Having spent almost the entire week prior to Christmas working in my backyard from literally dawn to dusk preparing the area for turf, I went into the holiday period ill-prepared on the reading front. I can usually rely on at least one good book or a gift certificate at a book shop for Christmas, but none were forthcoming this year. It was slim pickings indeed when I went to the bookshelf to find something I hadn’t already read. My husband is keen on biographies and autobiographies, so I picked up a biography of Barry Humphries and also a book by Jack Gibson (Rugby League coach).
I’m still only half way through the Barry Humphries biography-one of those books you keep reading because it’s mildly interesting and you think it must get better soon. I did discover that terms such as “technicolour yawn” “liquid laugh” and “siphon the python” entered the Australian vernacular as a result of Humphries’ film The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. Clearly not the most riveting book if that’s all I’ve drawn from it!
On the other hand, and quite surprisingly, Jack Gibson’s 4th book, The Last Word is very good. I recently read Wayne Bennett’s latest offering (also a Rugby League coaching legend) but didn’t get that much from it. I stuck with it till the end, but as a coach, it didn’t light any fires for me. Not being at all interested in Rugby League probably didn’t help! I was therefore delighted to find The Last Word offers much food for thought from both a coaching and a personal point of view. The first part of the book is written by Gibson and the second is a collection of quotes he noted down over the years. Some are altered slightly to suit the coaching idiom. Here are just a few:
Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time’ is like saying ‘I don’t want to.’ LAO-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHER AND TEACHER. (If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say they don’t have time to exercise, I’d be a very rich woman).
The first time you quit it’s hard. The second time it gets easier. The third time you don’t even have to think about it. PAUL BRYANT. AMERICAN FOOTBALL (Precisely why we like you to try to make up any missed sessions ASAP).
A leader takes people to where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be. ROSALYNN CARTER, WIFE OF THE 39THUS PRESIDENT (Keep this one in mind when I ask for that little bit extra effort)
A player’s performance tends to rise or fall to meet the coach’s expectations. FRANK F. HUPPE, BUSINESS CONSULTANT AND MOTIVATOR. (Ever felt you couldn’t possibly do what I’ve asked you to do, but you surprise yourself by doing it? Generally, I’m not surprised. You are all capable of so much).
Nothing is so simple that it can’t be misunderstood. JUNIOR LEAGUE MAGAZINE (Definitely one for me to keep in mind!)
Half of getting what you want is knowing what you must give up to get it. ROBERT ANTHONY, PSYCHOLOGIST AND MOTIVATOR
Whatever your past has been, you have a spotless future. MELANIEGUSTAFSON,US HISTORIAN (All too often I see people sabotaging their efforts by looking back rather than forwards. If you eat a chocolate for breakfast, that’s no reason to continue eating junk for the rest of the day!)
I think the covers are too far apart. AMBROSEBIERCE,US AUTHOR AND SATIRIST, WHEN ASKED TO COMMENT ON A PARTICULAR BOOK.
Nothing happens until someone steps forward and says “You can count on me” ROB GILBERT, EDITOR, BITS & PIECES
Share the quotes or sayings which you use for motivation below.
