Motivation, Success, and Believing

If you have just 13 minutes today, please listen to Jim Valvano's speech from 1987. I've grabbed the last 13 minutes, but the entire speech is worth a listen. https://youtu.be/XbELX-uMlG4?si=5KL0baHVAbs5tON5&t=2115

In 1983, the 美国北卡罗莱纳州立大学 Wolfpack made an improbable run to win the NCAA Basketball Championship, beating Phi Slamma Jamma, Houston Cougars.

Fast-forward to 2024, and the Wolfpack is on a similar path. Who knows, we may have the same result.

So far, I'm having a memorable time celebrating this historical milestone with my kids, friends, and the rest of the Wolfpack nation!

The players on this year's team were decades from being born when NC State won the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in 1983.

However, there are key traits that came together to provide momentum at the right time, like lightning in a bottle.

In his speech, Coach Valvano discusses motivation in his personal life: You + Motivation = Success.

One of his crucial life moments occurred when he attended a speech by Reverend Bob Richards, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist. What stuck with him for the rest of his life was this: "Every single day, in every walk of life, ordinary people do extraordinary things!"

How do you go from ordinary to extraordinary?

Getting to extraordinary starts with you. If you are at your highest level every day, it’s contagious to others around you!

What are the principles that Coach Valvano employed?

1. Laugh: Make sure you laugh every day.
2. Enthusiasm:? Ralph Waldo Emerson told the graduating class of Harvard, “Nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm.”
3. Dream:? Imagine what your future will be. Coach Valvano used to have a practice where his players would cut down the nets, the whole ceremony and they would film it.? Your dream becomes your reality, feeling you can accomplish that and understand that extraordinary things can be accomplished by ordinary people.
4. Work Ethic:? The relationship between work and success is not direct.? It’s not about working hard to be successful, but rather, if you don’t work hard you cannot be successful.
5. Believe:? “Have your bags packed.” Be there to share in others' successes. Believe in the people around you.

Those who follow me know I always find a way to bring things back to my passion, Tae Kwon Do, that are based on these foundational tenets:

• Courtesy
• Integrity
• Perseverance?
• Self-Control
• Indomitable Spirit

Together, these tenets embody the concept of Pil-Sung - “I will have certain victory.”

It's clear that this team embodies these tenets, and I hope they bring a Pil-Sung attitude to the courts!

#motivation