Raising Your Standards as a Team Starts with Doing so as Individuals

 

As a team, raise your game. Commit to a broad list of high standards. I wrote bullet points about raising standards and asked ChatGPT to help with organize and to create a checklist. 

Behavior beats intention. Track it. "Winners are trackers." Here are ideas to pull from on your growth journey. 

Environment & People

☐ I surround myself with people who elevate standards
☐ I seek teammates who value effort, honesty, and growth
☐ I distance myself from habits and conversations that pull standards down

Modeling Excellence

☐ I model excellence in effort, body language, and preparation
☐ I do things the right way, even when it’s uncomfortable
☐ I act the way I want younger players to act

Reflection & Thinking

☐ I keep a leadership journal
☐ I shared a journal idea with at least one teammate this week
☐ I maintain a Rethinking Scorecard
    ☐ “I changed this because…” __________________________

Habits & Process

☐ I built a personal Checklist for Success
☐ I focused on process not outcomes
☐ Our team committed to applying Atomic Habits principles
    ☐ Make it obvious
    ☐ Make it easy
    ☐ Make it consistent

Athleticism & Physical Commitment

☐ I committed to raising my athleticism
☐ I held myself accountable for strength, speed, and conditioning work
☐ I made my physical goals public to my teammates

Public athletic commitment:

• Vertical jump goal: ☐ +3 inches ☐ +6 inches (circle one)

• Jump rope: ☐ 5 minutes continuous

• Time frame: _____________________

Leadership Tracking

☐ I tracked how I led today (energy, effort, service)
☐ I identified one leadership behavior to repeat tomorrow
☐ I identified one behavior to improve

Learning & Feedback

☐ I reviewed my performance with a coach or mentor
☐ I listened openly and took notes
☐ I applied feedback within 48 hours

Academics & Whole-Person Leadership

☐ I took ownership of my academic responsibilities
☐ I helped raise the academic standard of the team
☐ I checked in on a teammate’s school progress

Lagniappe. Don't let a few negative plays to impact the rest of your game. 

Billy Donovan on not letting a bad shooting night effect your overall game

“You allowed 9 seconds to effect the other 37 minutes you played?”

pic.twitter.com/xezkqYxepK

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) November 29, 2025