I AM SOMEBODY!

One of my most favorite things I have ever done with my players is I developed and had them recite a "Players Creed", or parts from it each lifting session and before a game.

It all started because I wanted to figure out a way to help their memory and retention, so I would give them a "word of the day" during our warmup for the morning and then ask individual players throughout the workout to repeat to me the word or phrase of the day. If they couldn't remember it they had to run a lap, if a teammate was next to them and watched them fail without helping, they also had to run. The goal was to help the players, as we got into the season, so they could better remember plays while working. It was also to help them as a team, that they would look out for each other and help each other without a coach having to tell them to.

A few days into this I decided to create sayings that would benefit them. I wanted them to repeat positive affirmations and to remember them so that they weren't just reciting random words/phrases, but were reciting something beneficial to themselves and that would help them. The first one we did was the phrase "I am somebody". I wanted them to tell themselves that they were important, that they mattered, and that they have a purpose. That they aren't defined only by what they can/can't do in an athletic event.

It was an amazing experience, as the workout went on, to yell out to the boys "what's the word of the day?" and they would yell back "I am somebody!". Each time I would ask one of the players and they would repeat it back to me I could sense that they were starting to believe it. It wasn't just some rote script that they were repeating, they were starting to internalize it; it meant something.

Each of us need to continue to remind ourselves that we are somebody! We all have something to offer, and a purpose on this earth. We just have to remind ourselves of that each day. Look at yourself in the mirror everyday and repeat "I am somebody!". The more you repeat it, the more you will start to believe it and the less you will rely on other people to determine your worth. YOU have something to offer, YOU are important, and YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!