"Prove People Wrong"

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely mine. Blame nobody else. 

There will always be people who say, "you're not good enough." Be relentless. 

You've heard her songs but maybe never her name. She wrote the biggest hits for almost anybody who is anybody...but not the song above. 

"It's the story of my life, proving people wrong." - Diane Warren She had her first hit at 29 after writing songs since a teen. She had three qualities - talent, confidence, and relentlessness. Here's the ChatGPT list of 20 top hits she wrote:

"Because You Loved Me" – Celine Dion

"Un-Break My Heart" – Toni Braxton

"How Do I Live" – LeAnn Rimes

"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" – Aerosmith

"Love Will Lead You Back" – Taylor Dayne

"If I Could Turn Back Time" – Cher

"Can't Fight the Moonlight" – LeAnn Rimes

"There You'll Be" – Faith Hill

"Don't Turn Around" – Ace of Base

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – Starship

"For You I Will" – Monica

"Blame It on the Rain" – Milli Vanilli

"When I See You Smile" – Bad English

"I Turn to You" – Christina Aguilera

"The One I Gave My Heart To" – Aaliyah

"Because You Loved Me" – Johnny Mathis

"Rhythm of the Night" – DeBarge

"I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me)" – Exposé

"Saving Forever for You" – Shanice

Set the Night to Music" – Roberta Flack & Maxi Priest

"You just need that one believer...and that one believer has to start out being you." She doesn't like to be asked about process. "I just go to work."

If we want to be exceptional, then be relentless.

Who's the relentless word association? Kobe Bryant comes to mind first. A thousand jump shots a day in the hundred day offseason. 100,000 jump shots.   

Greg Popovich says, "you can't skip steps. You gotta pound the rock. If it takes a hundred hits..." 

Larry Bird made 500 free throws, before breakfast. 

Tim S. Grover wrote Relentless. Here are a few quotes:

• "Being relentless means demanding more of yourself than anyone else could ever demand of you, knowing every time you stop, you can still do more."
• "Do. The. Work. Every day, you have to do something you don’t want to do. Every day. Challenge yourself to be uncomfortable, push past the apathy and laziness and fear."
• "The drive to close the gap between near-perfect and perfect is the difference between great and unstoppable."

Isiah Thomas worked eight hours a day on the playgrounds of Chicago, honing his craft. 

Bill Bradley, from age twelve, invested three hours a day and all day Saturday working on skills. In the 1965 runner-up game in the NCAAs, Princeton's Bradley scored 58 points against Wichita State. 

Of course, others are or were relentless. Jordan, LeBron, Tom Brady, Dan Gable in wrestling, Sara Blakely in business. 

Anybody who became exceptional did the work. That doesn't guarantee that doing the work will make exceptional work. Volleyball has to have irrational meaning for you, has to speak for you. 

If we want to prove people wrong, then do the work. Only you can decide whether it's worth it. 

Lagniappe. 

“The greatest competitors attack every single drill like it’s life or death. Winning matters, and every time you’re okay with losing a drill, you become less of a winner” - Lute Olson pic.twitter.com/kAccwdfxxd

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) January 22, 2025

Lagniappe 2. Be a tracker. You have to monitor what you're doing to do it better. 

Every successful company in the world is DATA DRIVEN.

Tracking numbers in PRACTICE creates an automatic advantage for the coach's who utilize it. If used properly, it's like playing 6 on 5 because the COACH is impacting winning more.

TOTAL POSSESSIONS:

Are we simply…

— Chris Steed (@steeder10) January 21, 2025