No whining. No complaining. No excuses. Those things are for losers!
It was February 2011. On this particular day, I was running a high school varsity basketball practice. We started practicing at 6:00pm. All players were there, except for one: Chad Gerber. 10 minutes later, Chad arrives. As he arrives, I motioned him to come to me. As he approached, I said, “What’s your excuse? Start singing!”
To my astonishment, Chad said, “Coach, I don’t have any excuse! I was late … period! Whatever the consequences, I’m prepared to deal with them!” When he said that, I literally gave him a big, fat, long hug! In fact, as the rest of the team was practicing, I called them over to express my pleasure in what Chad did!
I was elated because Chad understood a valuable life lesson. Don’t ever give excuses. It’s a sign of weakness, and a sure way of losing respect and credibility with others! Don’t get me wrong, sometimes things happen. My point is giving excuses is a mindset. If a person is constantly looking to blame someone or something else for his or her shortcomings, long-term that could be troubling.
Let’s be like Chad Gerber! Let’s have the mindset of never giving excuses. I believe excuses are for losers.
P.S. I later found out that Chad Gerber had a legitimate reason for being late, which was totally out of his control. Yet, he still took the heat! I was even more impressed with him when I found that out!
