WORDS WIN! Philosophy helps develop Championship Team

This post was sent to our main web site Big House Power by member Chris Mattingly.  We at Big House Power are extremely excited that our WORDS WIN! philosophy of "Competing in Life, ON and OFF the Field" is working for others.  We are excited that Chris shared this with us.

Coach Kenn,

I have followed your career and your philosophies since your early days at Boise state and have used the Tier System with much success since I first read an article you wrote in the old NSCA Strength and Conditioning Journal.  I recently switched schools to coach track and field with one of my best friends and I sent him your article on WORDS WIN the day it came out.  He loved it and we adopted it as our team "theme" for not only last year but for the duration.  It made a huge difference and they won their first conference title in 35 years.  With everyone back, this year we feel we can make a run at a state title if everything falls correctly.  I am writing this to let you know that the concept of WORDS WIN is putting a great group of athletes in a position to be extremely successful.

On a side note, an ex student of mine is on the strength staff at Stanford and he was very impressed by your presentation.

WORDS WIN!

Chris Mattingly

Lake Stevens High School 

Remember, the WORDS WIN philosophy entails numerous values that anyone can develop or adapt to be successful in all aspects of life.

Thanks Chris for sharing and 

WORDS WIN

Coach Kenn

Rocky 5 lessons of life

MOTIVATION - "Be Great, Powerful Beyond Measure" - Best Inspirational Vi...

A WORDS WIN MOMENT from Chad Ochocinco

Chad making a young man's dream come true.  Give a shout out to Deion Sanders for helping out with the camp.

GIVING BACK

My very good friend Mark Uyeyama and his friends Bobby Singh and Big Gus giving back to the community.

PROS INSPIRE YOUTH AT FOOTBALL CAMP

30 Ways to Live Life to the Fullest

30 Ways to Live Life to the Fullest

by Lori Deschene

“Begin at once to live and count each separate day as a separate life.” ~Seneca

At times, it’s seemed as though life contains an endless supply of days.

When I was younger, I thought this for sure. It didn’t matter how long I held a grudge, or how long I waited to do something I wanted—there would be an unlimited pool of other opportunities. At least that’s what I thought back then.

Maybe it’s a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood: the moment when you realize life happens now, and that’s all you’re guaranteed. It doesn’t really hit you when you merely know it intellectually, like you know your ABCs, state capitals, and other concrete facts.

It hits you when somehow you feel it. Your health declines. You lose someone you love. A tragedy rocks your world. It isn’t until you realize that all life fades that you considernow a commodity and the totality of your now’s scarce.

But maybe that’s irrelevant. Maybe living a meaningful, passionate life has nothing to do with its length and everything to do with its width.

With this in mind, I recently asked Tiny Buddha’s Facebook friends, “How do you make life meaningful?” I was inspired by what they had to say, so I’ve used them to create this list:

1. Live in the moment. Forget the past and don’t concern yourself with the future. (Tanner Christensen)

2. Fully embrace the now, no matter what the situation. (Patrick Flynn)

3. Do the things you love. (Diego Felipe Villa Serna)

4. Learn to forgive and embrace unconditional love. (Ann Glasgow)

5. Live every day as if it’s your last, embracing each experience as if it’s your first. (Jennifer Fertado)

6. Believe in “live and let live.” (Satyendra Pandey)

7. Use quiet reflection, honesty, and laughter. (Erin Rogers Kronman)

8. Be other-centered. (Tricia Mc)

9. Find calm in making art. (Z.r. Hill)

10. Focus on today and how you can do your best to live it to the fullest.  (Amelia Krump)

11. Participate in life instead of just watching it pass you by. (Lindsey Wonderson)

12. Stay healthy, eat right and most importantly, be kind to all. (Tho Nguyen)

13. Pray, forgive yourself, appreciate others, listen to your gut, do things you enjoy, and remind yourself that we are all loved and connected. (Sandra Lumb)

14. Don’t sweat the small stuff. (Allison Gillam)

15. Question everything, keep it simple, and help whenever and however you can. (Lynda Corrigan Sutherland)

16. Try to enjoy every minute of every day. (Maria Ahlin)

17. Appreciate life’s every second. (Anna-Karin Boyaciyan-Demirciyan)

18. Step through new doors. The majority of the time there’s something fantastic on the other side. (Terri Mindock)

19. Remember that all is a gift, but the most precious of all gifts is life and love. (Debbie Teeuwen)

20. Keep your spirit free, be flexible, let go. (Leslie Brown)

21. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” -Baz Luhrmann (Adam Raffel)

22. Don’t attach to outcomes. (Wp Ho)

23. Spend as much time with a two year old as possible. (Jackie Freeman)

24. Enjoy each and every moment of life. Every day is a new challenge and opportunity to discover something new. (Chirag Tripathi)

25. Budget travel. It is always an adventure! You get to enjoy what fate has to offer with limited means. (Ruby Baltazar)

26. Be honestly thankful for every breath you take. (Jonathan Carey)

27. Just be. (Catherine Halvorsson)

28. “Trust yourself. Trust your own strengths.” ~Gaundalf the grey (Jonathan David Evan Fulton)

29. Pause momentarily before everything you do so that you notice everything you should or could notice. (Scott Hutchinson)

30. Follow your hopes and not your fears. (Jody Bower)

What have you done today to live life to the fullest?

from Tiny Buddha

A WORDS WIN MOMENT

Texas Valedictorian 

Sent to me by Assistant Director of Sport Performance at the University of Missouri - Bryan Mann.  Thanks Bryan

Words Win

Coach Kenn

from TINY BUDDHA

“See the positive side, the potential, and make an effort.” -Dalai Lama

We all have within us the potential to not only be happy, but to give that gift to others. Don’t underestimate the power of your efforts. They do make a difference.

When you smile, you remind other people to see the good in life. When you look for the best in people, you remind them to cut themselves some slack. When you stay strong in difficult circumstances, you remind others it can be done.

Just like a butterfly’s wings can create changes in the atmosphere that alter the path of a tornado, your smile can change the world in ways you can’t even comprehend. Make an effort today. You’re more powerful than you realize.

from TINY BUDDHA

from TINY BUDDHA

“Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you than you.” -Unknown

Whatever you do today, do it knowing you are beautiful. That you are whole, worthy, and good enough just as you are. That no one is perfect, and wherever you’re at is right where you’re supposed to be. That you deserve to feel good about yourself, and that you can at any time if you choose to.

TINY BUDDHA

WORDS WIN!

“WORDS WIN”Joe KennBig House Power LLC

WORDS WIN! If you work[ed] with me, follow me on twitter, facebook, etc., these two words are not far behind. Numerous people ask what it means and I explain to them where it came from and its meaning. The more I use it the more I realize there is a whole lot more going on with these two words than I ever imagined.

THE WORD IS WIN!

OK, so here it goes, the definition of Words Win, and why I believe in it in many factions of my professional and personal life. First off, WORDS WIN is the phrase, the sentence it is derived from is, The Word is Win. This was our rally cry for one of the football teams I was coaching for. Our head coach made it very simple for our players, The Word is Win, and at the end of the day that is what matters. So at the beginning and end of every game, practice, running session, or strength training session, the team broke it out on WORDS WIN! And win we did going 10-3 and winning a PAC 10 Championship [we shared it with USC of course!].

I loved it! It was simple, direct, and to the point. So, as I am inclined to do, I exploited the saying and it comes up in everything I do in my life. Am I perfect? No way, but I am a winner in more ways than one. Also, I have looked at WORDS WIN in several other scenarios and how to use this in all aspects of life, so bear with me here as I may go on some tangents but, in the end I believe you will get the picture.

Everyone wants to be associated with winning, regardless of whom we are or what we do in life, in the end we want to be a winner. In sports it is simple, at the end of the competition the athlete or team with the highest score is declared the WINNER. In track events the individual who crosses the line first is declared the WINNER. In bodybuilding the person with the fewest points in declared the WINNER.

In business, you may be vying for a promotion and who ever brings in the largest account at the end of the month will be promoted. Promotion equals WINNER. You and your staff are working on a project that will land you the rights to build a chain of hotels in LAS VEGAS [my favorite city]. If your plans are chosen, your company gets notoriety, you and your staff get bonuses, and you help thousands of people land numerous jobs at these hotels. Landing the contract equals WINNER.

Winning In life should include the following: having an engaging relationship with the love of your life, being a positive role model to your children and siblings, and being a positive influence in your community. All these and more make you a WINNER. Get the picture, NO ONE WANTS TO FAIL. We are all driven in some ways to be the best we can be.

Sometimes you may not come in first but, you still may have succeeded previous expectations and goals. There lies a WORDS WIN moment. I will give you a personal example in my powerlifting career. I placed second in a meet and was asked why I didn’t win. In this scenario the best I could finish based on the competition that participated was second place, a podium finish [podium finish usually means 1st through 3rd place]. You cannot change your strength levels overnight. I accomplished my best competitive squat at the time, 635 pounds on my 3rd attempt. My competition’s 1st attempt or opener was 800 pounds. I can’t just wake up and believe I am going to squat 805 to beat him. You get the picture. I beat everyone else so I finished the best I could on that particular day. I know lifters that don’t even worry about their finish, they are worried about setting personal records, to them that is a WORDS WIN.

Let’s face it, losing sucks. And when you are losing it affects everything. Let’s take the case of a college football team since this is what I am closely associated with. It is eerie to see the differences in a winning team versus a losing team. Believe me I have been on both ends. When you are winning you seem to have fewer athletes missing or late to class, study hall, meal checks etc. They generally are not getting in as much trouble off campus. They are excited to practice. It’s not 100% but it is much better than when you are losing.

Obtaining a winning attitude in one area of your life will generally carry over to all aspects of your daily living if you let it. It’s hard to be a winner every time out so let’s remember another mantra developed from my favorite Coach and our leadership group, Answer the Scratch, Relentless Determination is the Passionate Pursuit of Excellence. The values that we followed were preparation, sacrifice and fight adversity. [We went to 3 consecutive bowls using this mantra, winning 2 of them]

WORD'S WIN

That’s right “WORD’S WIN”. This is a hard one to manage at times, especially when frustration and anger come into play. How you speak to someone or better yet, how you chose to speak to someone by the words you use can make a conversation a positive or negative one. In my studies of the Noble Eightfold Path this is considered the ethical conduct of “Right Speech.” Remember the strength of Words, they can make enemies of friends, start wars or create peace, or break or save lives. In the context of coaching, words can build confidence, morale, relationships, and lasting friendships or they could crush them all! This is a tough one and one that I am constantly trying to improve at. Remember what most people say, with age comes wisdom.

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

If you are going to Talk the Talk you need to Walk the Walk. Right Speech needs to equal Right Action. If you are going to say something, you need to take ownership in it and act accordingly. Right Action in this case is very simple; DO WHAT’S RIGHT WHEN NO ONE IS LOOKING! For athletes, this is extremely easy and yet some make it hard. Go to class and be on time for all scheduled events. Skipping sets or reps in the weight room because the coach isn’t looking is just another form of an It’s Not a Race for Last person. You are not getting over; in the long run it will come back and bite you. My good friend and colleague Jean Boyd had one of the best sayings for this, “ARE YOU A CHARACTER OR DO YOU HAVE CHARACTER.”

WORDS WIN! The meaning is relative to your goals and actions, two simple words that go a long way. Hopefully this made some sense to you and you can create your own WORDS WIN moments. It makes sense to me and it is and I am a constant work in progress!

WORDS WIN!

Joe Kenn