Today you will actually get two quotes. The first quote is a short 3-word quote that has been the biggest influence in my life for the last 30+ years - "Attitude is Everything." I have lived this quote as kind of a mantra. Even before I first heard the quote in the mid-to-late 1990's, I strongly believed in this concept. I had just not heard it put as succinctly as motivational speaker, Keith Harrell, put it in the talk I heard him give. I loved the quote and his talk so much, I bought his book and his cassette tape (hey, it was the 90's!) right then and there, and I listened to that tape so many times I wore it out. I highly recommend you check them out.
I am also giving you a bonus quote today, but this one is a LOT longer than just three words. I had actually read this quote sometime prior to seeing Keith Harrell, and I felt that this lengthy quote got at the heart of how I felt about life. It was also something I called upon in my teaching and coaching, and I tried to instill the concepts in this quote into my students and my athletes. The quote is by a man named Charles Swindoll. Here it is:
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church....a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes.”
I hope you like these quotes as much as I do, and I hope you will use them with your teams. They both make excellent team study topics.
For more information to help you on your road to becoming your best, check us out at SlamDunkSuccess.com or email me at scott@slamdunksuccess.com.
As always, our background music is "Dance in the Sun" by Krisztian Vass.