country prior to the November 7, 2006 election, I think I prefer the "chin lift" to the vehement, derogatory, hurtful verbal comments of campaign opponents. It seemed that candidates were trying to win by telling the voters how "bad" his/ her opponent was rather than what he/she could do positively, if elected.

Will you keep dreams alive by focusing on the positive?

Look for my book
It's the Will, Not the Skill
Principles and philosophies of success
For more information about Jim Tunney, go to www.jimtunney.com

ARTICLE TAGLINE FOR JIM TUNNEY, Ed.D., CSP, CPAE

Copyright © 2003 Jim Tunney. All rights reserved.
You can visit Jim's website at http://www.jimtunney.com

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