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Lou Holtz is known as one of the top college football coaches of all time.  Most recently he came out of retirement to coach South Carolina and before that had a successful run coaching at Notre Dame.  He is the only coach ever to have brought six different teams to bowl games and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Recently I was at a conference where Lou Holtz was the keynote speaker. Aside from being a great football coach, Holtz is a great LIFE coach.  His lessons are clear and powerful and delivered with a mix of inspiration and humor.  Here are his five keys to success.

1. Choose Your Attitude

In life you will face many difficulties and problems. It is guaranteed that life won’t be easy.  You choose how you respond to adversity or difficulties.  You choose how you respond to rejection.  You choose how you approach life.  Be self discipline and be enthusiastic about everything you do.

“You cannot let others people determine your attitude.”

“Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.”

“Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.”

2. Have a Passion to Win

You need to develop a deep passion to win. As you do, obstacles will slip away.  If your passion is strong then there will be no obstacle that will keep you from being a success.  You will pursue, persevere, and endure.  You will sacrifice and have no excuses.

“You can evaluate your passion to win by what you are willing to sacrifice.”

“Focus on why you can win; no on why you can’t.”

“You’re never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you’re never as bad as they say when you lose.”

3. Understand Your Purpose

Do you know your purpose?  Your purpose is your WHY: the reason WHY you are pursuing your goals.  You need to have clear objectives, and have a team ready to help you move towards your goals. Based on your purpose, ask yourself the WIN question: “What’s Important Now?”  Ask yourself this at least 25 times a day.  This will help you push back towards your purpose.

“If you’re bored with life – you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things – you don’t have enough goals.”

“I can’t believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary.”

4. Be a Dreamer

Your purpose should be connected to your dream. Have a dream, share your dream, and use your dream to identify your goals.  Develop a dreams list of all the things you dream to do.  Have something to do, something to hope for, something to love, and something to believe in.

“Don’t maintain where you are – everything is either growing or dying.”

“Don’t be a spectator. Don’t let life pass you by.”

5. Lift People Up

You need to develop and maintain meaningful relationships with others.  Do what is right to others.  Do everything to the very best of your ability. Show people you care. All the people you meet have their own struggles and are carrying some burden. They are just like you.

“Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated.”

“If you burn your neighbor’s house down, it doesn’t make your house look any better.”

Read more of Lou Holtz’s wisdom by picking up his book “Winning Everyday”.

Written by:
Danny Gamache
Based on a presentation by Lou Holtz

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Tags: attitude, Dream, Lou Holtz, Passion, Personal Growth, Purpose, Quotes, success

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 1:52 pm and is filed under Goal Setting, Motivation, Personal Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.