Don't Wait Till November

My letter the other day about the attitude of gratitude
stirred up some fire in the bellies out there. I thank one
reader who wrote encouraging me and loved that I was
bringing in character and attitude issues, while another
strongly objected to my quoting Jesus, and even more so
Oprah, and didn't see how either had much of anything
to do with shooting the basketball.

In talking about character I'm taking my cue from none
other than the "Wizard of Westwood" Coach John Wooden
who most would say is the greatest college basketball
coach, ever. He certainly emphasized attitude and
character from day one. He's written books about it, and
his success pyramid is built on it.

But then he even taught his players how to put on their
shoes and socks. Doing it right prevented blisters, and
do you think blisters might affect shooting? If you were
mentally tough enough sure you could play through them,
but there's nothing wrong with wanting to prevent them
in the first place. That's just smart.

Gratitude works the same way. It prevents a lot of
personal and team problems from developing. And it
starts you off at a much higher energy level than if
you are neutral, a complainer, or a cynic.

Now two researchers Dr. Michael McCollough, of SMU,
and Dr. Robert Emmons, of UCAL-Davis, have a scientific
study indicating gratitude makes a measurable difference
in people's lives.

The study required several hundred people in 3 groups
to keep daily journals. The 1st group recorded only events
of the day objectively. The 2nd wrote down only their
unpleasant experiences. And the 3rd made daily list of
things for which they were grateful.

The results indicate the daily gratitude exercises resulted
in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm,
determination, optimism and energy, as well as less
depression and stress. Also group 3 exercised more
regularly and made more progress toward personal goals.

So let's see. Would alertness affect shooting? Enthusiasm?
Optimism? Energy? Goal seeking?

I'm grateful you get my drift.

Shoot for the Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. The crowning achievement of the late Dr. Maxwell Maltz'
life is the "Zero Resistance Living" course put out by thePsycho-
Cybernetics Foundation. Dr. Maltz believed strongly in
gratefulness and thanksgiving as gateway attitudes to higher
levels of achievement in any endeavor. Find out what kind of
a life-changing program it is by bounding on over to:

http://www.deandelker.com/zero_resistance.html

Copyright, Delker Enterprises, Inc. 2006