Vince Lombardi’s Nine Principles of Success
“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”Vince Lombardi
1. Commitment- “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”Vince Lombardi. Lombardi makes his final statement. “A winner must be committed to discipline, committed to sacrifice and self-denial, and committed to hard work.”
Are you committed? Are you an athlete? Do you go to practice first, or are you always the one who leaves? Are you part of an organisation? Do you make sure your efforts benefit the whole organization? Will you be willing to do whatever it takes to assist others? “it is not my job.”Are you willing to spend time with teachers from other fields? Do these visits help you to become more effective in the classroom? Do you want to learn from others? What is it that you need to succeed?
2. Truth- “In football and business, a leader must be honest with himself and the people he is working with. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.”Vince Lombardi
Do you have the courage to be honest with yourself, your biggest fan, and most critical critic? Is it doing what you can to achieve more, do more, and be more successful? Are you lying to yourself or those you depend on every day? People want to work with trustworthy, reliable people and companies, regardless of their business ethics.
3. Excellence- “If you demand perfection of yourself, you’ll seldom achieve it. Fear of making a mistake is the biggest cause of making one. Instead of pushing for perfection, relax and pursue excellence.” Bud Winter
Lombardi stated, “No one is perfect. But boys, if you’ll not settle for anything less than the best, you’ll be amazed at what you can do with your lives. You’ll be amazed at how much you can rise in this world.”
Perfection is not common. It’s rare that a game of baseball can be thrown perfectly. This is the 300th game of bowling. It’s a feat that only the most skilled bowlers can achieve. The hole in one is a golf feat that’s rarely achieved. But excellence is something we should all strive for.
4. Results- “Winning is not everything, but making the effort to win is.”Vince Lombardi
Bill Walton is a Hall of Fame basketball star who stated these words about winning: “Winning is about having the whole team on the same page.”
There is always one winning team in team sports. Sometimes a team can overcome lackluster talent and still be successful. While a team lacking character might win the game, it will fail to be successful long-term.
While we set goals for each team, winning wasn’t a primary goal. The winning was possible if you could achieve the majority of your opponents goals. We desired results. Every time we tried, there was improvement. How can you improve yourself and your company?
“There is no limit when no one cares who gets the credit.” John Wooden
5. Passion- “I learned that if you want to make it bad enough, no matter how bad it is, you can make it.”Gayle Sayers
Passionate about the work you do. Are you the one who is always the first to arrive at the desk, in the practice area, and on the classroom floor? Or are you just dragging your feet as the things start to happen? Are you a believer in yourself, your coworkers and/or your colleagues? Do you feel it in your heart and mind and will you make no excuses for your team and youself? Do you feel that spark?
“There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything. I do, and I demand that my players do.”Vince Lombardi
6. Habit- “The difference between a successful person and others in not a lack of strength, nor a lack of knowledge, but rather the lack of will.”Vince Lombardi
You can’t do the same thing every day as yesterday, expect different results. That is what it means to be insane. Habit can be defined as a repeated act. You can find it good, or you can make mistakes. According to psychologists, 90% of what we do every day is routine. It’s as simple as starting your day with your routine and finishing it when you go to bed at night. Many things are the same every day.
Robert Ringer is the author of Million Dollar Habits.”Success is am matter of understanding and religiously practicing specific simple habits that always lead to success.
7. Mental Toughness- “You’ll never see a second-rate player if you happen to be able to spot a man with both a lot and little heart.” Vince Lombardi
You often hear coaches tell their players, “Mental toughness is essential.” Just what is mental toughness? It is one of those words that are difficult to explain. I think my definition of mental toughness is- proper mental and physical preparation that enables you to forget the price- the sacrifices that you must pay for success. It is the thing that allows us to climb off the mat one more time after we have been knocked down. It gives us the ability to strive on inspire of the hurt and the pain that we may be experiencing. It is what allows us to rebound from temporary failures that life sends our way.
When I was coaching, we were down 92-75 with five minutes left in the game. I called a timeout and asked my players how much gas they had left in the tank. I knew the other team was tired. I needed them to tell me that they could reach down inside – give it their all for the remainder of the game. We began to press. Our frame of mind is we were not going to lose. The gap closed, slowly at first, and then like someone had opened the flood gates, we were magically back in the game. With :08 seconds left in the game we hit a three to send it to overtime. Our opponent was spent……but mentally we were ready for the challenge. We wound up winning the game 119-111 in overtime.
8. Discipline- “Others view discipline as a burden. It is for me a form of order that allows me to fly.” Julie Andrews
Normally when we hear the word discipline we associate it with punishment. According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, discipline can be defined as: to train or develop by instruction or exercise- especially in self-control; to bring a group under control. George Washington stated, “A soldier’s soul is built on discipline. Discipline makes even small units formidable and gives success to the weak. It also earns respect from all.”
For most of my coaching career, I did not saddle my team with rules. Our basic rule was to be where you are supposed to be, doing what you are supposed to be doing, when you are supposed to be doing it – and doing it to the best of your ability. By following that simple set of rules, my players graduated, for the most part grew into the individuals I can be very proud of today.
9. Perseverance- “Persistence is the only thing that can replace it. Talent is rare; talent will never replace perseverance. Unrewarded genius almost seems like a saying. Genius is not a virtue. Education won’t; there are many educated despised. The only thing that can truly make a difference is persistence and determination.” Calvin Coolidge
Persistence and perseverance may be the single most common quality of successful people. They refuse to lose, to give up. They know the longer they hang in there, the greater the chance for success. Thomas Edison failed to invent the light bulb over 1000 times. When asked by a reported how it felt to fail so many times, Edison responded he didn’t fail, he discovered ways not to invent the light bulb.
H. Ross Perot, Texas billionaire and former presidential candidate says this about perseverance- “People give up when they are about to succeed. They stop at the 1 yard line. They quit at the end of the game one yard from winning the touchdown.”
There are going to be times when it isn’t easy. People will doubt your ability, your effort, or your value to the organization. They may not believe in your dream, or have the same passion you do. They may think you are over your head or over the hill. What if Kurt Warner had believed all of the things people were saying about him before the Arizona Cardinals run toward the Super Bowl?
I have been fortunate to know some people who have overcome tremendous odds to reach their goals. Kevin Saunders, bronze medal winner in the Para-Olympics (Barcelona, Spain) wrote a book about his journey title appropriately enough, “You can always find a way…don’t give up!
Let me leave you with the following thought: “The power to hold on in spite of everything, the power to endure-this is the winners quality. Persistence is the ability to face defeat again and again without giving up-to push on in the face of great difficulty, knowing that victory will be yours. Persistence means taking pains to overcome every obstacle, and to do what’s necessary to reach your goal.” Anon.